After we tilled the garden, we had to rake all the grass out of the garden.  Bermuda grass is like starfish, once you cut it up, it will grow from the pieces!

In order to suffocate the grass so that it doesn’t suffocate our garden… we laid down cardboard… no sun… no grass.

Purchase $2 bags of dirt and spread it over the cardboard.  We used 13 very lucky bags .

After you lay the dirt, get it really wet to make it all stick together.

Phillipe reminded me to plant sunflowers on the edge of the garden that will not block the sun from the other plants.

Cut a hole in the cardboard the size of the bottom of your plant

Remove the plant by squeezing the bottom of the plant holder and gently pulling from the base of the plant (be careful not to “decapitate” your plant)

Put the plant in the cardboard hole and push at the base of the plant… then give it a drink of water.

Always get your hands dirty…

Always invite friends…

Growing Tomatoes!

One of the more unique choices was the Yellow Pear. This is a small tomato, grape-sized, that looks almost exactly like it sounds. It’s bright yellow color is certainly fancy, but the taste really speaks for itself. If you are looking for a small, sweet, tomato, this is the right one.

Image Credit: gourmettraveller88

Among the summery yellow tomatoes we are also growing a number of red grape tomatoes and a few others that caught our eye at the garden center, electing to go with small plants as opposed to seeds.

**Note from the expert: If you are going to plant tomatoes, make sure you have a stake or a cage for each plant. This is especially important for tomatoes that are of the larger varieties, as the fruit with pull the plant down and damage it.

“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”
~Lewis Grizzard

If you are ready to burn and till, you will need to know the types of plants you’d like to plant and what/how much sun they need. This information is going to be found on the packaging of seeds, online, or one of those garden i.d. tags. (You could also ask a gardener.) This is important for the planning of the location.

We had to keep a few things in mind when choosing the best location for our garden, such as where the spring trees would have summer shade and where the hose was easily accessible.

For our vegetable garden we determined that the plants would need 6+ hours of direct sunlight. So the garden is located in a brightly sunny part of the yard. After choosing a wide variety of plants, we decided that a 4′ by 5′ garden would work best for our space and amateur knowlege.

The Burn
Now that the plan for placement and size was determined, it was time for Bryan . “Burning” the grass with the weedeater is prep for the tiller, so that it doesn’t get caught up in a bunch of grass, weeds, etc.

So, “weedeat” the space for your garden in what ever shape you’d like. Essentially, this is clearing the grass to expose the dirt.

The Till
This is the more complicated part. Depending on the type of tiller you have, the technique varies. Generally speaking, the tiller is a small engine propelled plow. The idea is to use your strength against the tiller so that is churns up 5 to 6 inches of soil. We are lucky enough to have dark soil, but you may run into clay.

Till on the left, burn on the right.

You can see in the picture that Nancy is standing on the “burned” ground while (trying her best) tilling.

*Please Note: All information is based on professional garden counsel and first hand application

You have actually seen Bryan already. Nancy, our resident yard working power woman, was handling Bryan in the first post.

If you don’t know how to handle Bryan, this is also a great point for you to consult your expert (Phillipe) that has been so great at helping you understand “tilling”. But, if you don’t have an expert, we also found some somewhat helpful websites and instructional videos online to get us going.

**Word to the wise: Don’t give up, just keep trying, Bryan can be pretty ornary if don’t do things his way.***

Nancy and Bryan get ready for Bessie.

Actually this was probably lesson four or five, but in the realm of gardening, this is where you HAVE to start. If you want to start a garden in your backyard, you need to decide if you soil is loose or not. If you have never gardened before, it is basically guaranteed that you do NOT have loose soil. Which is where we started, our garden needed tilling.

(See, no prior contact with a hoe and your soil stays pretty buttoned up, but if your yard dirt has seen a hoe before… then it will be loose, ok? Good, I’m glad that is clear. )

So, if you have loose, pre-tilled soil, skip this step. But if not, FIND A TILLER!!!
There are a couple of options here, you can buy or rent a tiller from a local home improvement store or find an experienced gardener with the right tools to help you out.

As it turns out, we “chose” the latter or should I say it chose us. Meet Bessie and Phillipe. Bessie: Tiller, Phillipe: Landscape Architect… Us: Happy!!

Phillipe giving lessons on how to use Bessie.

(LOOK AT THOSE ROWS!!!)