Vegetable Gardening - where to start?!

I am starting to really get interested in the idea of growing my own food. I am a complete novice at this, but I am hoping some of you guys might be able to help me out with either some websites which are good or some books that might be handy - if you want to post some advice on here too, that would be great!

What I'm mainly looking to know is -

What are some good veges to start off with that are fairly idiot proof - growing wise?

What tools should I invest in?

How long does it normally take to have a fully fledged vege patch?

Thanks so much.

 

i forget where you live. basically, location is the main issue though when deciding what to grow and when to grow it.

i've never grown a veggie that i would consider difficult to grow. i know living with my parents, we grew corn, beans, peas, asparagus, carrots, radishes, and tomatoes every year, and several other things on occasion. all of them had basic instruction on the seed packets that pretty much covered everything you needed to know about growing each plant. that was in northern ohio, usa.

for the most part, it only takes one summer to have a fully fledged garden. certain plants are better after a few years, but everything i've dealt with will give you something by the end of year one.

as far as tools, just the basic, obvious stuff. a shovel, a hoe, something for watering, something for weeding, a rototiller if you can afford it. a garden doesn't require anything too fancy.

 

Vegies need good sun, aged manure and good drainage. You can grow Winter Vegies and/or Summer Vegies.

 

Yes, allways start with good soil. Get your ground in shape and everything else becomes much easier. Your plants will be more disease and pest resistant, more resistant to drought - in other words, you'll be saving yourself a lot of heart break and frustration later on.

If you're serious about having a large garden for sustenance and you plan on doing it long term, a rototiller will be invaluable to you - even if you're doing raised beds. You can till the soil by hand (and I have), but it's VERY LABORIOUS.

I didn't catch what region you're in, but look into the "three-sisters" for some good idiot proof vegetables. These will take care of each other to a large extent, and they will provide nutrient rich vegetables with a degree of longevity. You can use the three-sisters successfully in almost any region. Things will look a little chaotic by the end of the season, so if you're into neat landscaped looking gardening, this isn't for you, but if food and/or yield is your aim, then this is a great technique.

 

for your soil I recommend starting a compost pile now. I used this website when I started my compost

http://www.composting101.com/

 

Jam and Meliai - just some good compost to prepare the soil???

 

Yes, good compost. But good compost takes time. Composted soil will help to maintain moisture, aerate the soil, provide a good environment for beneficial flora and fauna (in fact that's what compost is). nutrients. Think of digging a hole in a typical lawn and then compare that to digging a hole in a forest floor. You want your soil more like the forest floor. Your soil needs nitrogen. If you don't have a handy source of manure, pee in a jar from time to time and sprinkle that on your compost and soil. If you live in a temperate zone, start working your compost into the soil now, over the winter, the sooner the better. Go dig worms, if your soil isn't frozen yet, add these to your compost bin, the more the merrier. Be wary of big box store soil conditioners.

 

I usually suggest a good starting point for a beginning gardener is your local Cooperative Extension Service. They provide free, local, expert information, and aren't trying to sell you anything.
Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_extension_service

Another good first step is soil testing, they can help with that too. Also with a what-to-grow-here list, growing seasons and, well, a lot of things. In some places even classes.

Another suggestion is to go to any & all Farmer's Markets near you. Also meet other neighbor/farmers, you'll find them to be very helpful.

Another suggestion is to start not just a veggie garden, but also a flower garden and herb garden as well. Flowers attract beneficial insects. Most herbs are perennial, easy to grow and expensive to buy.

Compost - by all means. Not composting is like strip mining your land.

Tools - do NOT go the cheap-as-possible route. Really good tools are worth it. Don't forget gloves. A rototiller is a good, expensive and serious investment. I have a Troybilt Horse, with attachments & shipping was about $2300. What I suggest is you find someone with a good, big, tiller and get them to do your initial ground breaking. Buying a tiller and learning how to effectively and safely use it is probably a skill you won't need to start with.

I also have suggested, folks should grow what you like (to eat). It is possible to have a large garden in one spring - summer season. It is also possible to "bite off more than you can chew". I don't know if any veggies are more "idiot proof - growing wise" than others. Maybe try a fair amount of a few things & a small amount of some others in order to "get a feel" for them.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

check craigslist for compost and manure, cheap or free. theres a guy near me giving it away free, asking for $10 if you want him to help you load it with his tractor. im trying to convince hubby to drive me there so i can fill rubbermaid tubs in the back of our car.

we just bought a house, so this will be our first vegetable garden. i just received the seeds i ordered from rareseeds.com they are all heirloom varieties. i am very very excited.

EDIT to add:

i have many many books with gardeny/ homesteady stuff in them. i especially like "the encyclopedia of country living" by carla emery, "guide to rocky mountain vegetable gardening" by Bob Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough, and "Back to Basics" one of the readers digest books.

 

A good source for compost/manure is the stables of folks with horses, but check what chemicals the horses are given.

Books are indeed helpful at the start & good reference sources in later years. In addition, I recommend "The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening" from Rodale Press (Organic Gardening magazine).

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

You don't have to have a big spot. You can grow a lot of vegtables in pots, tomatos vine cucumbers, peppers and many other things. It would be a start while you get your garden going.

 

Here's a great source of info.....
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/

 

get a shovel and dig a hole. pull out grass and weed roots. Plant something that grows fast, such as squash. pepper plants and tomato plants need a lot of nutrients and water. Tomato plants are better because they can send their roots far down.

 

Tillers aint worth the money. Shovel all the way ><

 

dig the sod out of your plot, get some well rotted horse manure, and find a friend who has a tiller, it's really the only good way to incorporate air into the soil, and it will save you hours. spread the manure a few inches high before you till. chuck some seeds in, or buy some seedlings from a nursery.

go from there. the soil will improve as the years go by, and so will you

and if you're just chucking seeds in, better to plant them in a half inch or so of a mix of peat moss and a little vermiculite.

 

I have started off with lettuces in flowerpots - so far they seem to be doing really well. I am just wondering at what point they need to be moved into the actual garden? How large should they be?

 

i hate to go all 2008 on you, but

well, it depends on the size of the pots. if they're big enough, the lettuce could really stay in them the whole time.

generally, they should probably be moved before the size of the pot starts to restrict the roots.

 

Right! Keeping roots cool and moisture even is important. Try pine straw or wood chips (surface of soil only) to keep sun off bare dirt.
If you have large barrel type planters, that's great. Small pots may get hot and dry out in summer. Raised beds are great for places with heavy soils, rainy summers.

Ever considered aquaculture? Lots of people are experimenting with that. Your plants would have roots that are in a growth medium that is periodically flooded with water that is fertilized.

It would be interesting to learn what you decided to do and how it turned out.

 

Sad news guys...a massive storm hit my city (only just got the internet back yesterday after 8 days) and the morning after, went outside to check my little lettuces in their pots and...one has gone missing completly, the other two were totally munted and uprooted, lying half out of the pots.

Guess I am back to square one!

 

i'm not sure what munted means, but in general you could replant an uprooted plant as long as you found it shortly after uprooting.

of course, if it's been 8 days already, the plants are dead by now.