Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.

Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.
-a burning desire to do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.

With this in mind, are there any good websites or definitive print
tomes I should check out? The snow is almost melted (I'm in Winnipeg,
Manitoba), so I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either
rent a rototiller or hire someone to clear out a big patch.

Also, if anyone is from this area and knows the best stuff to grow in
this soil/climate and can give me any area-specific pointers, much
appreciated.

So, if anyone can give me any advice on getting started on this, I'd
be muy grateful.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
"As a member of the Consumer Electronics Association, Sony joined the
chorus of support for Napster against the legal onslaught from Sony
and the other music giants seeking to shut it down. As a member of
the RIAA, Sony railed against companies like Sony that manufacture
CD Burners."
-Frank Rose, Wired Magazine

Congratulations on the massive personal evolution!!

My advice would be to scale back your plans for a vegetable garden a bit.
If you are a complete beginner, it's easy to bite off more than you can
chew. It can be a bit discouraging to do a huge planting, find you don't
have the skills or time to care for everything, and be faced with a big
weedy mess.

Much better to start small, or moderate, have a positive experience, and
then add on to your plot as you gain confidence.

My vegetable garden is about 900 square feet. A quarter of that is in
asparagus (a perennial vegetable). In the rest I grow lettuce, swiss chard
and other greens; sugar peas, bush and pole beans; tomatoes, peppers and
eggplants; onions and garlic, and other things as well. I have a row of
cannas, just for beauty, gladiolus for cutting, and nasturtiums and other
flowers here and there. I get plenty of food, some to share, and for me it
is the right balance of work and pleasure.

I concentrate on growing things that are best absolutely fresh and ripe, or
that I prefer unusual varieties of, and skip things like sweet corn that are
readily available at farm stands where I live. After having the plot tilled
initially, I now rely on a more or less permanent mulch cover, which keeps
weeds at bay and continuously improves the soil.

One of your early tasks should be to establish a compost pile, or ideally
two or three of them--one for "raw" compost, which is then turned into
successive piles for maturing and storage. This doesn't have to be anything
fancy, but you will appreciate having a dedicated spot for garden (and
kitchen) refuse, and you will love having the finished compost.

I can strongly recommend the book __The Natural Food Garden__ by Patrick
Lima. He and John Scanlan garden at Larkwhistle in Ontario. It's a
wonderfully written and photographed book, with clear explanations of WHY
and how to do things, good for beginners and more experienced gardeners.

Good luck, and have fun,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Rev. J. Toad" wrote in message
news:3e807db2.258099250@news...
Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.

Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.
-a burning desire to do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.

With this in mind, are there any good websites or definitive print
tomes I should check out? The snow is almost melted (I'm in Winnipeg,
Manitoba), so I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either
rent a rototiller or hire someone to clear out a big patch.

Also, if anyone is from this area and knows the best stuff to grow in
this soil/climate and can give me any area-specific pointers, much
appreciated.

So, if anyone can give me any advice on getting started on this, I'd
be muy grateful.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
"As a member of the Consumer Electronics Association, Sony joined the
chorus of support for Napster against the legal onslaught from Sony
and the other music giants seeking to shut it down. As a member of
the RIAA, Sony railed against companies like Sony that manufacture
CD Burners."
-Frank Rose, Wired Magazine

I agree with Sue. Don't do more than you need to keep you busy. Make a
list of what you like and decide if you are going to just eat it fresh, or
can and freeze it. Then ask the newsgroup how many feet of row it will take
to supply that much. Have that much plowed, and then get in with the roto
tiller and break up the clods. You need to get down at least 5 to 6 inches
the first time. I am in Kansas and grow a lot of squash and melons. They
take a lot of room, but the rest usually don't require a lot of extra space.

I am also a type 2 diabetic, and find that working in the garden lowers my
blood sugar, some times too much. Be careful that you eat something before
going out, and test your blood/sugar more often than normal while working on
this project. I have been told that a low sugar attack is more dangerous
than a high sugar count.

Have fun. Dwayne


"SugarChile" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Congratulations on the massive personal evolution!!

My advice would be to scale back your plans for a vegetable garden a bit.
If you are a complete beginner, it's easy to bite off more than you can
chew. It can be a bit discouraging to do a huge planting, find you don't
have the skills or time to care for everything, and be faced with a big
weedy mess.

Much better to start small, or moderate, have a positive experience, and
then add on to your plot as you gain confidence.

My vegetable garden is about 900 square feet. A quarter of that is in
asparagus (a perennial vegetable). In the rest I grow lettuce, swiss
chard
and other greens; sugar peas, bush and pole beans; tomatoes, peppers and
eggplants; onions and garlic, and other things as well. I have a row of
cannas, just for beauty, gladiolus for cutting, and nasturtiums and other
flowers here and there. I get plenty of food, some to share, and for me
it
is the right balance of work and pleasure.

