how to get your veg. garden plot ready for planting

Ok, I'm sure this isn't the right time of year to do much of anything outside but for some reason this is the time of year the itch to start my vegetable garden begins (probably because I really dislike the winter and am trying to project spring). Could someone direct me to a thread or forum that tells you step by step how to get your veg. garden plot ready for planting in the spring.

I have had 2 relatively productive veg. gardens in the past -one some what large, one small - but they have always been “a guessing game” to say the least. I am a great student and plan on keeping a journal here on DG. I have read and read and understand the mechanics of veg. gardening, I just have a hard time with the “organized thinking” process. My gardens have been “let's plant some of everything and see what happens...and so far it has worked...uuummm ...ok. But now that we are settled in one place I want to keep expanding the garden I started last year and I'd like to plan ahead so I'm not scrambling come spring.

thanks for the help!

Howdy scarediecat,
Some helpful info here, especially under the heading 'SOIL PREP.'
Scratch that itch...lol
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homeguide/homeguide.html

Thanks Les_Cooper, I do love the step one, step two and step three approach!! Just what I was looking for. I have printed it off and posted it to ..."the wall...

I really like the planting guide...what to plant next to what!! That one always floors me:)

thanks again for taking the time to answer with that web site!!

What's there to do right now? Start making piles by having truckloads of manure and shredded leaves delivered. :)

I started expanding my garden space today, I also would like to be growing something and wish I could be the "organized" gardener.
I'm doing good if I find all my garden tools every spring, and as for the plant everything and see what happens? I didn't know there was another way to do it.
But I'm growing from 12X15 to a whopping 30X50, my biggest issue is dealing with coastal bermuda grass, I just keep pulling and praying it will eventually die one day.

LOL fremar! Bermuda grass die? I don't think "die" is in it's vocabulary! Early in the spring a few years ago we sprayed ours to kill it all back and now I keep the edges well sprayed to keep it from sneaking back in (always spray on a windless day). Lot's of folks don't like to use sprays but it's the only way we've found to control Bermuda grass.

I had considered digging a 2to3 ft wide swath around the outside of the fence then putting down black plastic and then pine straw over the plastic but I'm not sure that would hold it back, then I would only have to deal with the millions of sprigs in the garden.
Anybody wanna rent a fenced in garden?

I can tell what it will do with black plastic and mulch--spread runners right over the top. As stated above, the only thing we know that will keep it under control is keeping it sprayed around the edges. I've also amended my garden soil with lots of organics to loosen it up. The Bermuda loves it all the more but it's also easier to pull out if I get it while it's still small. Don't let the Bermuda grass ruin your gardening pleasure.

after 3 years this has become more of a battle of wills
I WILL NOT LET IT WIN

Well fremar, i happen to know of two more ways to rid the burmuda grass. The way i used was 'solarize'...which means to water the garden deep and then cover with clear plastic in the summer time for at least 30 days. This will raise the temp. and kill the grass, weeds/seeds, bad insect eggs, fungus, an' anything else, actually sterilizing the soil. Most of my garden footage was done this last Summer so the purple nut sedge and burmuda is totally gone! Hooray...i fought that nut-sedge continuously...now i'm free! Check this link:
http://ag.arizona.edu/gardening/news/articles/12.8.html

The other way is to beg buy or borrow a couple of geese who will not rest until they have completely consumed any rhizome grass (bermuda, johnson grass) down and including the roots. A temporary fence would be needed to keep them in the garden area. Check here: http://www.metzerfarms.com/weeder.htm

Cheers!
Les

Like you I am expanding my gardening to a much larger scale. Constant rain has me at a stall but it can’t rain forever. I guess that I am fortunate with having all of the tools to manage a large garden With the almost certainty of hard times ahead of us I started disking a plot of land to become as self sufficient as I can. I spent all day resurrecting one of my old tractors that was in the shed since 2002. Here is a picture of the old thing before it’s retirement, but she is still a winner It is an antique but I am please to have her up and running now. Having the right tools takes care of most of the grass and weed problems. Ok, not everyone has a tractor like this but it makes all the difference in controlling weeds and managing a large garden.
Oldude

Bermuda grass. When we lived in southern California our neighbor planted his yard in Bermuda Grass. It spreads so, and after a few years our lawn, garden, flower beds, etc. were all full of Bermuda.

Then we had to have a hole for a new cesspool dug by heavy equipment in our yard. When they got done digging I went out and looked in that enormous hole - and there were Bermuda Grass roots sticking out in it, 'way down deep. I stuck a tape measure down in the hole, and the Bermuda Grass roots reached at least 14 feet below ground level!

You might be able to poison it or cook it with plastic, but I don't think there's any physical way to dig out and kill Bermuda Grass once it gets a good start.

Fortunately, when we moved to Missouri I found that Bermuda Grass isn't such a problem here. There are little patches of it, but it's a lot easier to control than it was in warmer country.

oldude,
I'm doing the same as you--expanding my garden because of economic hard times. Fortunately, hubby and I chose to buy a tractor when we built our house about five years ago and I agree with you, it's an excellent garden tool. I also plan to go back to double or even triple crops (spring, summer, fall/winter). It's a lot of work but sure saves a lot of money. I put my veggies up too. It's looking like we might all have to go back to being more self-sufficient!

Ozark,
It's true that Bermuda puts down some extremely deep roots. Unfortunately, that's what make it a good choice for down here in the south where it gets sooooo hot in the summer. Those deep roots are what enable it to survive. I've been fighting the Bermuda wars for so many years now it's just part of my normal routine :-} I'm lucky though--no angry neighbors over my Bermuda grass since that's what they all have too!

When you solarize the top foot of the ground for a month the roots of the Bermuda cannot survive without the upper greenery for that long, so they rot away, no matter how far down the roots may travel. I did it and it works :)

Les

Same for the Geese...they keep the greenery and roots eaten several inches down for so long that the roots die from no sunshine. Cheers! :)

Les

We've had a few days without rain and yesterday I burned off a lot of the grasses that were growing in the area that will become gaden.I'm also thinking of buying one of those torch heads that you can burn weeds out with.
The original garden spot is tilled to a depth of about 18 inches and pulling the bermuda isn't quite so hard, I'm thinking about doing this garden in raised beds and trying sqare foor gardening in some place, some veggies I grow on trellises besidesbeans I've had good results with cucumbers and muskmelons on trellises.
This is a picture of overflow last year that I planted, the trellis grew 9 cucumber plants and the bed to the right has 9 yellow sqash. notice the white pipe on the trellis I used to water the pants without wasting water, I plan to move it around as this will be part of the expansion.