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Need "Gardening for Dummies" advice

DebBrown

DebBrown

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We're planning to do some vegetable gardening this spring and I am clueless. I need resources that can help me figure out what is easy to grow, works well in our climate, etc.

Can anyone recommend a book, website or other resource?

Deb
 
You should start out by checking with your county extension office. They should have information available about what should do well for you, and should also be able to suggest additional sources of information. Be aware that the seed catalogs do tend to exaggerate, even if not as much as timeshare salesmen.
 
I don't know what your state offers, but here in Wisconsin the UW Extension office has a kinds of information available for gardeners and home owners. The information is specific to our climate and the list of available publications is online. There usually is some fee, but it is very small and probably only covers the cost of printing.

They also have dehrydraters, canning equipment, etc. that can be checked out.

Just as I'm about to submit this, I see Rod posted the same answer!
 
You don't need the modern age stuff.

Ask among your friends and acquaintances for some one who gardens and you probably would get from them everything in a 15 min conversation.

I've been doing it for a long time and it is not that complex.

Spring = lettuce and mesclun mixes, peas, radish etc.

What are you wanting to grow and where is the garden located.?
 
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Adopt a senior. Trade some able hands to help set up his/her vegetable garden and set a chair up in your garden for him to direct the action at your house.

It would be a great trade - his expertise & your youthful labor.

My youngest nephew just loves to help (since he was 4 yo) in my garden.
 
I didn't even know we had a county extension office but I did find it online. There seems to be alot of general info but nothing specific. I live in Cook County which is the very urban Chicago area. They have some programs for school children but I haven't found anything that would be helpful yet. I'll keep wading through the info.

I guess I'm looking for someone to give me specific advice. "These plants grow well in your area and are fairly easy to grow. Rabbits won't eat them!" :)

Deb
 
A) find a sunny spot.
B) Put 4" manure on top
C) till it all in down 9-12"
D) make mounded-up rows of soil- now would be a good time to set-up irrigation if needed.
E) plant radishes and lettuces and carrots- if desired- as soon as you can work the soil on top of the mounded rows. Very little frost danger with these.
F) As soon as frost danger ends, visit a garden center, buy little tomatoes, peppers, squashes or whatever you want. Plant on top of the mounds. Write what's there on popsicle sticks on the rows.
Weed
Water
Repeat as necessary
You'll have lettuce pretty steadily if you just clip the tender leaves. replant if it gets away from you (too big- tough to eat)
I like Early Girl tomatoes- they ripen in about 60 days and produce til frost. There are bigger ones, but they take longer to ripen- a consideration if your season is short.

Have fun. Done right- the way I do it, the tomatoes cost about $5 each.

Jim Ricks
 
"I guess I'm looking for someone to give me specific advice. "These plants grow well in your area and are fairly easy to grow. Rabbits won't eat them!"

Deb, my parents used to live in DuPage county, and rented a garden plot from Downers Grove. The thing that grew very well for Dad was tomatoes. They grew far too well. He gave tomatoes to everyone he knew. At Dad's wake, one of his golf buddies walked up to the coffin and said, Where's my tomatoes?

So I guarantee tomatoes are perfect for your climate, and they're easy to grow.

I've never had bunnies eat my tomatoes. However, they love pepper plants and green beans. Bloodmeal is supposed to keep them away, as well as add nitrogen to your plants, but I've never had much luck with it. Other say to spray the plants with a hot pepper solution, but chicken wire works best for bunnies.
 
The hardest thing is just getting started. Don't overthink it. If something doesn't grow well this year, plant something else next year.

You do need a sunny spot to grow produce. I don't know what kind of animal wildlife you have in urban Chicago. Rabbits? Deer? Rodents? You will have birds and they may decide to sample berries, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about that. Just plant something you like and see what happens. Then you can adjust your strategy.
 
I lived in Rochester NY for years. I'd bet that you can grow just about anything you want - I did. The only caveat is to make sure you follow the directions on the seed packets to see when to plant, or if you are starting seeds inside, you need to plant outside when the temperatures are what is stated on the package.

Except for varmints eating your food, I'd guess that putting seedlings out too early is the biggest problem.

I'd buy tomato plants, not seeds for your first garden. Peas should grow well and the seeds can go into the ground early.

Wander around your library gardening shelves. They are sure to have books on vegetable gardens. I love the idea of working with a senior. Your garden center should be able to give you advice too - but I don't mean Wal-Mart or Home Depot garden center.

It's pretty easy. Stick the seed in the soil, water, and weed - then harvest :D

One other thing. You may not be able to recognize your seedling from a weed. If it's growing in a row (or several on a mound) then it's probably your seedling and not a week.
 
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You are all great! I'll get my granddaughter involved in making some choices.

