The KInd Life Community Forum

Hey Erica! I am also going to have my own garden this year (first time! gonna be pretty small this year and it will be bigger the next after I have an idea of what I am up against!)! I have gotten books to read too and I have also been overwhelmed. And that is why I haven't had a garden before, but my parents always have a huge garden and this is what I have learned from them... The do basically nothing and it is THE ugliest garden on the planet and some of the garden ends up going to waste. However we eat out of it alllllll summer and so do all the neighbors... While waste is not what you want to do, all I am saying is give it a shot and learn as you go because you will at least get something out of it!

And I got this fun fact from my aunt... We obviously don't want to use pesticides but if the bugs eat it all then thats no good either! She soaks a habenero in a spray bottle and sprays her plants with that and it keeps the bugs off! I think thats great! (also heard of spraying them with dish detergent and water)

Good luck on your garden! I'm very excited about mine!

Erica, you are so welcome! I have a feeling that your garden is going to be a great learning experience and so much fun. ASBhearts is right on with her/his advice. I have a good friend whose garden is the wildest garden you've ever seen, and he takes a very 'hand-off' approach to weeding and maintenance, but he is thrilled with whatever he harvests - which is a lot more than you'd expect!

I have a feeling that since you are from North Carolina, you are going to be dealing with a heavy clay soil like my sister has (she is in Charlotte, NC). The hardest part of starting her garden was digging the soil for the first time - it was like a rock! The good news about clay soils is that they hold nutrients better than any other soil type and are very high in nutrients to begin with.

My last piece of advice (if you are dealing with clay soil) is to dig your garden early in the spring (even earlier than you plan on planting). Clay bakes hard like a brick as the weather gets warm and dry, but it is slightly easier to deal with when its still wet and muddy. You'll be an absolute mess when your done digging your plot, but ultimately, the labor will be slightly less back-breaking than if you had waited until the soil dries out. Some gardeners with heavy clay soils even dig their garden beds in the fall, letting the freeze-thaw cycle break down the clods of clay.

Lucky you! that means you get to go play in the dirt while my garden is still under a foot of snow! Every year your soil will get dramatically looser and looser as the roots from your vegetables break up the soil and as you incorporate a bit of your homemade compost. You will also begin to attract earthworms who will loosen the soil with their tunnels and castings (digested dirt/poo). So don't be discouraged if the digging is hard work the first time - It gets easier!

Good luck and enjoy those collards!

Hello, I am also thinking about one day having my own veggie garden and I've done a bit of research myself and I always seem to come across for composting making sure the PH doesn't get too basic or acidic because it can effect your plants.

Is it important to worry about the ph level of your compost? how do you control this?

The synergy of all your encouraging words makes gardening seem like Hard-Core Fun :) I'm getting my spade out tomorrow!