All About Home and Garden

Finding a flat spot is not always an easy task. If you can't find one then it's recommended you create one. You may need to adjust some landscape by terracing, digging out some bushes, removing trees, rocks, and other debris. Keep in mind that the most work will be required in the beginning, and your extra effort at this stage will be greatly rewarded.

A spot where there is lawn, that can be tilled under will provide organic matter, and fertilizer for your first season. I have gardened in soil that was sandy, rocky, clay, and many combinations. There has not been any spot where I had sun and water that could not be gardened, by building up the soil.

Personally I prefer to have a little lawn in my yard. But I think most yards have too much lawn. We spend a lot of time and energy to keep them up. Spend money on fertilizer, weed control, and other things as well as water, but you can't eat grass. Why not sacrifice a little lawn for something worthwhile? What lawn remains will provide clippings for compost to help feed the vegetables. You can even turn the whole yard into a garden and get the grass clippings from the neighbors since they will likely throw them away anyway.

Beware of spots that have walnut trees, the nuts have fallen in that spot for years, and they are poisonous to most plants. Also spots where oil has soaked into the ground from automobile mechanics or junk storage. The soil can be repaired, some of it may need to be removed, and replaced with good topsoil, or a lot of organic material added to dilute it.

Almost any spot along a fence line or the side of your house east, west or south will provide a good growing spot for vegetables, a 24" bed is ideal for those locations. The east location would not be good for sun-loving crops but would work well with some cool season crops.

Crops like pole beans, tall peas, cucumbers, other curcubit family plants including melons can be trained up tomato cages or posts that will provide support for them. Of course tomatoes can be strategically placed among other low growing plant types also. You will want the beans, tomatoes and melons on the south if possible, or the west if you do not have a south location, and the peas and cucumbers should do fine in any location.

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