Soil Preparation is Key
Just as one would select the most nutritious ingredients in preparing a special meal for your family the soil you decide to plant your vegetables or fruit should contain the best nutrition to feed them. If it is a first time garden and is part of your regular grass area use a spade or pitch fork to turn it over in early Spring or even the Fall before you decide to plant. Sprinkling the newly turned soil lightly with lime or wood ashes to raise the Ph from the newly turned grass. Whether you do add the lime or wood ashes will not jeopardize your newly established garden area but can only be to your benefit. Since it takes time for leaching these nutrients into the ground you will have to be patient. One other thought about your garden placement is it should not be placed in a valley area of your land. It is always wise to consider these factors when planning since rain waters will find your garden as a final resting place. Sure, you will need water to grow the plants but you do not want waters from areas nearby that may contain highly polluted soils but you do want regular rains to feed your garden needs.
Constructing Your Own Compost Bin
Finding an area in your yard to construct a compost bin is a fairly simple undertaking. Having it close by your garden is wise making it easier to use it when needed. It is then convenient when your garden is weeded and incorporating this to your already composted organic materiel. It may also facilitate implying some of the grass clippings from your regular lawn cutting into the bin. The original contents of your compost bin should contain layers of loam, table scraps, egg shells, a little grass, weeds, even hair clippings and regularly adding a layer of a couple of inches of regular and garden soil. Remembering to add water on a regular basis if it becomes scarce in your area. It would be a wise idea to build the housing for your compost bin the previous Fall to get it started then it will be well composted for your Spring gardening project.
Next Comes The Easy Part
Depending on the size of your planned garden will of course determine how populated you can add each vegetable. My first garden was only 10 x 10 feet square and I just planted about four tomato plants and added about the same amount of lettuce, carrots, onions and a few herbs. I started the tomatoes indoors in a sunlit window in late March since we lived in southern New Hampshire. That year my mediocre garden was just mediocre. Had I mounded my tomato plants with a reasonable amount of well composted organic material which would have leached into the root system with regular rains and watering they would have been ideally fed for maximum growth. The following year was different with a couple of my tomatoes weighing in well over two pounds.
For more information on Compost Bin construction: see Supporting Links or Resources
