Starting A Garden - The First Steps

by Robert Leavitt.

A proper vegetable garden needs some planning.  It's important to do a little bit of research on the types of plants you wish to grow.  But even before that, you have to make a decision in your very own yard.  Where do you want to put your garden?  It should be a place that gets plenty of sunshine and has good fertile soil (more about that in a second).  The area should be away from your traffic areas, or where people may be playing as the plants are delicate.  You may need to fence off a small area of your yard.  The minimum amount of space I recommend is 10'x10'.  Though you can grow in smaller areas, but as a beginner you should not only give the plants room, but give yourself room as well to work with them.

SOIL ANALYSIS

The first thing you are going to consider is your soil.  Soil should have adequate drainage and be nutrient rich.  The first thing you will check is your drainage.

1. Dig a hole, 1' in diameter and 18"-24" deep.  This is the max depth that the majority of your vegetables will grow down to.  There are a few exceptions but for this test 2 feet should be more than adequate.
2. Fill the hole with water.  Turn on the hose and let the water level get all the way to the top of the hole, flush.
3. Wait up to two hours for the hole to completely drain.
4. Test your soil with a NPK tester.

    If it hasn't drained in 2 hours you are going to need more sand or perlite in your soil to give it better drainage.  It's important that the roots do not get waterlogged and sit in water for any period of time.  This will promote rot and other diseases in your root system.

    If the hole drains very fast (less than 15 minutes) you will need to vermiculite to your soil.  This will help to retain some of the moisture that is lost to your fast drainage.  Very sandy soils often drain this way.  They are excellent for certain vegetables (like watermelon or peanuts) but others need a little more water in their lives!

After you done your testing on your drainage, the next thing you will need is a "soil analysis kit".

People often ask me "what fertilizer should I use?" and this question is not answerable until you find out what your soil composition is!  I also like to use compost when I can.  This can be accomplished a couple of different ways, but the best way is to make your own compost.  I also like to buy composted manure and add it directly to my soil mix.

I commonly use:
1 part manure/compost.

1 part top soil (it's cheap but spend a couple of more bucks to get something without weeds if possible).

1 part peat moss (careful this does lower your soil pH!)

1 part sand (I have an abundance on my land) for drainage, as my soil can be a bit clay like and sticky.  If you need water retention I recommend vermiculite.

Now back to testing.


After you test your soil you are going to see what your NPK levels are.  Nitrogen, phosphate and Potassium.  These are the three main nutrients that all plants need to survive.  I am going to give you a little information about each one.  There are also secondary nutrients and micro-nutrients.  Now that you have some numbers, you can do a little research about each specific plant you are growing and find out what your NPK levels should be.

For example lettuce likes a pretty balanced fertilizer.  Some will recommend higher nitrogen.  So if you know that your soil is 0.5, 3, 2, then you could use a 10-10-10 with no problem.  however if you P or K get too much higher, you would want to balance your fertilizer out with a 10-8-8 or even a 12-8-8.  You see where I am going with this?  I would NEVER have your total N, P or K go above 20 however.  This will more than likely burn your roots up and cause your plants to die.  It's very possible to over fertilize.  I also don't recommend ever fertilizing your plants before they are 2 weeks old.  The root systems are brand new and they can be easily burned up.


Liquid fertilizer or granular?

I like to use liquid fertilizer on my vegetables.  It's kind of a secret mix and I don't know if I am ready to start selling it or sharing it yet, but it's mostly miracle grow.  That part I can tell you.  I also sometimes will side dress with a granular fertilizer between my rows.  but it's important not to over do it.  Remember too much fertilizer is a bad thing and will kill your plants.

Side dressing (or banding) is putting the fertilizer off to the "side"  you dig a narrow trench (or between rows) and you place the fertilizer directly in the soil, then cover it up.  That way when it rains or you water, some of it will be released over time.  Don't clump it all up in one spot though, make a thin strip (read your directions on the bag PLEASE!).  It's better for the plants and you will get a slower release of the nutrients.  You don't want to place it directly in contact with the roots, let it seep in through the side.  When you first do this, go sparingly until you get used to doing it, so you don't shock the plant and kill it.

You can find out more about fertilization on another blog I own that is completely devoted to fertilization (it's a sickness I know...)


Preparing your plot

So after you have decided where you are going to put your garden, I recommend preparing your soil that exists.  If you have time, go ahead and till the grass or whatever is growing there down into the earth, you want to mix it up well and cover and all the green parts that are growing.  Tear it and rip it up with your till (or hoe, shovel, or pick) and get it down into the earth.  Make sure it is covered then water it every couple of weeks to a month.  Repeat tilling it up.  What you are doing is composting it back into the earth.  It's the same process you would use with your plants after the growing season.  This provide valuable nutrients to go back into the earth. This process can take between 3 months to a whole year.

If you don't have time (as many of us forget to plant something or another until it's too late), remove the grass layer and through it on your compost pile.

Add your soil to your land.  Mix it all up and make your rows.  Now this is much easier if you have a tractor or a culitvatorr, etc... but it can be done by hand as well.  I use a shovel and dig down between my rows and use that soil to go on top to make the mounds.  The reason that you make mounds is to promote drainage.  You want the water to drain off your hills.

At this point you are ready to start planting seeds, but NOT SO FAST..  Research your plant and get the proper planting times for the zone you are in.  In a 10'x10' plot you could start with 10 rows spaced 1 foot apart, you can have more or less depending on what you are growing, but remember that you don't want to crowd your plants and have them competing for space, and you also want to have room so that you yourself can get down the rows.  It's very important to look the plants up you plan to grow..  Don't make a costly mistake like trying to grow your watermelon on your center row (they grow vines and will be all over your other plants).

Thanks for reading and as always keep on digging!

You can learn more about Robert Leavitt on his Google Plus page.