I want to plant my first garden

[Horse with no Name]

I am in East Texas.
I have picked out three sites that get direct sun. Two are flat and long, one is square.
Anyone have any tips on how to start or what to do to start?

[NMDemDist2]

1. how many people do you feed and how much time/money do you

want to spend?

most suggest going to the library and checking out the "Square Foot Gardening" book as a place to start

they're a whole bunch of us newbies this year, seems every one has grocery store sticker shock and is looking for a way to supplement the family budget

:hi:

[Horse with no Name]

2. Okay I have a household of 5

I have a freezer.
I want to use this as a form of exercise so I will be spending quite a bit of time in it.

I would like to plant corn, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, onions and peppers.
I'd REALLY like to figure out how to do cabbage as well.

My granddaughter wants some pumpkins and watermelons.

I have pretty much unlimited space.

[NMDemDist2]

3. ok, this is what I've figured out so far

kids love to help and you should take advantage of that :rofl:

cabbage and lettuce in East Texas are spring and fall crops, radish can be planted in staggered times so they keep yielding all season

melons and pumpkins will need at least 4' square as they will sprawl everywhere

squash can be planted with the corn on the north side of any of your patches, plan on at least 4 rows

cukes love to climb sunflowers so those are a good pairing too, also on the north side (you don't want to have their shade blot out the sun for the others)

get Square foot gardening, draw a diagram of your space and have fun

I started with the planning last year, this year it's a go... I already have my plot tilled and Friday I'm going to spend the main $$$ outlay to set up my smaller patch.

see if you can find a local seed company, they'll know which varieties will go well in your area

call your County Extension office and go get their handouts, they are great for local info too.

plan to add some herbs, zinnias and marigolds to the outside perimeter of each area to help with pests

start saving your paper towel and TP rolls now (great as 'collars' on tender seedlings to save them from cut worms and as free pots to start seeds)

but the biggest thing I think is plot out the space you've got and start thinking where you are gonna put everything

I'll post pics if you will

:hi:

[CrispyQ]

4. Great response! Very motivating!

I need to visit this forum more often.

[bvar22]

5. We're close.......in West Arkansas.

Here is what we did last year:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x5729

Worked out well for us.

[hippywife]

6. Az always has good advice and

I would also add to it: learn about companion planting. :hi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

[NMDemDist2]

7. i'm totally doing the three sisters thing this year

we love pinto beans and who doesn't love squash?

[hippywife]

8. We just got our boxes built

this past weekend. Went to the salvage yard and picked up some cedar. We made sure to buy boards that were buckled and split rather than take ones that they can actually sell for other purposes, so we got it cheap. We got the weed barrier fabric down on 2/3 of the garden. Still need to lay more down and then get them filled and planted. (I say we but the husband did all that work while I was in the house doing, what else? Cooking and baking! LOL

Gonna be a lot of work! About 25 different things to get planted.

[NMDemDist2]

9. I filled my 'bathtub' last week and planted broccoli, lettuce, carrots and radishes

this week I need to go out to the 'plot' and dig out the pathways, lay down the soaker hoses and get that ready to plant in April. that's where I plan to put the 'big' stuff, corn, squash, beans, peas, melons and most of the tomatoes

my apricot tree is about half covered with blooms and the apple tree looks ready to blossom out any day too

smart idea on that cedar, there won't be any problem with the cedar oil is there?

good on your hubby for helping! my hubby only helps when it's impossible for me to do myself but since he works and I don't, that's only fair I think.

he sat on the deck and watched me got out and fill my metal bucket 6 times with stone to line the bottom of the bath tub

:rofl:

if you haven't seen the bathtub, here it is when it was in the house, useless as a tub, GREAT as a kitchen garden at the base of the steps of the deck :woohoo:



here's a pic of the deck before it was done, the steps go down on the left of that upright with handrails, the tub fits just to the right of the (invisible) handrails, directly below where the pile of wood slats are in this pic, literally steps from my kitchen. the tree in that pic is gone so it's a sunny spot

[hippywife]

10. Gads!

I wish I had half your energy, woman! I probably would if I could just work at home, too.

I remember that tub. Now that should be in the dictionary, filed under "fugly!" :rofl:

[NMDemDist2]

11. ROFL, fugly is right

the bathroom looks MUCH better now

[hippywife]

12. Gorgeous!

Good work, Az! :D