Hi! I've never had a garden before. I'm transitioning to a vegetarian diet, planning to be about 75% raw, for health reasons as well as just not really liking meat. I have four kids I homeschool, and I think they'll really enjoy having a garden as well.

We're moving soon from an extremely large city to hopefully out in the country in NC.

Just thought I'd say hello. We are moving in September, and I'm wondering what I can do after we find a house (if we find one between now and then, if not we'll stay with inlaws til we do), to help prepare the soil for next spring.

While I'd like to jump in and plant all sorts of stuff, I know I need to take it easy and start small til I understand what I'm doing. I do plan to compost. I love beets, and plan to grow some, but other than that and lots of lettuces I don't know what I'm going to plant just yet. My oldest child DD9 wants a sunflower garden. My DS5 just wants worms and lots of them. Then I have DD3 and DD2 who will likely just enjoy the dirt (plan to have a dirt box as well as a sandbox just for them).

Any advice and/or links/book recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and I'm a little nervous about gardening. I once planted a hydrangea I bought (at the grocery store?!) and gave it some Miracle Gro and the next day was super hot...it died. Or I thought it did so I left it alone, then DH mowed it down with the lawnmower...we moved before I could find out if it was going to come back the next year or not. It was planted in early July originally. I don't intend to Miracle Gro anything...but I don't want to kill anything either!

Thank you!

JoyfullZoo


Message was edited by: joyfullzoo

Reading over the messages here helped me a lot. There is a lot of information on composting, worm beds, lazagna gardening & loving gardening. Welcome. It sounds like you are doing what I most wanted to do.

Welcome to the site joyfullzoo.

Read whatÂ’s here and feel free to ask as many questions as you want. Everyone here will be happy to share his or her experiences.

Welcome!

Good idea to take it slow; gives you time to learn about the needs and habits of the plants you want to grow and about the site you're on.

If you have a specific question at ay time, go to the search feature (right above the messages an this page). We talk about everything here, LOL, so you're liable to find a lot of info.

One thing you can do to is use cardboard (free for the taking out of the Dollar Store dumpster) and hay or straw or LOTS of grass clippings to mulch the area you want to plant. Get the cardboard wet--I'm told a kiddie pool is great for this--and lay it down where you want to kill off the grass. Cover with hay or grass or loads of leaves if you like. The grass will die off and --bonus--worms will come eat the dead plants and incorporate them back into the soil (worm poop is good for the garden and they also loosen up the soil a bit for you too).

Beets! Yuk, but I love the beet greens. The whole plant is edible. Good luck to you!!

Once you have found your place in the world you need to make a close relationship with the soil because that is the most important part of your new world. Find out where your local Cooperative Extension Service office is and make friends there and then arrange for a soil test, so you will know what the base nutrient levels and soil pH is. Then do these simple tests to find out more about your soil;

1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fillting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it it for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. Your primary concern is the OM level and yours may be pretty good.
2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.
3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.
4) Smell. What does your soil smell like. Pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.
5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Welcome. Sounds like you have a lot of fun ahead. Fall is the best time to set soil amendments in motion, and while they are working in the soil all winter you can take on the seed catalogues!!

One wonderful thing for kids (and adults) is to plant blackberries or boysenberries. Bareroot plants are available in February. Save some space for them, but they are magical! Your local nursery will have the kinds that work well in your area.

Picking a sun-warmed berry fresh off the vine is a real treat, and the kids will just love it. They'll learn to avoid the stickers and pick only the ripe ones, and watch the others become ripe. Some berries hide up under clusters of leaves and it becomes a real game to find them all. They can be mowed or cut flat in the fall, and they'll come right back.

Also a couple of fruit trees, apple and peaches, nectarines are great. There are some early spring sprayings that can be done organically, and dwarf trees don't take up a lot of room, they add great value to a property, and they're a wonderful source of good treats for kids as they are playing outside.