Thanks for the step-by-step instructions, Jim. And, also for the link to the UW publications.

We have a fenced in yard so only have to worry about the bunnies and possibly rodents. We'll try the chicken wire. We are having some major landscaping done as soon as it warms up and they will put in a couple of raised beds along the south side of our house. The fence cuts some of the sun but I think we can still make something grow.

Deb
 
Here's my $.02:

1) don't get carried away your first year. Keep it simple.

2) Pick 4 or 5 vegetables that you eat regularly. Make sure they will grow in your area.

3) buy plants at your garden center instead of starting from seed. not all choices can be bought as plants, but those that can will save you time.

4) to cut down on weeds, once the plants are in and the seeds have sprouted, cover the rest of the ground with 2-3 sheets of newspaper then cover that with grass clippings or mulched leaves. a little work now saves a bunch of time weeding the rest of the season.

5) it's a learning experience. don't get discouraged if things don't work exactly as you want. there's always next year.

6) have fun!!!!!

Cheers!
 
DebBrown said:
I'll get my granddaughter involved in making some choices.
Click to expand...

Plant her favorite vegetable or two. For the other veggies, grow interesting ones - eggplant is purple skin, a color kids like. Plant a bushy item, so they have to look and find the veggie to pick. The first year or so, I had the nephew make a garden report - he drew colored pictures of the fruit/veggies & their size, counted the harvest each day we picked in the garden. Gardening is an activity involving fine motor skills, labor, caring of plants (watering, weeding), and reports. Concrete and physical activites; planning is your job to make this a successful adventure for her.

The nephew for his 6th year of gardening - the new vegetable was potatoes.
 
Passepartout said:
Have fun. Done right- the way I do it, the tomatoes cost about $5 each.

Jim Ricks
Click to expand...

Those home grown tomatoes taste so much better than the ones from the store. We have them along with our $3 cucumbers from the garden. If you want to grow cucumbers grow them from seed, my experience is that they don't transplant well.
 
The Nationa Gardening Association has been around for a long time, has a great magazine, and had the best single book on vegetable gardening I have ever read, (and I have been gardening for 50+ years).
Their website:

http://www.garden.org/

If you could find a copy of their out of print book, that would be all you need.
Ron
 
Raised beds are a great idea. We put new compost in ours each year. Sun is important. Yes, as someone said your tomatoes will only cost $5 each, but homegrown is so good.
 
I had my first "real" garden plot last year, when our church set up a community garden and rented out plots. I'm in Minnesota, so probably similar (or maybe slightly colder) than you. Tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes did great (and we realized we don't really like radishes enough to grow them again!). We grew a few peas, which seemed like lots of work for what we got to me. For some reason our peppers didn't do so well, but I think that was because they got shaded by our tomatoes and the neighbor's plants.

Here are two good links also, one from Minnesota extension
http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/components/info_vegetables.html

The second from the Minnesota arboreatum was very helpful to me in understanding how much could fit into my 10x10 foot plot - it gave some perspective on spacing for plants,

http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/veggiesbytheyard.aspx

I'm looking forward to doing it again; my daughter had so much fun we're getting a second plot for her.
 
NWL said:
3) buy plants at your garden center instead of starting from seed. not all choices can be bought as plants, but those that can will save you time.
Click to expand...

Starting the seeds is my favorite part. It always gives me hope Spring really IS coming eventually. We still buy a lot of plants, mostly from the two local high schools that have greenhouses. They're dirt cheap there. Probably cheaper than I can start them myself.

Your local Coop or garden center will only stock plants and seeds that do well in your area and they will have info on when to plant them. The Burpee website is also great fun to read during the long cold winter.

My Dad always said to "plant extra for the critters". Sometimes the critters take more than their fair share.

Sheila
 
sfwilshire said:
Starting the seeds is my favorite part. It always gives me hope Spring really IS coming eventually. We still buy a lot of plants, mostly from the two local high schools that have greenhouses. They're dirt cheap there. Probably cheaper than I can start them myself.

Your local Coop or garden center will only stock plants and seeds that do well in your area and they will have info on when to plant them. The Burpee website is also great fun to read during the long cold winter.

My Dad always said to "plant extra for the critters". Sometimes the critters take more than their fair share.

Sheila
Click to expand...

I agree. Starting my seeds when there is still snow on the ground is a good mood booster. With the exception of potatoes and onions, I only buy plants if I have "seed failure". :) For a new gardener, though, I think it's best to buy plants, if possible. Better success rate and you don't get discouraged. Once you get the hang of it, then you can move on to seed starting.

Good advice on using plants from a local garden center. Home Depot will stock anything.

This thread has reminded me that it's time to order my seeds!

Cheers!
 
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