Workshop 1 - Getting started with the basics Feb. 5; snow date Feb 12

Presenter: Tom Roberts, Snakeroot Organic Farm, Pittsfield tom@snakeroot.net

Why am I Gardening? Fresh, nutritious food provided by your own labor. Relaxing hobby with rewards. Exercise and being outdoors. Providing food for others. Learning experience. Some things will fail, some will succeed. Pay attention and keep notes; you'll be glad you did next year. Ask questions! Year One is always the hardest time.

Soil ain't just Dirt. It has been said that there are more living organisms in a shovelful of fertile soil than there are people on the planet. Just because you can't see all of them, doesn't mean that they aren't vitally important to the short-term and long-term productivity of your garden.

Location of garden. Wet/dry. Sunny/shady. Former or current garden spot or present sod area. Close to the house or way out back (water, attention, animals). A little plot, or every square inch. Sloped (which direction?) or flat.

Know your soil. Clayey, sandy, or loamy. Each has advantages and disadvantages, loam is overall best. You've got what you've got, but you can improve anything. pH (=measure of acidity) will determine what will grow well and what won't. Do a soil test and/or learn from native vegetation. Dandelions & clover are good to see. Sorrel, goldenrod & horsetail indicate too acid. Lime will raise pH = lower the acidity. Ideal pH to shoot for =6.5. Organic matter buffers pH. Organic matter always helps and is cheap.

Planning the garden. What kind of planting area (lasagna, raised bed, traditional (rows on flat ground), etc) How big? How much food do you want and how much time are you willing to spend? Making your garden map. Planning for next year: rotations, moving into new ground. Wisdom behind “twice as big”.

Making a garden schedule. What gets planted when. Learn which veggies are frost hardy, frost tolerant, cold hardy, warm loving. Succession plantings means you can plant 150% of your garden space! Use info in seed catalogs. More on scheduling in next session.

Soil prep. Tilling. Using compost for fertility. Using bagged chemical fertilizer. Removing sod or tilling it in. Enough fertilizer but not too much. Leaves and grass clippings=free fertilizer & mulch. Fresh vs. aged manure. Descending hotness: chicken, horse, pig, cow, goat, sheep. Manure vs. bedding.

Equipment. Tiller - buy, borrow, hire or rent: breaks soil initially & incorporates garden residue into soil. Different hoes for different uses. Buckets. Garden hose. Drip tape or soaker hose.

Fencing. What are you trying to keep out? Dogs, lawnmowers, neighborhood kids? Deer, woodchucks, racoons, porcupines? Or just trying to define your area?

Weeds. A weed is any plant growing where we don't want it to grow. Like veg, all weeds have different habits. Nature will assure your garden contains weeds, you have to decide how and when to deal with them. Hoe regularly from planting to mid-summer. Weeds less than 3” high are easiest to hoe. Bigger weeds need hand pulling. Never let weeds go to seed! “Aged” manure may have millions of seeds per shovelful.

Selection of seeds. Choosing varieties and packet sizes. Seed longevity & packet size.

(we decided to include seeds in this workshop because we want to distribute Fedco catalogs and see whether anyone is interested in a group order; therefore, we’ll need a deadline for orders )

Fedco catalogs. They aren't just catalogs, they are full of how-to gardening info. Includes Moose Tubers (potato, onion & shallot sets) & Organic Growers Supply (tools, books, row covers, pesticides, etc.). Johnny's catalog. Both have websites.

Reading list – suggested books and websites. MOFGA.net's MOFGApedia. Eliot Coleman's The New Organic Grower.