Welcome aboard. Now is the perfect time to consider next year's new garden. Lay out the plot you're going to use and consider the soil under it as in need of help. If you can handle the work it would behoove you to start digging now. Incorporate a large amount of organic material down to at least a foot. Things like manure, dried leaves, compost, grass clippings, even shredded paper will add to the soil tilth by next spring. No need to fertilize just yet. Have a professional soil test done, don't trust home testing. You'll want the soil Ph to be around 6.5 and starting off now will give you time to work on that. Study organic gardening techniques and avoid chemical fertilizers and pest killers - they'll end up wrecking the soil. In spring consider mulching around plants to keep down weeds, retain moisture, etc. You're embarking on a wonderfully satisfying committment that'll reward you in many ways. Starting out is the hardest time but once you get that soil happy it all becomes easier. Best of luck.

Do a lasagna bed. I'd say forget about rototilling. Cover the grass with newspapers, put some lawn clippings on top of that, get some manure (horse, cow, whatever, it's usually free... and layer it on there. One layer manure, one layer grass clippings, leaves, etc, Pile it up as high as you can. Don't worry it won't stink. If you cover it up with leaves there will be no smell.
Keep it watered and the worms will do the rest.
By next year it will compost in place and you should be ready to plant. A lot less trouble than removing grass and tilling. my 2c.

i too would recommend lasagna gardening, i just learned about it this year and i am DEFINATELY doing it next year, too much hassle in rototilling. i also started with about 8x8 foot garden and look what that has turned into-
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if you love it... it will grow and grow and grow. you may want to start early figuring out what kind of pests you have and how you plan to control them, i.e., ground hogs, deer, rabbits... they can come in and wipe out your whole garden... you can use a fence or a spray that offends their nose and tongue. if only i had planned all this out before i started... my first garden was great, healthy and large producing, it was like the ground hogs were just waiting because one afternoon i went out to find them in my garden eating all i mean ALL my squash... next it was the deer, they literally at my 4 foot sunflowers to the GROUND! it was heartbreaking, by the time my husband put a fence up it was too late!! that was almost 8 years ago, i still battle with bugs like everyone, but i always know exactly what to do whenever a situation occurs (it usually involves coming to this website and posting a picture of the problem) hey, we can't all be geniuses, we just must know where to find the means to solve the problem. any ideas on what you are going to plant? i would recommend companion planting, that in itself can deter some pests, like i always plant marigolds in my raised beds, not only do they add some color to the garden but many insects don't like the smell. i also plant basil and parsley with my tomatoes, i always thought it was just a convenience thing, you know to make the sauce, but apparently they are beneficial to the growth of each other. i know i am rambling, sorry, i hope i have helped a little. good luck!! sarah

Instead of 8x8, I would suggest making two beds that are 3X12. If you create a plot that is 8x8, you will have to leave space for walking. Otherwise, you will be compacting the soil everytime you try to access a plant for harvest. This will take up valuable growing space. A bed that is 3 feet in width allows you to easily reach over the bed to access plants. Before you build anything, I highly suggest reading The Vegetable Gardeners Bible. It is simple, easy-to-read, and highly informative. Before building my garden, I read this book cover to cover and I have a very happy and healthy garden. Here is a link to this indispensable book:

Vegetable Gardeners Bible

Callie Works-Leary
http://www.xylemandphloem.com

My $0.02 would be:

$0.01) Make it bigger than you think you'll need. I'm sure nearly everyone on this forum would agree that you'll always end up filling a garden faster than you though you would and you'll always wish you had built it bigger.

$0.02) Strongly consider permanent edging, frames, whatever you want to call it. You can use landscape timbers, stone, patio pavers, or whatever else pleases you, but having permanent framed beds is definitely the way to go, especially with a small garden.

-Diggity

I'd go with jbann23's suggestion and I'd add that this is the perfect time to start a compost pile. It can slow cook until next spring and be ready to give your garden a kick start.

A soil test is really, really important too. Soil is the most important part of the garden. Good soil can help you weather drought or rain.

I'll also endorse the Vegetable Gardener's Bible. It's a great book; very comprehensive and very understandable to a beginner.

Right now you have a great chance to watch the area for sunlight. Is it in the sun all day long or partly shaded? Does it get at least 6 hours of sunlight? Is there another spot nearby that gets more?

If I were you, I'd go out with some sticks and a tape measure right now and mark off the area you're thinking about. See how much the land slopes (if at all). Check the orientation north/south. In the summer, things cast shadows towards the north, so you wouldn't want to put tall plants on the south side.

Think about how far your spot is from your windows - can you see it? Do you want to? How far is it from a water spout? How far is it from your doorway? Is it in a location that will attract comment from admiring neighbors (or greedy ones who steal your veggies at night)? Do you want it to be?

