Rebecca, welcome to the Wintersowing forum! I'm in zone 5 too, and wintersowing has allowed me to grow much more from seed than I could before, since I simply don't have the space indoors. Here are the vegetables that I have wintersown: Lettuce Spinach Swiss Chard Broccoli Peas Tomatoes Cucumbers and canteloupes I did using the wintersowing method, but in late May Herbs - basil (late April), dill, lavender, marjoram, oregano, parsley, perilla, rosemary, sage, spearmint Really about the only things that I don't wintersow for the garden, are carrots, since they don't always transplant well, and peppers, because our growing season is just too short to do them that way. I've included a link to Wintersown.org's list of vegetables for wintersowing, which may help as well. Start saving those containers, and buy plenty of potting mix before winter gets here! Bonnie Here is a link that might be useful: Wintersown.org - Vegetables for wintersowing

I think you can send/take a soil sample to Cornell to get testing done. They can probably test for lead if that seems likely to be a problem as well as pH, major nutrients, and organic matter. You can do some basic tests as outlined here: http://organicgardening.about.com/od/soil/a/easysoiltests.htm http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/hows-your-soil-texture.aspx?id=81680 Adding organic matter to the soil is always good, particularly if it is clay (yours sounds like it has quite a bit of clay) or sand. Some options to get additional compost might include: Can you borrow a truck? Could you hire a landscaper to deliver city compost for a cost that seems reasonable? Can you rent a truck (I think some of the big box stores rent trucks by the day/hour)? Is there a soil/mulch/compost supplier that can deliver a quantity from their bulk stocks for a price that seems reasonable to you? In future years, you may be able to pick up other folks leaves curbside to create more of your own compost. How worried you should be about contaminents may depend on where you are planting. For instance I live on an old farm, so in general I don't worry, but I don't plant anything edible near the house or where other old buildings stood since lead was used in house paint for many years, so I just assume that the soil near the house has a relatively high lead content. Likewise, I wouldn't plant next to a busy road since lead was a gas additive, but if your land has no history of industry, I wouldn't worry beyond that. Covering the grass is a great start since it will add organic matter as well. If you used enough layers of newspaper and it has been on long enough, most of the grass will have been killed. Grass will grow sideways into the garden under the stone border, so I would add a V shaped trench a few inches deep that gets refreshed a couple times over the course of the growing season to help keep the grass from growing into the veggie bed. Keeping mulch on the surface will help prevent weed seeds from sprouting and keep moisture levels more even. There is a vegetable gardening forum and a soil forum and also I think a composting forum here on GW where you can also ask questions.

Hi Charlene, I mulch my veggies (plants and seeds) with grass clippings from when I cut the grass right after I plant them to help conserve water. I just put a thick layer in a ring around each plant or spread a layer over each row when I'm seeding. Every week when I cut the grass I add more to the garden and eventually have the whole thing covered which makes it much cleaner to walk and work in. Since grass is fine the stuff on the bottom keeps decomposing and adding organic matter to improve the soil. If you have annual weed grasses growing in your lawn you might wind up with grass seedlings coming up all over the garden, but I've never had a problem with ordinary turf grass (bluegrass), even though my grass is producing seed like mad right now. In fall when everything is done I turn over the soil and the remaining grass gets mixed in and decomposes the rest of the way over winter giving me better soil for the next year. Bark or other wood mulch would work too to help with the water conservation, but it takes much longer to decompose if it gets worked into the soil, so you might wind up with a lot of "lumps!" Also, if a LOT of wood mulch winds up mixed into the soil, you could wind up with too little nitrogen in the soil---decomposing matter temporarily binds up the nitrogen in the soil (making it unavailable to the plants) until the decomposition is complete. Should that happen you could always feed with a high nitrogen fertilizer, or, to prevent that problem, you could rake the bark or wood chips back off of the soil at the end of the season rather than mixing it into the soil. There's not enough decomposition going on from wood or any mulch just laying on top of the soil to affect the nitrogen levels. If you decide to use a bagged wood mulch, I just bought several bags of small bark chips for around my perennials and the best price I found was 3/$10 at Lowes. Now for the BIG question! Are WE going to survive this summer? If it's this hot already, I don't even want to think about what it's going to be like in July and August! Happy gardening---and--- stay cool, Skybird

Sounds like you will do well with this...thinking ahead and coming in with prior growing experience is huge. I've grown in my back yard and also at a plot that I visited once a week or so. The management is different but very doable if you plan differently for each location. You will need to arrive each weekend mentally and physically prepared to deal with any problems that you discover came up in the previous week. Don't waste time being overly upset by "bad" things that may have happened while you were away. Maybe you will need to spend a lot of the time dealing with pests, maybe watering, maybe fence failure, maybe storm/wind damage when you first arrive each week. You just never know what will greet you, but don't let it get you down, most is fixable. And often most everything will be fine and you'll be amazed at the changes a week brings. And many problems can often be avoided by upfront planning and a little work...ie. using row covers, mulch, well planned and well constructed fencing, and possibly automated irrigation depending on your climate/weather. Crop selection is also different. Veggies needing timely harvest may be out, but that still leaves lots of things to grow. I've found I can adjust my harvesting ideas and still grow many crops others rule out because they think they must have frequent harvesting. You can pick tomatoes at breaker stage along with the vine ripened ones and a week later the plants and fruit should be fine for a repeat picking. Pick any beans over an inch long and a week later you will return to many perfectly sized ones, some overgrown ones okay for soup, and some tiny ones. Pick any cucumbers you see, again even 1 inch ones, and a weekend later you should have a nice harvest again. Following the same method, zucchini, summer squash, etc. can all work out....some of the baby veggies will be fussy to cook with and some of the larger ones may sometimes be best in the compost, but it can work if you adjust your thinking and your eating and cooking methods. It took me awhile to get over having to throw out a few overripe items and worrying about which tiny veggies to pick and which to leave. But now I love knowing I can go away if I want and still have some beans and cucumbers. Potatoes, beets, carrots, dry beans,onions, winter squash, etc., etc., etc., all do fine with weekly check ups...even less often if mulch is keeping weeds out and water in the plot. Enjoy the land, expect challenges and enjoy learning from them.