Any advice for Stockbridge veg garden?

Hello ga gardeners!

I am new to dg and very new at gardening! This is my 2nd attempt at gardening. Last year was a disaster. (I think I got a dozen roma tomatoes and 4 hot peppers altogether!!)

My garden is a backyard, 6X18ft section. It has wonderful sun.
I just started "prepping" one 4X6ft section. Last Friday, I weeded the whole garden and today, I just finished (I think) breaking up the one section and I added and mixed about 2 inches of compost into the soil.

My question is this--1) The soil still doesn't seem "fine" enough. Does the texture matter? And if so,
how do I fix it?
2) How do you know what to plant first....and where? ( My plan was to start section by section of the garden based on what is on the back of the seed pkgs but they just confused me!)
3) Is there a guide to when you should plant and where or is that really
gardener's preference.
4) If I sound like I have no idea what I'm doing, it is really WORSE than it
sounds!!! Can someone help before I make another mess!

You may get more precise answers at http://gardens.com/forums/f/b_veggies/all/ which is a beginners vegetable forum.
1. Fine is relative. along as you don't have lots of 1-2 inch clods you will be fine. If you get it too fine and it has any clay, a hard rain will "baked" it (turn it into a massive adobe brick)
2. 100 square feet is a small space so be selective, choose those plants that you really want to grow/eat. There is a series of plants that go in as soon as the ground can be worked. Those include potatoes, English peas, snow peas, snap peas, onions (plants or sets) beets, carrots etc. Those can go in now. By the first of March, you can transplanting brassicas like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower. Just about everything else can be planted in April on or after your average last frost date. Many of these plants take a lot space for the yield so again be selective.
3. Put the tall plants on the north or west side of the garden so that they do not shade the smaller plants from the morning sun.
4. Remember that some plants, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, summer squash, take more than their share of space. Do not overcrowd.

Thanks Farmerdill.

I'm embarrassed to ask, but to keep from overcrowding......I should probably not start with seeds cause I have no idea how much is too much! Is my presumption correct? Would it be unwise (definitely more expensive) to skip seeding and just by the little bucketed plants and transplant?

About the fineness of the soil. I do have an awful lot of those 1-2 inch clots. Can you recommend a tool that will help break it up a little more. I already used the (I don't know what they are called really) the most fine-toothed "garden rake?" that I have. (Sorry about my gardenese! Did I mention that I am mostly....clueless? ;)

Thanks again,
tj

Depends on what you want to grow. Transplants are best for some plants. Other don't transplant well at all. With direct seeded plants, you always plant too many to assure that you get enough, then ruthlessly pull the extra plants until you get the appropiate spacing. Most direct seeded type plants take much closer spacing than the bigger transplant types. Tell us what you want to grow?

If you are going to plant small seeded plants directly, just rake those clods aside, make the appropriate 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep depresions (rows) and cover with planting mix. Large seeded and transplants should handle those ok. If you amend the soil with organic matter and don't disturbed it when it is wet, you should not have those clods next year. They are normally the result of working wet clay.

Great info!

Here is a list of what I want to grow:

Sunflowers
squash
lettuce
broccoli
carrots
green beans--not sure which ones are best
canteloupe
watermelon(maybe little ones if at all)
sweet potato
onion
garlic
tomato
bell peppers
hot peppers
pumpkin(maybe the jack be littles)


I have read that broccoli is best transplanted, but I don't know about the other stuff.

Thanks for your help.
tj

My kitchen garden is 45 x 65 feet and I could not get all that stuff in there. I grow the big stuff on a 21/2 acre plot.

But lets start with low growing plants that like the cool weather. Lettuce. direct sow or transplant (Only leaf lettuce does reasonably well in Georgia as it burns out with the first hot weather) sometimes you can get Bibb type before the heat gets it. direct seed Sow now in rows 8-10 inches apart and 1/4 inch deep. I use potting mix to cover them rather than soil. As soon as they get going good ( multiple leaves) thin to 8- 10 inches apart. Onions - gets plants from nursery. Now. you can set them in rows 8 -10 apart and 4 inch apart in the row. It may be better to create an onion bed with the plants in a block and 4 inches apart each way. you will have to hand weed, but it nota big problem in a small space. Broccoli plants are available now ( Early Dividend is probably better for a beginner than Packman) but whichever is in the nursery will be fine. Be sure to pick up some Bt (DIPEL) dust while you there. Cabbage worms love broccoli and Bt will take care of them. Carrots can also be direct seeded now. same shallow rows as lettuce, cover with potting mix, thin to 2-3 inches apart. Be aware tha carrots can take up to a month to sprout. Most folks mix a few radishes in so they know where the carrots are supposed to be. The radishes will be gone before the carrots get very big. Carrots will occupy their space for most of the season.

Sun flowers are space hogs, unless you growing the little dwarfs. It is possible if you plant the taller multiflora type to interplant them with pole green beans. The " cornfield" types work best in this situation. Neither does as well as they would alone, but it is a space saver. Put at the back so they don't shade shorter plants from the morning sun.

Summer squash ( crooknecks, straight necks, scallops, zucchini) doe well by planting two close together and allowing that pair an 18 inch separation from all other plants. These are heavy producers so you may not need more than a half dozen plants at a time. These are fast, so you can do succession plantings to extend your harvest.

Peppers come in several sizes, but the plants you are likely to find in the nurseries will run on average about two-three feet tall, They need to be seperated about 18 inches each way. Tomatoes. If you get the indeterminate plants, Prune them to one or two leaders and train them up 8 ft stakes will also work at 18 inches. If you cage or use the shorter busier determinates, at least 24 inches.

Canteloupes, watermelons, sweet potatoes and pumpkins take a lot of space. Wait till you have planted every thing else that yo really want. If you have a 4 x 4 ft space left over, then plant a hill of your favorite. Sweet potatoes of course have to transplants. you can set the 12 inches apart in a row, but the rows need to be 4 ft apart. The vines run from threeft for bunch types to 10 ft for vining types.

Thanks. I have gotten a lot of great info from this site. I really appreciate specifics and that is what you have given. I will use this as my guide.

Thanks again1

tj

Almost forgot, don't plant beans, pepper, tomato, squash and the like until your last frost date which is probably somewhere between April 15 and 30.

sowersjoy, I've found you can grow cantalopes on a trellis like beans this does two things: it keeps the fruit off the ground and if you mulch with black plastic its easier to water and weed. when the melons start to appear you can make hangers to put them on and then you can turn them every so often to prevent flat spotting.I grow mine close to the fence and just let them run the fence.

Sowersjoy, Lowes and the feed and seed in McDonough (can't remember the exact name of it) have onion sets now, and also broccoli, lettuce, etc. plants. These like the cool weather, and the sooner you get them in the better. If you can find an organic garlic head at the groc store, those work for planting. I'm not sure when the best time for that is, though. I think it's in the fall. I always forget to plant those.

The rest of the stuff you want need to wait until the last frost is over (average last frost here is March 8th, I believe).

Happy planting!