A Beginner's Garden

Last year my wife and I bought our first house, built on a shady eighth acre plot in a fifties suburb of Minneapolis. Since my wife and I both grew up in rural Ohio with big gardens, we were excited to start one of our own.

Wanting to give our new garden the best chance possible, I checked out a few books from the library and, of course, searched online. My most valuable advice came from family and friends who had been planting vegetable gardens for years. Talking to neighbors was also helpful, since they already knew the soil and climate from experience.

It's still early in the growing season, but so far our garden seems to be pretty successful. Below are the basic steps most people seem to agree on, as well as my personal experience with them.

Picking a spot for your new garden

Sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine. My yard is small with lots of shade trees, so this was tricky, but I managed to find a small plot on the east side of the house that gets full sun for about ten hours a day. Advice varies on the direction to plant the rows, but the key seems to be to make sure the tall plants don't shade the small ones.

When to start

The exact dates obviously vary according to your climate, but some basic guidelines apply.

If you plan to start from seed, your garden will start indoors long before the last snow melts. We planted our first seeds about two months before the last frost, but without much success.
A good friend does this every year with great results, however, and he gave me the following advice.

1. Use a heating mat for plants early, but turn it off when the plants begin to grow leaves. Leaving it on too long promotes leafy growth, rather than delicious vegetables.
2. Use plenty of lights; he has about 15 CFL's suspended over a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
3. Use foil to reflect the heat and light back onto the plants.
4. Leave the light on for 14 - 16 hours a day, since it is not as intense as the sun.

The Soil

I turned over the sod with a spade to kill the grass and dandelions as soon as the ground was not muddy. Advice varies on whether to turn the soil or not, so you will have to decide for yourself.

The type of soil you have is also very important. Although I meant to get a soil test kit, my local hardware store was always sold out and the soil looked pretty rich, so I did without any fertilizers.
We do, however, have a compost bin going to keep the soil that way next year.

If you are planting in pots rather than in the ground, fertilizer could be more critical, since in my experience that small amount of soil will become depleted rather quickly.

Where to buy seeds, plants, and supplies

Wherever you can get a good deal on them. Seriously. We bought seeds from Aldi and the dollar store, and all of them have grown up very well (outdoors). To make up for our failed attempt to start seeds indoors, I also stopped by Home Depot and bought 6 different types of tomatoes, and 3 pepper plants.

Besides adding a wire fence (as much to keep my dog out as the rabbits) the garden has been very little work. I suspect the weeds will really start to grow as the summer goes on, but so far, so good.

Expect an update in the fall on which vegetables were the best, including our six different types of tomatoes.

Our garden in the shade of early evening