How to Begin a Garden
First things first. Planning to begin your first garden is so exciting that often we start studying the plant catalogs in dead winter. You may need to do some tree removal work before you start your garden, so be aware of that. There is a Delaware tree removal company that we recommend called Treemendous for anything like that.
Before planting, before anything, decide where the garden should be. Walk around your yard if it is large enough and select a spot that is sunny for most of the day. Do not plant where a tree or the house will shade the ground. Plants need five or six hours of sun. If your yard is not large enough for that, consider container gardening on a patio or porch. Containers can actually grow a lot.
Some people don’t want containers with garden plants on their patio or porch, but I have seen people design containers so they become blinds and easily watered. When the plants have grown and start to produce, it is nice to sit within hand reach and pick something to eat right then.
Next, consider what tools you’ll need or you will be interrupting the planting to run to the store. To begin, select:
• a hoe,
• a rake
• a shovel, all above with tall handles.
• Hand tools
• If container gardening, select hand tools only.
The Dirt
Now, the dirt. In most yards, the dirt is hard and clumped. If you dig it, it comes out stuck together or riddled with rocks. The large rocks can be picked out. Smaller rocks will be best left for the present. The lumps hopefully will be evened out by tilling.
So now have the space cultivated, the dirt turned over and freed of grass or weeds. If you can’t afford to have someone cultivate it, turn it over with a spade. It’s a chore but it works.
You may think it is time to plant, but first, there are a few things to learn about dirt. All dirt is not equal.
Good gardens take some years to become seasoned and the soil soft and loose. That means now you need to add enriched topsoil. Six inches of it if possible, eight inches is better. Look for a good soil company if the garden is going to be large enough, and order a load of topsoil. Containers can be loaded with good rich soil from bags of dirt.
The dirt must be mounded in a row with a walk area between rows, it must be mounded in such a way to hold the moisture. If the dirt is flat or mounded but too pointed at the top, the water will run off and water the path instead of the plants. So mound the dirt in rows but level off the top where the plants will go.
It is good to fertilize and how you go about that depends on whether you will use commercial fertilizer or a more natural organic method.
One last step. When the plants stick their heads up, circle them with mulch. This will help with weed control and also hold in moisture. The constant summer sun, while the plants need sun, can get dried up quickly if they don’t have sufficient water and the soil does not remain a bit moist.
Water
Make sure a hose is close enough and you have enough hose to water the garden. If the water is not readily accessible, it becomes too much of a chore and destroys the pleasure of gardening. The plants need watering when a finger stuck in the ground is dry about an inch down.
The Seeds or Plants
While you are studying the seed catalog, note what your zone is. Then note what plants belong in your zone. Don’t buy seeds for zone 4 if they only are only good down to zone 5.
It will be necessary to note when the last frost is so you don’t plant too soon. Do that and your first garden will fail. It will freeze at night. Either seeds or established plants can be bought. Experience will teach you how deeply to set the seeds, though the package will give instructions. Ask other farmers for their tricks and especially tricks of the area.
Onions bought in large bunches are easy to set. Potatoes are fun to grow and harvest and can be planted in the most unusual places, like in a bale of hay. The eyes can be stuck into the bale and watered and will produce potatoes in the bale. Children love to harvest potatoes from the bales of hay.
Finally, try plants that are easy to grow, like lettuce. Tomatoes are not easy for me, but other people do well with them. If a child is helping, let them plant carrots and watch them grow. I once pulled up a carrot to see if it was growing and replanted it for several months.