How To Start A Garden?

[chelsea]

I just visited my cousin, who has the cutest little garden with things like radishes, carrots, lettuce, etc. I WANT ONE TOO!! :hissyfit
So how do I grow one? How do I start? I'm kinda leary about using dirt from the ground because the people who lived here before us had a dog and I feel nauseous at the thought of eating anything grown in dog poo that may be left in the earth. :sick I was thinking about some kind of garden box. But where do you buy dirt for it? :scratch And what do you have to do to keep stray/wild animals away from your food? We have a lot of rabbits in the area, and some cats and dogs. And umm, do gardens attract mice? :think
Anyways, any info about gardening for "dummies" would be greatly appreciated! :grin

[Naked Camper]

We have a garden box only because it keeps the dogs from getting into my garden. It's real tiny - 5 tomato plants, green beans, strawberries and watermelon. We bought top soil from Lowes to fill it up and then in the top layer of dirt we added horse manure to give an organic fertilizer. Not sure what part of the world you live in, if you're in the States it may not be the right season to plant a garden. But...there's always planning for next year. :) I did a little research online - thought about what I wanted to plant and then went for it.

[mamaKristin]

Given where you live, and the time of year, I would recommend doing a bit of container gardening to start out. You can pick up some planters, and some seeds or seedlings, potting soil and just go for it! I'm doing my first year of 'real big garden', but did some planters previously so that I was more used to the idea of what I was doing.

Things with a shorter growing time (you can see that in the info-sticks with seedlings or on seed packets) can be a good idea for us more northern mommies. Which is why I like seedlings, they are already started, so you have a head start. ;) You may get some good advice at a local greenhouse/nursery, as they would probably be stocking plants that do well in our growing zones. It is a bit late to get a real garden started for this year, but in a smaller container you could probably have some success.

[chelsea]

Thanks for moving this! I had NO idea we had an actual "gardening" phorum! How cool!!! :grin :grin

[chelsea]

Thanks for the ideas, ladies! :tu
So if you do container gardening, can you pretty much grow stuff all year round? :think

[mamaKristin]

I just did a quick map check on this:
http://nlwis-snite1.agr.gc.ca/plant00/index.phtml
and your local plant hardiness zone seems to be 3a, which gives you a longer growing season than mine. Container gardening wouldn't really be possible year round where you are, but can keep things going a bit longer than in the ground - mainly because you could move things inside if you had a night of frost.