1st time gardener

Greetings Misty,

I’m Heathers (from Michigan)husband Tim.

First off your blessed to have 10 acres. Be prepared for the garden to grow in size every year. Mine started as a 10 x 10 ft square in a community garden 14 years ago. Through about 6+ moves were now up to 2 gardens that could feed the development we live in. Depending on your road frontage, I would encourage a veggie stand to bring in some extra income. You can easily grow more than you can eat, or you can simply add to your food stores by canning and freezing.

You are correct in starting the early crops. If your planting the peas , you will need to put up fences. You’ll want the fences to be about 4ft tall, and as long as you want. The plants will grow all the way to the top. The key to an abundant harvest on them is to pick them when they are about 2-3 inches. If they sit on the vine too long, overnight they will get “fat” and tough. They are the best when they are thin and small.

The key to onions and carrots is deep, finely tilled soil. Because they are root plants, they need room to grow. If your soil is heavy, you may need to add some sand or compost to loosen the soil well. The deeper you can till the better. I’ve tried carrots off and on for years and finally got it right last year. This year we planted 12000 seeds.

The packages may say space 1″ apart and thin later, but it would take you till fall to plant them all in this manner. I would plant the carrots in rows, simply take a pinch of seed and lightly sprinkle from side to side. I would suggest making a line with your finger where you run out of seed from each pinch. Otherwise you’ll loose your place. The seeds are barely visible on the soil. If you plant squares, you can’t get in to weed any of them without stepping on some and compacting the soil. The same can be said for the onions. Last year I planted in a square, but I’ll be trying the rows this year, simply to make it easier for weeding.

Potatoes, don’t plant them whole! They should have little eyes forming on them. Cut the potatoes in 1/3’s or 1/4’s. Some books recommend letting them sit for a couple of days, others say to sprinkle “sulphur” I think. We just cut them and throw them in the hole. Have never had a problem with them growing.

We have never planted lettuce from seed, but I would expect that it should be started from inside. We went the easy way on that and bought the plants.

Let me know if you have any other quetions.

Don’t forget to ask a blessing on your hands and laborers as your planting.

Oh yeah and don’t forget to water:)

Tim

Hello Misty,

Congrats on starting a garden! I live in Wisconsin and we are gearing up for another fun season! I would suggest adding a fertilizer (manure from cows, horses or chickens is best, if you can get it) You might also want to do a soil sample to see what kind you need, or if you need lime. Ask about that at your agricultural department in your county. This may sound like a pain to do, but a friend of mine spent lots of money every year on all kinds of plants and because she didn’t fertilize she got no return from it. Frustrating to say the least!

I plant alot of things becuase we can and freeze alot of our food for the year . . . but for the first time I would start small, it takes alot of time to weed!

And Tim was right it seems to grow in size every year no matter what I say of do!

Good Luck and if you have more questions ask away!

Kristen

Here is a link that has been helpful to me with my first garden this year.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/What-To-Plant-Now.aspx

Click on your region and they tell you each month what you could/should be doing.

I second Square Foot Gardening (we are doing two 4-foot beds this year) and also Lasagna Gardening.

We are growing:

Bush and Pole beans

Tomatoes

Beets

Scallions

Baby carrots

Swiss Chard

Bell Peppers

and Kale – although after I planted the kale I read that it really is a winter veggie as it needs cold to sweeten up the leaves and therefore might not taste good grown through the summer.

I’m learning SO much about tomatoes – I’ve killed a few baby plants. But I think I might be getting the hang of it now.

Be patient with the carrots. They usually take a bit longer to sprout than other some of the other seeds.

You can start from crowns instead of seed and get a head start. Crowns are just established root systems with some dormant top growth. Most garden centers sell asparagus that way.

You usually plant them in the spring. So if you plant this year you just let them grow without harvesting anything. Then next year you also let them grow and don’t harvest any. (I know, it’s hard but don’t pick ’em.) Then the following year you can start harvesting. It’s important to wait because it will feed the roots and increase production for the years to come.

Here are some nice instructions: http://www.ehow.com/how_9880_grow-asparagus.html

And I must mention that asparagus and eggs are fantastic together. I have to make an asparagus frittata at least once each spring.