in 9 months I may have my 1st garden in 23 years

[midnight armadillo]

I haven't lived in a garden-ing household since I was 10 and we moved across town and in the process lost the garden. Dunno why, it just never got planted again. Since I left home at 18 I've been renting in urban areas without access to gardening space.

Now at the ripe age of 33 I am looking forward to a) buying a house in the spring or b) renting a place with a yard big enough to support a small garden with landlord permission. a) or b) sort of depends on the whims of the market.

My plan is to start modestly with a compost pile and a small area (16-20 sq ft, I suppose) to get experience and some successes with growing tasty things. I have a vision of my very own Purple Cherokee tomatoes. I'm keen on permaculture, organic, and intensive bed ideas. Once we actually start moving on the new-place-to-live adventure I will probably start inhaling gardening books.

[Quantess]

1. It's so much fun!

You'll get right back into it.

Composting: if you don't already have a composter "earth machine", you may be able to get one from your local extension. Some places in the US give them away, and many in many places in the US you can buy them cheaply. I bought my compost bin for cheap at Costco.
But that still wasn't solving the problem of the bowls full of kitchen refuse & coffee grounds. So, my boyfriend bought me a kitchen compost bin from IKEA that fastens to the door under the kitchen sink. Just a small container. I dump it out in the earth machine about once a week or so. Composting reduces the garbage waste so much, that we only have about one garbage bag per week!

davesgarden.com is a good interactive gardening site. gardenweb.com is good, but the advice is hit-or-miss.

[NJCher]

2. uh, just a tip about Dave's

Dave is a r-w Christian fundie who kicked me off his site back after 9/11 when I called bush a chickenhawk.

Check out Gardenweb if you prefer your gardening free of prayers and bless yous.




Cher

[Blue Gardener]

3. Thanks for the tip

I will avoid davesgarden from now on.

[Blue Gardener]

4. Sign up for a few garden catalogs

They are a great way to get ready for spring. Start with Burpee's a go from there. My favorite for heirlooms is seedsavers.org. All the gardening websites should have a place to sign up to receive their catalog.

[midnight armadillo]

5. good idea!

I've browsed seedsavers.org in the past but never thought to sign up for mail.

I will do that posthaste, thanks!

[OnionPatch]

6. I know how you feel!

I've always loved gardening with a passion but lived for years in apartments or in temporary situations. I had no garden for about 15 consecutive years. We bought our house on an acre five years ago and I still feel like a kid in a candy shop with all the possibilities. If only my back can hold out now. :)

By the way, I grew a bunch of Purple Cherokee tomatoes this year! They were delicious. It was the first time I've tried them. They did pretty well, while a few of the other varieties I tried did not. I'll definitely grow them again.

Good luck with your garden. I hope you post some pictures.