I put down cardboard (or newspaper at least 6 sheets thick and overlapping) and then mulch over that anytime during the year before the ground freezes. Then in the spring it is good for digging into. I have been doing this for years. I till pretty much the whole garden once a year, usually in spring to incorporate whatever grew and whatever I want to add (not much, usually). I only till about 3" deep, max. I have not had a big problem with weeds because a) I plant rather closely, kind of pushing the envelope in terms of spacing because I want the plants to shade out weeds and lessen the need for mulching and b) I hoe. Hoeing is not at all bad if you have a good hoe. I use a stirrup hoe. I actually enjoy cutting their little heads off.:) I don't use raised beds, either. To me that is just extra work and money. I use regular 4' wide rows with 18" between, each row having a double length of soaker hose. Works good for me, especially because my beds can follow the curves of the sun in my yard instead of being straight, but lots of people love those raised beds. Some people would object to my practice because I don't use a lot of mulch once the stuff is planted. I hoe instead ('dust mulch'). It depends on how much water is in the soil and what is growing there. I have a bed that is pretty dry with no mulch that works well because the plants there like that--they're mostly Artemisias, although I also have a bunch of peppers there that are doing well. Those I have mulched with composted manure. Then I have most of the veggies in beds very thickly planted that get a lot of water and no mulch because they don't need mulch--they create their own shade. I keep the space in between rows very small, like 12"-18". I have also tried living mulches, like letting wild portulaca grow and weeding out everything else in between my tomatoes. This worked pretty well, but I think it was actually more labor intensive than having no mulch at all, because I had to hand pull the weeds instead of hoeing. For watering, I use soaker hoses and water only in the early morning, so it has time to soak in before it gets hot and is wasted in evaporation. Yes, people say you have to cover them. I have never covered them and in my highest watering months I think my water bill has increased maybe five bucks. Covering them for me just gets in the way of hoeing.:) I have clay and I think it is great for growing. Everyone complains about it, but I have gardened in sand and I would take clay any day. Clay has tons of nutrients in it. As long as it doesn't get sopping or get hard on top, it is good to grow in, in my experience. I guess what you can use the city compost for would depend on what it was made of. It must be grass and yard waste, no? It might have broadleaf herbicides in it, which wouldn't be good for your garden. I usually get composted manure instead, although the local prison has a program where they give away compost made out of food scraps. I haven't gotten around to trying that yet, but you might see if your local prison, if you have one, has such a program. I think that would be quite safe and you sure can't beat the price. I know what you mean about next year. I am already planning my next-year garden. Definitely going to be more peppers!

First off, thanks, that was a sweet comment! Glad you enjoy my blog. Now for your questions the best I can. 1. Sun - That's considered partial shade at best, though everything but true sun lovers should do ok there. By sun lovers I mean tomatoes, peppers, corn and the like. But heck, give whatever you want a try, you're not out much if it doesn't work, then you'll know. That's what we all did, hehe. 2. Peas - I went Oregon Sugar Snap. They grow 30 inches tall and like a trellis, but I think Granny's idea of a stake or stick in the ground for them to climb is a great idea! Go with whatever you like that works in your area, but check how tall it grows. Web sites tell you. You want one that grows shorter. Sorry I can't be more help, our climates are too dissimilar. 3. Trellis - Gee, my trellis was as simple as 2x4s bolted to the bed with netting strung across it. Regular boards keep it sturdy, but I don't have your wind to deal with. Not sure how it would hold out, but I know you can get all of it at ACE. Note I love my local True Value, shop locally! 4. Peas - We know what's dear to your heart, this is a duplicate question, so you only asked 6... so don't feel bad that you asked 7, hehe. 5. Veggie - I'd have to say my cucumbers, they're amazingly productive and versitile. I use them on sandwiches and salads and I made pickles for my wife. Can't beat that! 6. Wood - I'm biased, since I heard the same thing as you and went with pressure treated. It lasts forever and neither my brother nor I have had any ill effects from it. I'm growing organic (I think), but don't care about any label, so I went treated. You're call, but cheaper sounds good enough for me in this economy! Finally ask away, most of us (and definitely EG, Granny and myself) love helping out! Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

Hey heavensabvus1, you keep getting rid of these critters but if you enhance the natural immunity on your plants, you may be able to deter these bugs for the long term. I recommend working some worm castings into your soil or better yet, innoculate your soil with worms. Worm castings contain an enzyme called chitinase which eats away the shells of many insects. It will take a while for your plants to absorb these enzymes but it will save you a lot of trouble down the road. You may also want to innoculate your soil with beneficial bacteria and fungi. You can buy prepackaged organic fertilizers like Kelloggs at Home Depot that already have these organisms. These organisms form a symbiotic relation with your plant and soil rhizosphere and protect the plant and inhibit insect attacks by several mechanisms. One of these mechanisms is the direct infection of insects by some of the fungal or microbial organisms. Some of these microbial organisms, the bacillus species for example, are naturally found in the soil and certain bacteria and fungi can directly infect and eventually kill harmful insects. To get rid of your pests, I would also highly recommend putting out ant bait stations. Ants innoculate plants with aphids in order to create a steady supply of sweet plant sap. The ants pretty much farm the aphids. By getting rid of ants around your property, you should see a dramatic decrease in your aphid population. To directly kill the aphids, I recommend using Chrysanthemum tea. Chrysanthemum contains a chemical called Pyrethrin which act as a mild natural insecticide. You will have to spray your trees every couple of days for about a week or two untill the insects finally realize its futile. The aphids will eventually come back and you will have to spray again but hopefully your tree has absorbed enough chitinase from the worm castings and also your beneficial bacteria and mycohrizzal fungi would have established itself well enough in your potting soil that even if the bugs did come back, they will take one bite out of your plant, vomit a little, and scuddle to your neighbors yard for some greener pastures :) Beware of those ant bait traps around pets, small children and rain however. If it rains heavily in your area, the poison can get washed into your soil. I try to stay organic but I haven't found a good way of getting rid of ant aside from the bait stations. Good luck with your citrus!

Anney, I have just explored Dr. Dirt's site re using cornmeal as a plant fungicide. As usual he is giving incomplete advice. He takes ideas posted on GardenWeb and that other gardening Forum we can't mention here and gives them his own spin omitting important information. To date, after much experimentation, I have not had success controlling any tomato diseases/blights/fungus using cornmeal. Some have reported good results but I am not been able to. For those who would like to try a cornmeal tea do a search here on GW for Cornmeal Tea to find formulas I have posted. Also do a search for Aspirin Technique which has been my personal best, cheap remedy to date. Some claim it is not organic but to date aspirin has been certified safe for human consumption. The IMPORTANT part of attempting to control tomato problems with WHATEVER one chooses to use is to begin treatment EARLY in the tomato's growth...when the plant has grown a second set of true leaves is a good time to begin.