I concentrate on growing things that are best absolutely fresh and ripe,
or
that I prefer unusual varieties of, and skip things like sweet corn that
are
readily available at farm stands where I live. After having the plot
tilled
initially, I now rely on a more or less permanent mulch cover, which keeps
weeds at bay and continuously improves the soil.

One of your early tasks should be to establish a compost pile, or ideally
two or three of them--one for "raw" compost, which is then turned into
successive piles for maturing and storage. This doesn't have to be
anything
fancy, but you will appreciate having a dedicated spot for garden (and
kitchen) refuse, and you will love having the finished compost.

I can strongly recommend the book __The Natural Food Garden__ by Patrick
Lima. He and John Scanlan garden at Larkwhistle in Ontario. It's a
wonderfully written and photographed book, with clear explanations of WHY
and how to do things, good for beginners and more experienced gardeners.

Good luck, and have fun,
Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Rev. J. Toad" wrote in message
news:3e807db2.258099250@news...
Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.

Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.
-a burning desire to do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.

With this in mind, are there any good websites or definitive print
tomes I should check out? The snow is almost melted (I'm in Winnipeg,
Manitoba), so I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either
rent a rototiller or hire someone to clear out a big patch.

Also, if anyone is from this area and knows the best stuff to grow in
this soil/climate and can give me any area-specific pointers, much
appreciated.

So, if anyone can give me any advice on getting started on this, I'd
be muy grateful.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
"As a member of the Consumer Electronics Association, Sony joined the
chorus of support for Napster against the legal onslaught from Sony
and the other music giants seeking to shut it down. As a member of
the RIAA, Sony railed against companies like Sony that manufacture
CD Burners."
-Frank Rose, Wired Magazine

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise
regimen for the first time in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in
terms of my eating.
a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers. -a burning desire to
do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.
I'm in Winnipeg,
I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either rent a rototiller or
hire someone to clear out a big patch.

WHOA!! You are in great danger of trying to do too much, too soon, which will
only lead to failure & discouragement. First of all, I think you are in USDA
Zone 4 (Canadian zones are a little different). Even here in Zone 5, we have
another month before we can really do much with planting vegetables or annual
flowers. It is too soon to rototill your vegetable garden, because the soil is
still too wet. I suggest you spend the next 3 weeks in the library, reading
gardening books. Also contact your local representative of Canada Agriculture
and find out about gardening practices in your area.
I recommend the Sunset National Garden Book, which includes Canada, but there
are many others. I'm sure your library has books specific to the central
Canadian provinces. Try searching the Web with such entries as Gardening
Manitoba.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

On Sun, 23 Mar 2003 09:35:44 GMT, (Rev. J.
Toad) wrote:


Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

Agree with other posters about starting small. And starting compost.
Never mind those pictures of pretty ladies wafting around with a
designer basket gathering ripe tomatoes -- if it's her garden, she
spends 99% of her garden time in shorts or overalls getting *very*
dirty weeding and digging and watering and digging and dealing with
bugs and digging.

OTOH, there's *never* a time when you can't do something in a garden.
Watching little bitty plants turn into food factories is amazing. Grow
crops appropriate to your area. No point in spending time crying over
immature okra (a long, hot season crop).

I began 'serious' gardening with veg, and later realized I also got a
great deal of pleasure out of adding some flowers. Annuals can provide
a lot of color and variety, and no problem to plow under at the end of
the season.

Just don't bite off more than you can chew for your first season. Or
rather, don't feel *awful* if you can't keep up. Regard it as a
Learning Experience -- the 2nd rule of gardening is "there's always
next year."

Oh, and for reducing lawn area, think 'paths.' Mulch, gravel, stones,
cement slabs, or slate thingies around/through your garden will both
reduce the area to be mowed AND make for more convenient cultivation.
You can also stand there and gaze at your work without compacting the
soil. :-)

I would highly recommend reading "SQUARE FOOT GARDENING" by Mel Bartholomew.
He also has a website: http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

I was given his book soon after the printing press was invented ;-) when I
had NO idea how to even begin gardening, I just knew I wanted to start
growing stuff. I still give this book and "LET IT ROT" to neewbie gardeners.
It has some good basic ideas and clear instructions for getting started that
will not be overwhelming and set you up for failure on your first attempt at
gardening.

Good Luck,
Val


"Rev. J. Toad" wrote in message
news:3e807db2.258099250@news...
Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.

Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.
-a burning desire to do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.

With this in mind, are there any good websites or definitive print
tomes I should check out? The snow is almost melted (I'm in Winnipeg,
Manitoba), so I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either
rent a rototiller or hire someone to clear out a big patch.

Also, if anyone is from this area and knows the best stuff to grow in
this soil/climate and can give me any area-specific pointers, much
appreciated.