If you decide to expand later, is your location a good one to allow that? If you need to run heavy equipment through your yard to do something (install a pool, do septic work, etc.), is there any way for it to get through other than through your garden?

If you have dogs or kids, is the garden in a location that will work well with them? Would a fence help (if you're in the country, you're almost certainly going to need a fence just to keep the wildlife out)?

You've got a luxury of choice and advance warning that not all of us are smart enough to do.

I'm a similar stage as you and I also vote for raised beds, lasagna type layering, and squarefoot gardening.

I am starting a "kiddie kitchen garden" with my 3 year old -- we're urban and our yard, while nice, is not so big I'd call it semi-country. :)

I'm also not wanting to damage my existing sprinkler system or break a cable line or something with a tiller, so I'm skipping that option.

I earmarked one corner of the yard for this mini garden. We put in a link-a-bord raised bed yesterday that is 4ft x 8 ft. I covered the bottom with cardboard and now I'm planning on just dumping whatever in it. Grass clippings, raked leaves, veggie scraps from the kitchen, a bag of peat moss I had laying around...

As I carefully dig up paths around it, I'll dump that dirt in too.

A few years ago I did the same for a flowerbed. That one we did with pavers and I filled it up with yard debris for a year or so. Just let it be and raked it once in a while. Once it composted we planted.

I took a sample of soil that I want to run to the county extension office to have tested even though I know that my raised bed will end up a mix of stuff. It is still good to know where you are starting from if you are growing edibles. With flowers and things I didn't much care, but with things I ultimately want to eat I rather be careful. Esp. so close to the house -- there could still be construction gunk down deep.

So you'll have company this winter -- I'll me "making dirt" too. :)

V.

Are you in western washington (with the zone 8, I'm guessing yes)? I'd recommend that you borrow Steve Solomon's 'Vegetable Gardening West of the Cascades' book from your local library - it is really good for gardening in the maritime northwest (which has different needs than the rest of the country).

Also, before you get a soil test, I'd try looking online to see if you can find results of a soil survey at your address - I was able to find out my type of soil, its drainage, and pH. Try http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/
and see if you can find your soil type.

Good luck!

jayo,

I strongly advise that you don't accept that survey as the final soil test for your garden. Soil content can vary from one block to the next, from one neighbor's yard to the next, it can even vary within your own yard. Some people may be on land that was once farm land, or an orchard, some people's top soil is trucked in. Nothing will beat an actual current test performed by a lab. And even if you have the actual test done every 3-5 years in your own yard, you can see changes.

If you want to know your drainage, you can perform a simple percolation test yourself. test the drainage with a percolation test by digging a hole 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep. Pour a bucket of water into the hole and allow it all to infiltrate. Pour in another bucket of water and monitor how long it takes to sink in. If infiltration is slower than 1 inch per hour you’ll have to do extra work to improve the soil’s absorption ability.

Before you amend your soil any further by guessing, get your soil tested. Your Extension Service can provide you with soil testing information. Mine was only $9.00, less than the cost of some strictly pH tests, and far more thorough. No guessing at what might need to be added, no money wasted.

Check with your state's Extension Service. Each county should have it's own Cooperative Extension Office which provides free publications and information for the asking. They will have valuable vegetable/gardening tables available specifically for your area determined by universities and horticultural research scientists who have collected data from growing those crops in your state. Your tax dollars are already paying for this service so you may as well get some use out of it.

Vegetable Planting and Planning Calendar for Missouri (download the pdf) complete with spring and fall planting dates (underneath the spring planting dates for appropriate crops), how much to plant per person, etc. They can also tell you the average last frost date for your area and ideal planting times for specific crops and varieties in your area.

See how detailed this example is:

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...y idea is to kill the grass without using chemicals so I figured I would lay newspaper and sheets of black mulch to shade out the grass throughout the fall and winter. Come spring I would rent a roto tiller to remove the dead grass, mix in compost and begin planting. Like I said earlier I know nothing. Please critique my plan and gimme some advice.

earthworm73,

The best thing you can do is start reading books from the best authors on the topic: Best Books about Vegetable Gardening

Don't bother removing the grass or tilling. Since you're planning this far in advance you don't need to, you have plenty of time to do Lasagna Gardening.

If you read the information at the link and tilling is still the chosen method, then do so at least six weeks in advance, and preferably months in advance in order for the soil tilth to build back again as well as for dormant seeds to sprout so you can skim them to kill them as they come up. Do this a few times for a couple of weeks until they've subsided, then you're ready to plant.

Next you need to prevent weeds by mulching and mulching well (2-3 inches). This will prevent further sprouting of weeds and prevent migrating wind born seeds from taking root in your soil. If you plant vegetable seeds, you can mulch with a thin layer of shredded leaves or grass clippings or compost or straw, etc. When the seedlings get 3-4 inches tall you can mulch at a greater thickness and more as they get larger.