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You can get a jump on gardening early in the spring by planting cold weather vegetables. They can be planted as soon as the ground thaws and the temperatures are still a little cool at night, but above freezing. Raised beds thaw a little sooner. Putting a clear plastic over the top will also warm up the soil. The last half of April is when I start planting in my raised beds.
Some cold weather vegetables actually do better when the weather is a little cooler. One of these vegetables is spinach. It just doesn’t grow for me when planted in the summer, but does when planted in the spring.
Other cold weather vegetables include: lettuce/swiss chard/arugula, peas, onions, beets, carrots, radishes, kale, broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage and potatoes.

Peas, arugula and radishes are one of the first vegetables I plant and are pretty easy to grow.

To speed up the growing process, these vegetables can also be started indoors and then transplanted outside. I did that with onions this year.

After a long winter of eating store bought produce, I can’t wait to start planting the garden as soon as the weather warms up. It’s a good way to get fresh air and the homegrown vegetables are much more nutritious.

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Composting is a great way to create high quality soil for free. It just takes some time. Compost is created when organic matter like leaves and food scraps break down into fertilizer. The organisms that break the organic matter down into compost need a mixture of carbon, nitrogen, air and water. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen should be about 25 to 30.
Materials like leaves, twigs, sawdust and paper make up the carbon piece. Use raw wood that is not stained or treated. Also, don’t use glossy or colored paper.
Materials like grass clippings, food scraps, coffee grounds and tea make up the nitrogen piece. Food scraps include fruit and vegetable scraps/peelings and egg shells. Don’t ever use meat, the eggs themselves, dairy products, cooked foods or processed foods. If you use tea bags, make sure they don’t have any staples.
To provide air flow, layer the carbon and nitrogen materials in the compost container.
The produce scraps should provide enough water, but if it gets dry, a little water can be added.

There are various containers the compost can be created in. There are tumblers which are barrels that spin to combine the compost materials. There are small kitchen containers. You can also create your own bin with any container or tote, but it should have a lid, especially if it’s outdoors. You also have to add holes to allow for airflow.
You could create a compost pile outdoors layered on the ground. It will naturally decompose over time, but the food scraps will most likely attract wild animals, so might not be the best idea.
The compost is ready to use when it has broken down into a rich black soil.

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Vegetable gardening is my summer hobby. I’ve had a vegetable garden in some form ever since I was a kid. If you’ve never had a garden before, getting started is easy no matter where you live.
To get started, first take a look around your yard. Find a spot to put the garden that gets at least 6 hours of sun, especially afternoon sun. A south facing spot is the best.

Next choose the type of garden. Will this be a row garden where the seeds are directly sowed in the ground, a mound garden (Hügelkultur) where raised mounds of soil are built on top of the ground, raised beds or a container garden?

Row gardens
Row gardens are the most common and the hardest to maintain. 10′ x 10′ is a good starter size. Remove any grass and get the area down to bare ground. Use a roto tiller to loosen the soil and make it easier to plant. Then take a hoe and mark rows in the soil. Leave at least 2 – 3 feet between rows for easily walking between them.

Mound gardens
For a mound garden, layer cardboard, leaves, twigs, black and white newspapers in raised mounds in rows or small, round circles. On top of that add, soil, compost and/or mulch.

Raised bed gardens
For raised beds, I used 4′ x 4′ x 6″ square beds made by Greenland Gardener sold online at Home Depot. Unfortunately, the company seems to have stopped making them, so I just bought a couple similar, but definitely not the same, raised beds at Lakeside Collection. The Greenland Gardener beds are heavier, recycled material that won’t rot. The Lakeside beds are lighter and made of plastic. They are roughly the same size and price. They both are pretty easy to install. The Greenland bed sides are one piece and have corners the boards fit into. The sides do buckle a bit over time though. The Lakeside bed sides have two pieces that slide together and lock in place with a stake that pushes into the ground.
In the past, I’ve used wood raised beds, but eventually wood rots, which mine did, so I prefer a longer lasting material.
A budget friendly soil option is to fill them with items similar to building mound gardens. All of that will eventually compost down into nutrient rich soil.
Also lay the raised bed down on top of landscaping fabric or black plastic to prevent weeds from growing up through the bed. I used the black plastic because it lasts longer.

Container gardens
This year, I’m trying containers for my flowers, but vegetables can also grow in pots. 5 gallon pails work great for larger vegetables like tomatoes. The vegetables just need room for the roots to grow. Vegetables like radishes can be grown in smaller pots.

I’ve done all 4 types of gardens and should have just started off with raised beds. They are so much easier and there is far less maintenance with hoeing and weed pulling than row gardens. They cost more upfront, but are worth it in the end if you are going to stick with gardening for the long term.
If you are not sure, just make a small row garden with a few simple vegetables like lettuce and radishes and then move to a raised bed later on.

Once you figure out what garden type you are going to use, pick a size for the garden. Start small, don’t get carried away right off the bat. Weeds take over so easily that it will be too overwhelming if you were to jump in with a giant row garden.

What to plant
Next, figure out what you are going to grow. Grow what you will eat. If you don’t like something, don’t grow it. Some starter vegetables to grow might be lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, radishes and a tomato plant. Don’t go overboard buying seeds. Some seed packets, like lettuce, contain a lot of seeds. They will keep for a few years if kept dry though. Also, buy good quality seeds to improve the rate of success. I get my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They are reasonably priced, high quality seeds with free shipping. They also have a gorgeous annual seed catalog.

Gardening tools
For gardening, some basic tools you need include a hoe, shovel, handheld digger and gardening gloves. A knee pad, hat and bug net might also be helpful.

Planting
Once the last frost is passed, it’s safe to plant the garden. You basically just drag the hoe through the ground or use the digger to make small holes to drop the seeds. Drop the seed in and cover it up. A good rule of thumb is to make the hole about double the size of the seed. Then cover the seed with dirt. Small seeds just need a dusting of soil over the top, but bigger seeds like zucchini need a little bit more. Don’t cover with too much soil though or the seed may not germinate. Once the seeds are planted, drizzle with a bit of water if you want.
Things should start popping up after about a week, depending on the seed. The only care really needed until harvest time is a bit of water when the soil feels dry and pulling any weeds that pop up. Try to stay on top of the weeds. They can get out of control fast. That’s why I gave up the row garden and switched to raised beds. Weeds still grow in them, but it’s not nearly as time consuming or strenuous to pull them out. Don’t use any pesticides/herbicides. Go organic. The vegetables will contain more nutrients and be much better for you, which is a big reason to grow your own food.
The crops are ready to eat when they look good to you. Be careful with zucchini. One day they can be almost ready to eat and the next they are the size of baseball bats.

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