Pretty new to gardening... help? Tons of questions

[RedneckCowgirl]

Ok so I just moved in with my 2 best friends, and since I am currently unemployed I pay my rent by cleaning the house and cooking meals since they both work full time. I'd like to start a few raised beds, but I've never had my own garden before (I always helped with my grandmas though). There are three of us, and we are living in a duplex on a fairly small lot (our backyard is about 35ft by 35ft). We would like to raise as many veggies as possibly, so I'm thinking about square foot gardening and I'm going to do a little more research on that tonight. What plants can we grow? (We are near Olympia Wa) I'd like to be able to preserve the seeds or next years crops, so how would I do that? What size should the raised beds be? Any answers or other info you can share would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dawn419]

I have no clue as to which varieties of plants will grow best in your area but wanted to share this link for Peaceful Valley with you as they have some great How-To videoes as well as really good gardening articles.

Hope this is some help!

 

[SSDreamin]

There is a website (www.squarefootgardening.com) that will give you lots of info. It is a store, but has a lot of links and articles.

 

[moolie]

http://mysquarefootgarden.net has a "getting started" section that takes things step by step, you can also sign up for "planting by colour" newsletters or buy her two downloadable e-books

 

[ORChick]

Given your location you might find the "Sunset Western Garden Book" helpful. It is written specifically for those of us who live in the West. -- http://www.sunset.com/garden/
Saving seed is not as straightforward as one might think it should be. I would suggest that you start with the easier ones -beans, tomatoes - and go from there. Especially as you only have space for a small garden, you might not have enough room to plant sufficient plants of any one type to make it viable to save much seed. There is quite a bit of information on seedsaving on the internet.
The nice thing about living west of the Cascades is that the gardening season can be quite long. The not so nice thing is that really warm weather plants don't do so well.
Good luck, and have fun.

 

[dfr1973]

A couple tips from another gardening newb: do NOT try to compost tubers (especially taters) or vegetable seeds (like the pulp from squash!) without nuking it in the microwave first. Save vegetable kitchen waste and eggshells for compost ... I've managed to attract enough earthworms to open a bait stand Coffee grounds also do great - although the filters don't break down too fast. Obviously, I did not achieve a "hot" compost.

Meanwhile: I have plenty of potato and acorn squash starts I can trade!

 

[Wannabefree]

Another tip, on such a small plot, I'd grow as many nutrient dense veggies as possible, not just any veggies. You'd not be getting your "dirts worth" growing say...a huge bed of lettuce or something. Lots of crops can go UP too, like cucumbers, pole beans, etc. Then you have your heavy feeder/low producer corn that I wouldn't bother so much with. I'd focus on things like potatoes that can also grow up and tomatoes can actually grow DOWN if you have a place to hang them in a pot, which would save valuable garden space as well. Strawberries(I know ya didn't say fruit) can be done nicely in hanging baskets as well. Peppers do well in pots. I'd probably do a container and raised bed garden to make the most of the space you have. If you don't have room to hang things, buy/salvage some posts, and make a spot to hang things in pots above lower growing veggies in the ground to maximize what you can fit in your garden. You should be able to grow a LOT of produce for the three of you if you get creative enough. I'm all out of ideas now

 

[~gd]

----gd.

 

[User4960]

Howdy redneck

You are a new gardener up in washington. May I make some suggestions?

Start by planting things that are easy to grow and that also give you an idea about how some of the more difficult things grow.

Kales and Mustards and sprouting Broccolis will probably be good to grow for you. For saving the seeds of these keep 2 plants of each variety near each other.

If you will be growing Tomatoes, get a good locally adapted variety for sure. I would suggest plastic mulch on the ground around your warmth loving plants. You may find Peppers or eggplants to be difficult unless you build a small reflector of plastic stapled onto a wood frame and put it on the north side of the plants. Just sayin.

Yes, do plant some lettuces, some carrots, definitely some radishes. In fact, sometime around July you may want to put in some Winter Radish varieties.

Let's hear from you some more about what you're planning.

Gardeners tend to gain their own ways of gardening even if we read a book emphasizing one particular style.

There is also lasagne gardening, cinder block gardening, raised bed, biodynamic, organic, double dug, old school, sunken bed, dry farm, flood, hilled, 3 sister, companion, edible landscape, permaculture, forest, chemical, (ptooey*), hydroponic, and a bunch of others.

 

[ORChick]

All the following is just my opinion there are many ways to garden, none work best everywhere. The first thing I would do is call your county extension office to see if they will do free soil testing for your garden {usually the testing is free but you have to take your own soil samples] In any case they can tell you what needs to be done. Once your test samples are back they can tell you if it is suitable for gardening {some is not] and make sugestions as to what needs to be added. This is the time to tell them if you want to follow Organic methods or chemical fertilizer methods. most have been brainwashed so ORGANIC is what they will be pushing. Don't take me wrong, organic will work but it takes more time to get the soil right by those methods [3 hard years before even thinking of a harvest.
JMO Raised beds are often in the way in a very small space, if you must have them have them as the walls around your garden space [they will keep dogs and kids out in most cases] If you can get to them from only1 side avoid making them wider than you can reach. if you use both sides 4' feet is fairly standard. Unless you like to carry water make sure your hose will reach.
I use square inch and companion planting my self and you will be suprised at how much you can grow. once ypu have a good first crop organic methods work well to maintain your soil.~gd Oh I just noiticed Wannabe's post If you take a lot of Nutrients out as dense crops you will need to replace them or wear out your soil.

~gd - Yes, I understand that this is just your opinion. And yes, also, I agree with some of what you write. But I do have to say that I think you are being somewhat negative, especially for a new gardener looking for advice. Were I a new, inexperienced gardener reading this I might be inclined to pack it in, as being too difficult. Gardening can be difficult certainly, and sometimes (much of the time?) things don't go as we have planned, but usually there is something good to be said at the end of the season no matter what

To the OP - If it is your intention to try organic methods please don't let the quoted post above discourage you. You will certainly get a harvest the first year you plant, though it may not be huge. And every year it will get better. As you are planning raised beds you will have a headstart with your soil, as I assume you will be bringing in at least some of it. I agree that nutrient dense crops are the way to go in a small space, and also suggest you plant the crops that you love that are harder to find/more expensive in the market (strawberries are not terribly nutrient dense, but well worth finding a corner for IMO), but, especially in the first couple of *learning* years it is also important to grow things that will produce well, even for a beginner; nothing is as discouraging as failure. So, go ahead and plant some lettuces, radishes, other things that appeal to you and your housemates. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will your garden be. Have fun with it, and learn the ins and outs before tackling the really tricky stuff.