Preparing a new garden

[mundamanu]

Hi all, my wife and I are in the process of purchasing an 18-acre property outside of Albany, New York that is set-up primarily for horses. There is very little land that will not either be used as pasture for horses or dairy goats. However, we do plan on having a small(-ish) garden.

I found neither an existing garden nor evidence of a previous garden on the property, so we will be starting from scratch.

We will not be moving in until near the end of the summer, so I am not going to worry about planting anything for this year. I would, however, like to get a jump start on next year.

From what I have been reading, it seems like I should take a soil sample, till in the existing grass (lawn), add whatever soil amendments are called for by the sample (before tilling, if that is what is called for), add organic matter (manure, compost, etc.), and then plant a cover/green manure crop (depending on what is called for by the soil results) which will be tilled in in the spring.

Does this sound about right? Anything anyone would do differently? What do those of you who have started gardens from scratch wish you had done that you did not do? What did you do that you wish you had not done? Is it best to lay it out east to west or north to south? Should I make separate sections? Etc.

Any gardening wisdom at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bird]

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Yes, it does, although I did it just a little differently. I simply started one Fall by tilling the existing pasture grass in, then took my soil samples and sent them in (you take several small samples from several different parts of the ground in question), but I never planted any green manure or cover crop. Of course we don't have the cold weather and snow that folks up north get, so everytime it rained I tilled it again as soon as it was dry enough, or every time I noticed grass or weeds trying to grow, I tilled it again. In other words, I just kept it stirred so nothing could grow until I was ready to plant in the Spring.

I never added any chemical fertilizer, but sure did till in lots of wood chips and cow manure.

As for laying out the rows north & south vs. east & west, I don't think it makes any difference. Or at least I couldn't tell any difference in mine. I had them east & west for a couple of years, but then changed to north & south simply because the location of my water hydrants made it easier for me to water that way.

 

[JDgreen227]

While you can till in the existing grass, as I did for the first garden I had back in 1990, be prepared to do a LOT of extra weeding for a few years. I learned the hard way that much of the grass you till in will simply sprout anew...and if your plot has crabgrass and/or quack grass you will devote even more time to weeding. What we did was use a loader bucket to scoop up about four inches of the topsoil and then knock off the black dirt, redeposit the soil on the plot, and then dispose of the roots. Another way which is much easier would be to kill the existing grass with chemicals and then till the plot in.

We have never considered using a cover crop, not in our climate...!! Getting the soil tested is an excellent idea and well worth the expense. The soil here is mainly clay but I have been adding compost, leaves, bagged manure, etc. and last month I tilled in two yards of sand to improve drainage.
I really envy those lucky people who have loam soil for their garden, after 12 years of hard work our soil is almost halfway decent.

If you plant the type of vegetables that sprawl out, like squash, melons, cucumbers, etc. place them at the outer edges of your plot, otherwise they will take up the space other crops occupy. A last note...we don't get a lot of full sun where we live, so I plant the rows north to south. In a location where there is full sun more often, I doubt it would matter.

Good luck !!!

 

[Dave___in___CT]

Hi...


Your plan is sound... pick a sunny area... consider shade from trees at different times of the day... may not want full sun all day for certain plants...

Do not add materials that are not decomposed enough... will likely hinder growth of veggies next spring...

Lotsa' composted leaves tilled in are a great supplement... Adds organic matter and carbon... Many towns have a supply free for the taking...

Consider planting garlic this fall... for harvest next season...

A cover crop is a great choice... especially if the tilled are is susceptable to errosion...


Dave...

 

[Chuck52]

Killing the existing turf before tilling is a good idea, unless you can do as Bird said and just keep tilling it. An alternative to chemicals, such as Roundup, would be to cover the area with black plastic for a few weeks prior to tilling. That will do a good job of killing the turf so it will decompose more quickly. You might still have the roots come back on you in the spring, however. I made a strawberry bed by just tilling it under in the fall and then tilling and planting the berries in the spring. I had so much grass come up the berries were swamped out. So, the next fall, I first killed everything with Roundup and then tilled it in. Much less grass the following spring, but then the deer ate my berries! So, this year it bacame an asparagus bed. Have you got deer to contend with?

Chuck

 

[kensfarm]

If they have some old horse manure around.. spread it out on the garden area on top of the grass.. add some lime.. plow it all under.. you can then shallow till to level.. plant legume cover crop for the fall/winter.. you'll be ready for spring planting.

If you wanted to plant late this year.. winter squash.. turnups.. etc.

There's nothing better then sliced squash.. dipped in corn meal and then fried in the skillet. The winter squash varieties like acorn, buttercup, butternut have a sweet nutty flavor.. the task has won me over from the regular yellow & zuccinni.

 

[mundamanu]

Thank you for the replies. I am happy to hear that my plan is fairly sound.

The additional suggestions are appreciated. I think I will kill the existing grass as suggested before turning the ground in an effort to minimize weeds. I would like to avoid using chemicals, so the fewer weeds from the start, the better.

I am chomping at the bit to get to the new place. I have about eight weeks to go.

By the way kensfarm, you made my mouth water. I love winter squashes! They are one of the things that I cannot wait to grow.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Compost your goat manure. Stuff grows great in it. I'd lean toward Chuck's plastic suggestion. We basically tilled last year for the first time. Fertilized and limed. Part of the garden we covered with black plastic, and part we left uncovered. The uncovered part grew so many weeds we couldn't keep up, and we had a very poor crop.

When the season ended, I left the plastic down for the winter and pulled it up this spring. There were very few weeds. Just small clumps where holes had been cut for plants. A quick run with the harrow and the bed was ready to plant. We fertilized and limed and recovered with plastic. Everything is planted and so far the only weeds are along the edges.

As a trial, we bought one tray of pumpkins and planted one of the plants under the plastic, one of the plants beside the soaker hose but not under the plastic, and one of them outside the garden area and away from both hose and plastic. So far the jury is still out, but the non-watered, non cared for pumpkin has about doubled in size since we planted it. The one that has the benefit of occasional watering but no plastic is about twice the size of the uncared for one. BUT, the one that is under the plastic is about twice the size of the second one. It is so much larger than the uncared for one that it is difficult to believe they are from the same tray.

We are also testing buying sets vs. seeds on cucumbers and watermelons. It's not a real accurate test since we couldn't match the varieties, but so far, with two varieties of cukes from seed, one is almost as large as the purchased sets and the other "organic" type is still trying to get its third leaf.

Garden's been in about 3 weeks.

We've discussed it and decided that we would like a little more garden next year, so we're going to get some more plastic and stake it down next to the existing garden. By next spring, everything under it should be pretty well dead.

Steve

PS. Be careful in the spring. The plastic warms the ground real good and seems to be a favorite spot for snakes to hide.

 

[kensfarm]

I actually picked my first squash this weekend.. had grilled hamburgers & fried squash Sat. night. My only problem is I can eat the whole plate & feel stuffed for the rest of the evening.