Help me with my garden! (1st time planting)

Rosiedoll

We moved into our house last year and the previous home owners had a garden in the back of the yard. It's overgrown now, but the area is still marked off and different from the rest of the yard. I want to start a garden, but have no idea where to start. I just had a baby and am going to make his own baby food, so I would like to use home grown veggies to do so.

1. How do I prepare the garden area for planting again? It's overgrown with weeds-- do I need to put anything down first? Special dirt, etc?

2. I live in Nashville- How do I know what veggies/herbs are good to plant for our climate?

3. How do I know when to plant each differnt veggie/herb?

4. Any websites you would reccomend for a very new beginner?

Thanks!!!

nitaw

I'm a novice when it comes to gardening, there are some other ladies here who would be much better at answering your questions. As for your garden, I would not spray the weeds with any chemical if you plan on growing food in that spot. Right now would be a good time for you to go out in the yard and pull weeds. In fact - we're getting some rain this week, so as soon as the rain is over, go pull weeds. The rain will loosen the soil and make it easier to pull them.

Here is a website that I use for reference for veggies: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/basics.html

It has a veggie glossary with info on when to plant. Hopefully, some other ladies will chime in to answer your other questions.

curlydoglover

You can smother the weeds with thickly layered newspapers.

To prep the soil for this year, I would till in a good mix of organic compost.   This fall you'll want to top-dress with compost and then cover the beds with a mulch or a permeable landscape fabric.

Generally you'll want to plant the veggies when the danger of frost has passed.  After that, plant whenever you'd like. 

I hear Square Foot Gardening is really easy for beginners to follow.  I never used it because, quite frankly, I've got nearly 400 square feet!  Also, there's this website that has an interactive garden planner that comes with a detailed planning guide.

IMO, if you're really new at this, go to a local garden center and buy transplants rather than trying to start from seed.  They'll have the vegetables and fruit that are good for your area and the staff is generally helpful.

kmartparty

I agree with the previous posters, though I would pull the weeds and remove their roots from the soil rather than try to smother them.  You may want to rent a roto-tiller from a hardware store (you can rent them from Home Depot for $70/day; we split it with our neighbors), and do what the previous poster said to till in some manure or compost.

I also agree that, if you're a true beginner, start with seedlings from your favorite garden store.  If you have a burning desire to grow your own, tomatoes are really easy to start indoors with just soil, light, and water.  I've honestly never planted a tomato seed that did not grow.

I learned a lot about gardening from trial and error, so don't be discouraged if everything that you try does not work. You may want to get seedlings because of your newborn.  Gardening sucks up a lot more time than you would think.  Your local garden store will likely have lots of advice on what grows best in your area.

Dr.Loretta

1. I would pull out as much as you can, then mulch the heck out of it

2. Google USDA growing zones to find out what zone you're in. From there you can google to check out what grows best and when. If you're doing veggies from seed, they should have a map on the back of the packet and directions on when/how to plant depending on where you live.

3. See #2

4. Nope. You might want to check your local nursery, though. they can give you an idea of what works near you. And/or see what your local farmer's market offers. Local growers will give you a better idea of what works.