Boy that's a loaded question. The total cost will depend on: 1- raised bed or not, 2- source of plants, 3- bed preparation, 4- kinds and size of plants, 5- purchased tools, 6- who maintains the garden, 6- I know there are more, but I ran out of thoughts for now. You have to get the pencil out, start a list and then go from there.

1-
no raised beds,
2-
at the moment walmart home depot and Lowes any suggestions are welcomed,
3-
rototiller the lot add fertilizer and lay some sort of Plastic sheeting between the plants. I'm thinking of using a bug screen on some plants such as tomatoes,
4-
BellPeppers,Carrots,Corn,Cucumber,Eggplant,Garlic,jalapeños,Onion,Potato,
Pumpkin,Spinach,Strawberry,Sweetcorn,tomatoes,Watermelon,Zucchini
and some herbs,
5-
I think I have most of what I need as far as hand tools but I wood like some kind of sprinkler system with a timer
6-
that wood be me.

then it will cost whatever the plants cost you, plus the fert, plus the water, plus any other misc supplies and insecticides/fungicide/etc.

i have spent as much as 1500.00 in one year on my garden, and as little as 100.00, depending on what i had and what i needed that year. of course big ticket items like my tiller are used more than 1 year, but you have to figure the cost in the year you buy it. my garden is 100x100, and watered from a well so the cost to water is not great for me.

BTW, instead of sprinklers get soem drip irrigation or drip hoses. then you water ONLY the plants and not the whole thing. it saves not only on water, but cuts down weeds.

Nerharu, Sounds good to me with two suggests. 1) Use organic material, such as grass clippings, several layers of newspaper, cardboard, mulch, etc. to control weeds between rows and each plant rather than plastic. 2) You can be a "dry land gardener" which means using what "mother nature" gives you. You can use supplement water using a pulsating lawn sprinkler. Installing a drip system is the best if you spend time planning the thing which I suggest you wait until year two so you get your feet wet (pun intended) this year. One source for good info, selection and pricing is 'DripWorks.com', I like them.

My garden is also watered from a well and I was actually planing to use drip irrigation I'm just not sure I have enough money I think it would be more expensive then sprinklers I'll probably just water by hand, and as for newspaper and cardboard mulch I had some issues with that I think cardboard would cost more then plastic and I can reuse the plastic also I've never liked newspaper because I don't like the Idea of the Ink getting in the ground it just doesn't sound good.

Newsprint does not use ink anymore rather a biodegradable polymer and you're recycling. Cardboard from any used box will work, think 'free' and recyclable.

It's your nickel so you can spend it the way you want to.

i said drip hose earlier but i meant SOAKER hose. i bought a 500' roll on Ebay a couple years ago for about 50.00 shipped! i have another 25.00 invested in some PVC and fittings and i can feed each row of my garden independantly. i did spend 40.00 on a decent timer, but only cause i have a bad habit of forgetting to turn teh water off!

if you use soakers, get the good ones. those el cheapo wal mart ones are bad about not watering evenly, heck some won't even water at all for several feet!

You do realize pumpkin,strawberry and Watermelon will take up a ton of space? Strawberries will need room to spread. Watermelon (except the special BUSH ones, run just like pumpkins.
Spinach,Sweetcorn,corn,Zucchini,Cucumber,carrots will grow from seed which is relatively cheap if bought in bulk at a feed & seed store (by the scoop or ounce)
Bell Peppers,tomatoes,jalapeños,Eggplant, onions are best bought at a feed & seed store in bundles
Garlic you can buy in a bag at the grocery store. It will spread quickly.
Potato can be bought at grocery or seed store by the pound. If you buy grocery potatoes, you will need to thoroughly wash them and put them in a warm, dark place to grow eyes. The washing gets rid of the hormone which prevents 'eying'.

What, no okra, tomatoes or yellow squash? This is heresy.

Yup, you must not be in Tennessee. Here you can't call it a garden without tomatoes, lol. Okra and yellow squash are a given too. narheru it will help us help you if you tell what zone you're in and state.

Narheru,

If you want to keep costs down, don't overlook seed swaps, plant swaps and winter-sowing. I've not bought a plant in years and have more than I know what to do with each spring and fall due to the wonderful plant and seed swaps I've found. You can even find soaker hoses, pots, stakes, tomato cages, etc. at swaps. All free.

I suggest winter sowing because it's a great alternative to starting seeds indoors--no need to buy heat mats or grow-lights. And don't forget to make compost and check Craigslist for someone giving away aged manure (to replace expensive fertilizers).

Perhaps cost is not an issue for you, but if it is, you needn't sacrifice a thing!

Diana Lynn

wow - that's a HUGE amount of space for someone who's not familiar with gardening... you do realize that folks start out with a 4'x4' square plot, and go from there? if you're not familiar with the weather conditions, needs of the plants, growing seasons and the like...

honestly? if you're just going to break up the ground, add some chemicals, and cover the resulting mess with plastic, you're setting yourself up for frustration....

start with a basic soil test - it'll be the best $40 you ever spend. follow that up with taking a workshop on composting, or just poke around in the 'you bet your garden' archives at gardensalive.com ...and think about what you are going to fertilize with before you start spreading chemicals around.

converting even a fraction of your space into working garden will take time - even with a generous budget, the TIME involved is not something to be overlooked....even if you have an on-site slave team (husband, kids)

is there a local comuunity garden, or somewhere you can go in your community to get support for this effort? if you look around, you might find connections for compost (don't bother gardening with out it) seeds and seedlings and cuttings (some things start from seed, like sunflowers - some things, like mint? won't grow from seeds at all, but a bit snapped off, walked on, left in the sun, and kicked into the compost heap will root, and start a new mint plant)...

: ) my whole garden's recycled, most of the plants are perennials that someone else had too many of (every spring, I put up a 'will work for plants' sign at the farmer's market, and spend a weekend or two helping people break up overgrown plantings - I get divisions, my mom gets divisions for her senior residence, and the original person gets a revitalized bed) and it gets cheaper every year as I get better at things.