Beginner questions

[kewkew]

Hi, I am new here and new to gardening. I have what are probably some really dumb questions. But I have no clue what I am doing and I want to have some success at this vegetable garden we are starting.

I am usually very good at killing plants. We tried tub gardening last summer and ended up with only a few scraggly green beans and peas. I think it is because I didn't thin them, but I didn't understand how.

Anyway, we have a decent size yard and we decided to turn part of it into a garden. My husband's dad came over with his rotto tiller and dug up a 9'x24' part of the yard. We didn't kill the grass first, someone said we should have, not that it makes a difference now. Anyway, this was almost a week ago and yesterday when we went to pull out stones it was all packed down again, such a struggle to dig, then there were even more stones (huge half foot rocks, down to 1 inch stones and tiny pebbles).

So my questions are:
How far down should I be digging with the shovel?
How small can the stones be before I leave them there and it won't be a problem?
I am so afraid after the 4 1/2 hours I was digging out there yesterday and I only got through 1/3 of the length, that I won't be able to grow anything in this soil.
I do have more questions, but thought I would ask for help with these to make sure I can do a garden before I ask any others.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Thomas W]

How far down should I be digging with the shovel?

It depends on what you want to grow. I dig down to 1½ spades depth when growing root vegs. It also depends on the amount of clay in your soil. Clay doesn't drain well. It's good to mix it well with lower layers if they contain less clay.

How small can the stones be before I leave them there and it won't be a problem?

I leave stones smaller than 1½ inch in the soil and remove the bigger ones. Before sowing I use a rake on the upper 2 inch of the soil, removing practically any stones.

I am so afraid after the 4 1/2 hours I was digging out there yesterday and I only got through 1/3 of the length, that I won't be able to grow anything in this soil.

Remember it will be so easy to work your soil the next time. I'm sure you be able to grow something.

[kewkew]

Thank you for the quick response! I plan on trying carrots, beets, green onions, cucumbers, green peppers, green beans, lettuce, corn, summer squash and spinach. How far down do I need to dig and clear out stones for the ones that are not root veges?

Sorry, I grew up in NYC and now live in rural Pa and would really like to learn to garden.

[Newt]

Hi Kewkew,

Some great advice from Thomas, so I'll try not to repeat anything he's mentioned.

I see two options at this point. Take out the larger rocks and any roots and grass clumps you find, add 4" of compost, till it into the soil and plant. Cover the soil with 6 layers of dampened newspaper and about an inch of shredded bark mulch to hold it down. Be sure to dampen the newspaper as you work or the first breeze will have you chasing it all over the yard. Been there... You will probably have to weed out grass that sprouts because it wasn't removed before you tilled the first time, but the newspaper layers will help to smother some if it, along with weed seeds that might sprout.

Another option would be to to do the above and then cover the entire planting bed with plastic to 'cook' the weeds for 3 to 4 weeks. You won't be able to plant seeds until late July or August, and then it would be your cool season veggies such as carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce, green beans, etc.

Here's a compost calculator so you can determine how much you will need.
http://www.cedar-grove.com/compost_calculator.asp

Some veggies are cool season veggies and some are warm season veggies. Considering where you live, at this late date you would do better with transplants instead of seeds for your warm season veggies. You should find these sites very helpful.
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/directory.html
http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/hom...scene0391.html

Here's a handy site on when to start what plants from seed. You'll need to know your first and last expected frost dates. That's the second link.
http://www.chestnut-sw.com/growform.htm
http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/

Here's more help on when to plant what. This site is from Kansas which is in hardiness zone 5. I don't know your zone, but you could be in zones 5 or 6, so the dates are close.
http://www.savvygardener.com/Feature..._calendar.html

You can check your hardiness zone here.
http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/c...ps/IDhardy.jpg

When to harvest veggies.
http://www.savvygardener.com/Feature...egetables.html
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubs/PDF/C935.pdf

If you have any vining veggies, you might want to make this trellis for anything you grow that is a vine.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/vegetabletrellis


Newt

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