Prepping a garden-area for spring planting

Ok. I've had plenty of practice growing tiny herb gardens and flower beds. I think I've graduated up to a full fledged veggie garden. Nothing too big, I don't want to be over whelmed.

What I need, is some advice as to prep the area I want to use. I figure if I start now, as far as digging up the ground, removing grass and weeds, treating the soil, I will get a good start. I live in zone 7-8 (upstate SC). What are some things that I can plant during our winter time or early spring? Should I start planting my bulbs now? (garlic, onion). What about lettuces, spinach and other cold weather plants? HELP!!!

Any links would be mucho appreciated....
love

 

planting rye in the fall is a good way to increase the fertility of the soil. also throwing compost or leaves on your garden spot will make the soil super good and kill the weeds as well.
i think its a bit early for garlic..

 

^^^thanks. I don't even have the ground tilled, yet. I just have my spot picked out. I'm not ready to grow anything. What's the best way to get rid of the grass/weeds in the area I'm wanting to convert? I know dig it up....but my mom suggested take thick black garbage bags and anchoring them down to kill everything. Would that work well?

 

if you lay out cardboard or newspaper then pile grass clippings or other compostables on top of that it will be primo deluxe for spring planting. the newspaper will disintigrate and the grass beneath it will die...

 

Thankeee

 

yes, exactly that, because black plastic would kill useful bugs in garden too, and newspapers or leaves or thick compost layer would'n

 

Hmm, I always just dug up the grass in my garden.

Anyways, once you've gotten the grass taken care of, get a shovel and dig a trench as deep as the shovel goes along one end of the garden. Put the soil at the other end. Then go down another shovel length to loosen that soil (leave it in the trench, just turn it real good). Then dig a second trench immediately to the side of the first, putting the soil from the 2nd into the first. Repeat the process over and over till you reach the opposite end of the garden. The last trench is filled with the soil from the first; that's why you moved it to the other end. The best way to do this is to mix generous amounts of compost in with the soil (remove some dirt if you have to, or your dirt level will get rather high) as you do this.

 

I'm not really an advocate of double digging.... too much like hard work for me...on a new patch i dont even kill the grass..i dig it in and add grass clippings etc as and when...it helps to improve a poor soil.... after the initial dig i pretty much leave well alone and just turn the top soil before planting.....never had a problem yet with low yields...

 

if this is a virgin veggie patch then i reckon the best thing you can do for it this winter is simply to turn the grass then dig in as much horse manure as yer can manage.....then spread a layer over the top and leave it for the winter.....get it really well fertilised for a proper first planing inna spring

 

Low-work... mulch really, really heavily. that means putting watever half-rotten or non-rotten organic matter you've got around on it. A thick enough layer of mulch should kill the grass, doing your work for you. Bury and bulbs you want to plant before you put down the mulch. Now is the time for that. By the spring, you can easily turn your soil and plant.

Medium-work... Kill the grass manually. Just go at it with a shovel. It should probably come up in sheets. Put the grass in a pile that will be used as soil next year. Add composts and manures to your soil. Turn it, and plant a cover crop (something that you do not plan on harvesting, just growing to increase biomass and keep the soil from being bare). Rye is a good idea for this. Organic rye seeds should be available in any healthfood store. In the spring, you'll want to knock down the cover crop before it goes to seed, or else it will become a weed. If you want to, leave a section of it to harvest the seeds from for replanting in the fall. Turn the soil and plant.

Heavy-work... Double dig, as described by TrippinBTM. It will make your garden better, but it's a hell of a lot of work, and your garden should catch up in a year or three of being treeted right anyway. If you decide to double dig, then plant a cover crop as described above.

DO NOT leave the soil bare over winter. It's not good for it.

 

Always put a shallow dish or cup of beer or wine out at night for the slugs and snails. That way they die happily and not chemically.
If you know any tobacco smokers, collect the butts and leave them soaking in water. Use the water in a spray mister to spray leaves each morning to keep insects off. The water colour should be transparent sepia in colour when you use it ~ not dark. Nicotine is super potent on insects, but breaks down in sunlight so is inert by sunset.
Fine shredded newspaper (document shredded) soaked in water is great topcover that prevents weeds, retains moisture, and worms love living under and eating it.

Organic "How To" @ http://www.organicdownunder.com/
It's an Oz link, so adjust the seasons to suit fvege planting time. Here in Oz it's toward the end of spring right now (October)

Enjoy

 

A couple of great tips there MrRee... not sure i fancy spraying my crops with nicotine though but thanks for thr info...although so far i dont have too much of a slug problem its worth bearing in mind... then again... i really hate the idea of killing any garden bug or insect...

 

Well, you only find out that the vegetarian bugs outnumber us ten million to one when you grow veges! The only option to bug mortality is a hot house.

 

Don't get overzealous, MrRee. Dealing with pests is an entire other lesson. And I wouldn't start spraying tobaco around until after the bugs are there. And wouldn't waste my bear unless it turns out I have a slug problem.

 

yeah whatever..................

 

My rule of thumb with a garden is to pick the spot that has the most sun. in the fall Turn the ground over. We use a tractor to do the hard work . You can buy a tiller or the long way with lots of handheld garden tools. You need to turn the ground over and let it sit. when spring arrives turn the spot again. Rake roots of weeds(anything you don't want in your garden)out. Leave some rocks for the drain issues. let sit for a week or 2 then get in there with your garden tools and make your rows. Watch for the way the land runs off. YOu don't want the rows to get washed out. select where you wanna plant your veggies in those rows. I always found it best to grow squash,watermelons,cantalopes etc. with a type of flower near them to help the bees pollinate them. As for weeds coming up. nothing you can really do about that except get inthere and take care of them when they start out. You can lay newspaper cardboard etc. they all help but you still will get somethat will intrude.

 

bulbs that are spring plants go in the ground in fall before first frost.

 

this last summer i planted my garden in large 5 gallon buckets. my husband brought a whole bunch of them home one day and i decided to try it out. i just punched holes in the bottom of the buckets, threw in some pebbles in the bottoms and compost and dirt and my seeds. it was great i got a great garden and didn't have to dig up my backyard and the best part was there were no bugs after my plants. i think the plastic containers kept them away. for a small area, buckets are the way to go. what i also did was spray paint all the buckets the same color, bright red and then spray painted some patio furniture to match. it looked so cute. i have some great pics but don't know how to post them here. any help on posting pics would be of great help to me.
hippiewise

 

I like that idea, hippiewise

This is how I prep my garden from the autumn before: Keep in mind that the fall is a great time to mulch in compost into your yard. The last 2 or 3 times you mow your lawn, keep the grass clippings down, it'll refertilize the grass wonderfully and naturally. Leaves can be mulched and mixed in with soil and left on the lawn as well.

Every autumn I have a pumpkin carving party, and all the pumpkins I carve (or get left behind) are filled with compost (a great way to empty the composter before it freezes in the winter) and scattered around the garden. Come spring, the shells are fully decomposed and mix well into the garden. The layer of compost in the spring that I add to this also works wonders for my garden the rest of the year