Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

Most garden centers will sell common herbs at the appropriate planting time in the spring. If you have a tighter budget but want to start bigger, assuming you live in a part of the country where it freezes in winter… Start seeds indoors in a sunny window in Early March – April, then set out in the garden after danger of frost passes. Start the seeds in a peat-pot, in commercially available potting soil. The peat pot can be set right into the ground and the roots will grow through the sides into the ground. Any seed catalog (Burpee,etc), or local garden center will usually sell a broader variety of seeds than they sell plants. Starting too early may result in leggy plants that may be difficult to transplant (won’t stand up well). Some herbs will root in water from cuttings(Fresh Basil as sold in some grocery stores) and can be started any time, and used as they grow. Most seed packets have clear directions on starting times, according to your part of the country. Most herbs love full sun, and will not do as well indoors.

GardenersCardiff answers:

I did it many years ago so prices different and I don’t remember. Go around to pond places and price the various things you want then see what you can find elsewhere. I will explain. I wanted an old fashioned water pump to spout water into an oak barrel. I found a plastic “oak” barrel on clearance at Home Depot for 11 dollars. I found the pump in a farm catalog for 39 dollars so this part cost 50 dollars. If you get it at a pond place 125 dollars or more. Some things you need to get at pond places like pond tubs/liners and pumps but other stuff you might find elsewhere much cheaper.

GardenersCardiff answers:

To get a good organic garden going takes years of soil building. Start small as a big garden will get overwhelming come the hot part of summer. I would say a garden no bigger than 10 feet by 20 feet the first growing season.

Now is the time to start garden prep by choosing where you want the garden and opening up the sod. Smothering the area where you will have the garden is a good first step or you can plow the sod open and till it in next spring. Plowing is a lot more effective than tilling for killing grass.

You will also need some tools. Get a couple of hoes, my favourite is the shuffle or stirrup hoe. You can find these at any box store. They are lighter and easier to use than the standard concrete hoe most people think of when they think about hoes. You will also need a wheel barrow or garden cart, a potato fork (looks somewhat like a pitch fork but fatter), a shovel, a spade, a couple of trowels.

You will need seeds. My favourite place to get seeds is Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine. Http://johnnysseeds.com
Start with easy things to grow and pay attention to the fact not everything grows in every season. Lettuce for example is best planted in the spring, it likes cool damp conditions. Tomatoes and peppers like it hot. A good seed catalogue will tell you such information. You will likely want to use seedlings for a lot of things such as tomatoes. Do not buy these at places like Wal-Mart. Go to a local nursery and tell them you are just starting out and you will get a lot of advice. One caveat, most nurseries (and box stores) are NOT organic and do not know much about organic growing so ignore all advice to use chemicals. But you will find healthier seedlings at most local places than box stores.

Good luck