The first thing we are going to talk about are some
simple steps to improving your soil;

If you have a tiller, lay out your first year garden, break
the sod and till it as deep as the tiller will allow (See Pics
Below).

A good starter is simple compost, available at almost
any yard garden/hardware store. The bags are relatively
cheap (usually less than 2.00/bag), and for a plot about
twenty by ten, ten bags will make a good start. Till the
soil, remove the largest clumps of  turf left over from the
tilling and then add the compost and till again.

Every year, if done properly, the soil should continue to
improve. Over the winter months, you can make a small
compost pile. As well, the soil from any indoor plants
that need to be re potted or that are done away with
should be thrown in the garden area, and tilled in again
the next spring, as well as more compost. The more time
goes by, the more you will want to compost your own
waste products, as it is a direct recycling procedure. Any
vegetable matter, coffee grounds, some paper products
(not many), banana peels, any type of rind or vegetable
core (like the seed core from red peppers), all can be
thrown into a small compost pile, turned several times
during the winter, and tilled into the garden in the next
spring. Leftover plant stalks and plant matter should
also be treated in such a fashion.

Organic fertilizer is admirable, but a retail, consumer
grade fertilizer, if used properly, will get good results
with no damage to the water table or local environment.
The
Veggie
Garden!
What to
Grow?
These are some plants which I have found to be excellent 'starter'
plants. As you grow your garden each year, you will find yourself
wanting to add more varieties, gradually expanding what is grown.

Tomatoes
Onions
Peppers
Squash
eggplant
rosemary
oregano
basil
Eight plants. Three herbs and five veggies; the plants will be the
first profiled, starting with . . .

The wonderful red (purple)
onion!
The purple onion is one of the cheapest plants to buy at the
local nursery; a large bundle is usually only a couple bucks,
and a bundle will make a lot of onions! Plant in well drained
soil in the sunniest part of the garden.

A good companion plant to onions is parsley; one parsley
plant for every three or four onions is said to keep the onion
fly away, and parsley is a nice plant with lots of uses; there
will be a link for it soon!

To plant, it is best to prepare a row seeded with compost and
granular fertilizer. Rake the row flat, and then insert the
onion plants.
At the end of spring, mulch the onions to reduce water loss
and weeds. Watering is only vital during drought - they do
not need as much water as many other plants. The above
shoot was planted just two days ago, and is already
strengthening.

In the heat of summer pull back the soil and mulch,
exposing the very upper edge of the bulb to the light.
Harvest the onions when the tops bend over naturally and
begin to dry out. Allow the bulb and leaf to dry out naturally
while in the ground, and wait until the dried foliage makes a
fall like rustling sound before digging the bulbs.

Check back for more info soon on this great garden veggie!
Purple or Red Onion
Tomato
Click on the picture to go to that veggies
main page!
More Veggies Coming
Soon!
The end of summer has come and gone, and the
butterfly has left for its eternal journey.

I find hope in odd places, and it is the weird hope of a
southern winter that this year we will see deep cold and
snow; perhaps a distant possibility, but in the waning
days of summer, anything can seem possible - anything
at all that is good and wholesome.

Whole foods from the earth remind us of our roots; the
mere act of growing them will educate you beyond the
knowledge of gardening; it will connect you directly to
those who went before us, though our task now is quite
easy (hard  as it is) compared to theirs.

So think about that the next time you fire up a tiller or
pick a tomato or a squash, and in the meantime think
about something you can do as a good steward of the
earth.

If you plant a garden plant it a bit bigger next year;
when you have food left over, no matter what it is, find
a local soup kitchen or outreach center and donate the
food.

If one out of a hundred people grows a garden and
donates the excess to such charities, it is an amount
that would add up, even if each person was just
donating a little. A metro area of fifty thousand people
would net five hundred donating gardeners; even with
just a bit apiece through the growing season, this would
add up quickly.

It is an easy thing to do - if you are reading this you
have the Internet - look up local food kitchens, church
outreach programs, meals on wheels and other such
agencies, and once a week take your excess
vegetables/fruits to donate. I guarantee that they will be
more than happy to accept the food, and it is a thing
which does us all honor.

Plant a garden, and each year, try to plant a bit more for
those less fortunate.