Site Conditions

Your garden site will be the success or demise of all of your diligent planning and planting!

SOIL
I am a BIG fan of the raised bed for this reason (and many others) because soil is almost a "non-issue". You can buy a 3-way potting soil for $30.00 a yard at Mt. Scott Fuel Co. and your garden is up and running gangbusters with very little effort on your part (other than building the beds and hauling soil into them).

You can also start a garden right on the ground. There are about a thousand suggestions of how to go about starting this, some say to take a year to get the soil ready (probably the right way) and others can get you up and running in a weekend. If you plant directly into the ground it is advisable to get a soil test to find out what is lacking in your soil that you might want to add. If nothing else add a truckload of compost and your garden will love you.

Then there are pots which you can have all around your house. These work great for plants such as fennel that show up on the companion planting list with no one that likes to be near them. They also work for plants like peppers that need a ton of sun but not a lot of space. Down side of pots is the constant watering they require which can be mitigated if you put in a drip irrigation system or hire a garden gnome to work in your yard.

Don't expect to go to the nursery and buy some tomatoes, dig a hole in the ground, and have them grow. They need love just like the rest of us and with some love they will reward you ten times over.