So, if anyone can give me any advice on getting started on this, I'd
be muy grateful.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
"As a member of the Consumer Electronics Association, Sony joined the
chorus of support for Napster against the legal onslaught from Sony
and the other music giants seeking to shut it down. As a member of
the RIAA, Sony railed against companies like Sony that manufacture
CD Burners."
-Frank Rose, Wired Magazine

Rev. J. Toad wrote:

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.

1/2 acre? More? Dedicate maybe 1/4 of it to a fruit orchard. Dwarf
trees can pack more variety into a small plot and are easier to maintain.

(Rev. J. Toad) wrote in message news:3e807db2.258099250@news...
Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.



Congratulations! You will find growing your own food a most rewarding
activity.
Fresh veggies and garden activity greatly improve your physical and
spiritual health. Some advice:

1) as others have said, start small and start with storebought plants
(except perhaps for some salad greens). You will do seeds next year.
2) start your herb garden in your first year. Herbs are something that
will cheer your every meal. And they are perennial (plant once,
harvest every year). For your zone, I'd recommend sorrel, mint, lemon
balm, thyme, and oregano.
3) since you are in the frozen north, next year consider gardening
under cover. I am in Michigan and eat out of my garden 9 months a
year. Without cover, I would eat 6 months. It helps two ways,
extending the season until very late, and also allowing me to
overwinter some veggies for eating in March-April.
4) start with cool weather veggies. They are the most nutritious
anyhow, and some of them are rather easy to grow. I'd recommend chard,
lettuce, radicchio, arugula. Northern varieties of everything are
available at Territorial Seeds. In Michigan, I grow 80% cool weather
veggies.
5) in time you will learn that all veggies from the garden are good,
but some are more prolific, hardier, longer harvest, better suited to
your soil, less work than others. Those will provide the backbone of
your garden as you experiment with a few new varieties each year.
6) mulch, mulch, mulch for simultaneous composting, fertilizing,
weeding, and water-saving.

Books: "Gardening under cover" (Territorial has it), once you take the
step of going undercover, and the New Rodale's Encyclopedia of Organic
Gardening. The latter is the best book I have seen, very science-based
and matter-of-fact, not to mention very complete. If you buy this, you
will not need another book. it covers fruits and berries too.

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your new condition but oddly sometimes these things are
a blessing in disguise. Look at the changes you've made to the good
already! Keep it up and you'll be fine.

The first thing I'd recommend for your gardening is to wait another month or
so before doing anything. It's only March and Winnipeg isn't much different
from here. I know you didn't get as much snow as we did in Ontario this
winter but it's still way too early for outdoor gardening in Winnipeg. End
of April or beginning of May should be better times to start.
In the meantime, get out some paper and draw up a design of what you hope to
have. My yard isn't nearly as big as yours but it's a constant work in
progress. Start smallish, learn year to year. This should be a work of art
that is never done. Bear in mind too that being so far north, there are a
lot of plants out there that will not grow well in Manitoba. I'm still
learning that for here!
It will take you a fair bit of time to get the soil and plot in good growing
condition, making it workable, removing stones, etc.
If you're looking for veggies, start with the basics... peas, beans, beets,
carrots, lettuce, onions, radishes.... these are all very basic, easy to
grow. I usually end up with enough beans and carrots to last through the
whole winter.
Let us know how you make out this summer. Best of luck to you!
--
Tammie
Zone 2b-3a Far Northern Ontario
http://community.webshots.com/user/_tammie57


"Rev. J. Toad" wrote in message
news:3e807db2.258099250@news...
Hey there folks...

Just in time for spring, a month ago I was diagnosed with type 2
diabetes. Besides getting into an exercise regimen for the first time
in my life, this has necessitated a complete 180 in terms of my
eating. Gone are the days of frozen & packaged food, I cook everything
myself now. It's only been a few weeks, but I feel great.

Having read about how cool it is to grow and eat your own food, I'm
eager to try it out for myself this summer, especially since I'm in a
massive personal evolution right now and I'd like to tack on as much
good new stuff as I can.

So here's what I've got:

-a MASSIVE yard, which I hate mowing, and thus want to dedicate as
much as possible to vegetables, and maybe a few flowers.
-a burning desire to do this.
-absolutely no idea how to get started.

With this in mind, are there any good websites or definitive print
tomes I should check out? The snow is almost melted (I'm in Winnipeg,
Manitoba), so I should probably start this week sometime. I'll either
rent a rototiller or hire someone to clear out a big patch.

Also, if anyone is from this area and knows the best stuff to grow in
this soil/climate and can give me any area-specific pointers, much
appreciated.

So, if anyone can give me any advice on getting started on this, I'd
be muy grateful.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
"As a member of the Consumer Electronics Association, Sony joined the
chorus of support for Napster against the legal onslaught from Sony
and the other music giants seeking to shut it down. As a member of
the RIAA, Sony railed against companies like Sony that manufacture
CD Burners."
-Frank Rose, Wired Magazine