DigitalVinyl wrote in message . ..
I wanted to establish new beds last year and now. Since I wanted to do
intensive gardening I dug up the dirt and sifted out rocks. I went
down 18" for my main tomato beds. Go as deep as you can and figure out
how deep your topsol is. I hit some clay which I removed. Other areas
I went 6-9" down--it *IS* a lot of work, but you only have to go to
that extreme once. I mixed in peat moss, composted manure & humus,
vermiculite/perlite, and some water retention crystals that will last
3-5 years. I had a very nice crop of tomatoes, 30 lbs from two
plants--first year gardening. I just prepped two lawn areas. I covered
them with black garbage bags for a few week to kill off the grass and
weeds and dry them out. I then dig them up, turned them, pulled big
weeds like dandelions, and tossed out stones. Fresh grass is strong
and too much work to tear up, let the black bags weaken it first. I'm
added my amendments probably today and seeding them before the
weekend.

This year I varied the fertilizer I added using bonemeal, bloodmeal &
greensand. I make sure I use areas I've cleared of stones nice and
deep for tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onion, etc, since they benefit
from so few rocks underground.

(Cinnamon) wrote:

Hi everyone.

I recently purchased my first home and will be moving in on May 27th.

It has a very large, slightly sloped backyard and I live in
Cincinnati, if anyone is familiar with the climate and strange weather
we have here it may be helpful I guess.

I haven't had a garden since I was a kid, so there is a lot I don't
remember.

Can anyone give advice on what to do to get a start on a garden for
next year, and how to plan my garden now?

What I would like to grow is:

Carrots
Lettuce
Tomatos (cherry and plum)
Corn (couple staulks)
Green Peppers
Green Onions
Onions
Banana Peppers (can you grow those in the US?)

I would also like to try some strawberries because in the back portion
of my yard is a pretty good slope in a shady area and I remember from
being a kid that they grow best in the shade and on a hill. I would
also like to try to grow some blueberries and maybe some blackberries.

In addition to all that (as if that's not enough) I would like to try
a little herb garden with some garlic, mint, cilantro, ginger,
parsley, and bay leaves. Would the herbs be best off in the garden or
should I try that in a window box?

I do plan also on starting a compost pile for use next year.

I guess one of my biggest hinderences to the yard preperation this
year might be that we have 17 year locusts, and this summer is the
17th year so they will be swarming. Does anyone know if this is really
a hinderence or just an annoyance?

Well... I guess I have written a long enough post here. I will try to
shorten them in the future, I am just pretty excited about it I guess.

Thank you in advance for your assistance everyone!

Cinnamon L - Cincinnati Ohio

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener

That's an interesting note about the strawberries, when I was growing
up we had woods behind our house on a hill and we planted the
srawberries there. They did well too...

Thanks for all of the advice (and letting me know about the banana
peppers (that's gonna be awesome!).

I will keep reading and taking notes from you all until I break ground
on my garden next year (or hopefully fall) at the very least, I think
I would like to start the beds as Digital Vinyl recommended.

Thanks to all of you! All advice on this is still welcome!