Hi Joy - Was this a home soil test kit or a professional test? The home tests are notoriously inaccurate (many discussions here about them) and adding certain amendments based on them is not recommended - it can cause you more problems than you may already have. Also keep in mind that soil N will only register when soil temps are above 50-55 degrees. That said, the only way to truly know the condition of your soil is to have a professional soil test done and your local county ag extension office will do one for you - usual cost is about $10-15 and includes many more info points than any home kit will. The other approach, taken by many, is just to work in a good amount of compost and/or composted manure - it can't hurt and is bound to help so is a "no-lose" approach. ;) Then plant, see how things go, and add additional improvements as you go along. I'm not saying this is necessarily the best approach, just that it's your choice to do either. Knowing the name of the fertilizer you purchased would help - if it's Blood Meal then it is possible to burn young transplants with it. Over on the Soil, Compost & Mulch forum here at GW you'll find many discussions on how to amend new beds that you might want to review for more tips. Hope this helps and enjoy your garden. Dave PS: You'll also find several recent discussions here on how to start a first garden, I have linked several of them below for you. Here is a link that might be useful: First garden discussions

Handpicking and raking is the only way to get rid of the trash. Leveling the soil will really help to conserve water, as it will prevent it from running downhill. Invest in a $6 "line level" that you will attach to a nylon string. Rake or move all the rocks to the low end of the plot. Use your line level (on a stretched out string) to find out how much you will have to build up the low end of your plot. Anchor one end of the string/level with a large rock on the high end of the plot, and stretch it across the plot, raising the string on the low end of the plot and see how much higher the low end needs to be to make the bubble in the level centered, and pile your row of rocks that high. Then either move some soil from the high end to the low end to make it level, or bring in additional topsoil/compost to bring the low end up to the same height as the top of the rocks. If you're bringing in compost, it would be best if you leveled the soil, then added the compost in an even layer. Plastic mulch isn't going to do anything to improve the soil, so I would advise plant mulch, as it will help keep moisture in the soil as well as keeping the weeds down and the soil cooler. A compost pile in one corner would be a helpful thing to have, whatever size it turns out to be. The smaller the debris is that is added, the faster it will break down. I know many people advocate putting sticks on the bottom, but I don't think it does much good, but it sure drives you crazy when you try to turn the compost and keep hitting that junk with your fork. BTW, invest in a spading fork, you'll never regret it, good for digging and for turning compost. Fencing: The plastic stuff is pretty fragile, as I have discovered -- raccoons climbing it will tear it down. The cheapest, most useful fencing would be 100 feet of 36" tall welded wire fencing (2x4" holes) and 7 heavy-duty pound-in metal posts (try to borrow a fencepost-pounder, a metal tube with handles). Put a post in each corner, and one in the middle of each long side. Put the last post 3 or 4 feet from a corner, where your 'gate' will be. Be sure to make the gate wide enough for the widest thing you will be bringing in there (like a wheelbarrow or rototiller). Start wrapping the fencing around the plot, starting at one of your gate posts (this is easier with at least two people) and come around back to the other gatepost -- don't cover the gate opening! Fasten the fencing to the second gatepost and cut the wire with wirecutters. (Clips should come with the fenceposts-- ASK!) Now cut a piece for the gate, as wide as the opening plus one more row of holes, so it's just a little wider than the opening. Use 3 or 4 black cable ties (also called 'zip ties' -- black is more resistant to sunlight) as hinges to fasten the gate to one of the posts, but not too tight, as they have to move a bit. The best thing for the fastener is a metal rod about 3/8" diameter and about 4 feet long. A hardware store or metal fabrication shop should have something that doesn't cost much -- have them make a right-angle bend in it about 41" from one end (if they can't/won't, find someone with a chainlink fence, remove one of the caps from the support pipes, stick the end of the rod in to where you marked the bend, and bend it). And you'll need one regular red brick. Weave the long end of the metal rod down through the gate holes so it's close to the post (if you need to keep it in place, use a few more of those black cable ties). It should stick out at the bottom about 4" or so and stick into the ground to keep the gate closed. Dig a hole for the brick so it's on the gate-side of the rod (to hold it in place), and so the top of the brick is level with the ground. Cut a piece of any kind of rope for the gate fastener about a foot long. Make a loop that just fits over the rod (between the bend and the top of the gate mesh wire, and reaches easily over to the fence post. To close the gate, jam the bottom of the rod into the ground by the gatepost and on the far side of the brick, loop the rope over the top of the fencepost and swing the L toward the hinge side so an animal can't push in. To open the gate, swing the bent rod toward the fence and lift the rope off the fencepost, and lift the rod out of the ground. With the leftover fencing, you'll make a barrier to keep rabbits and groundhogs from digging under your fence. Use your wirecutters to split it right down the middle lengthwise (right in the middle of the mesh squares so you have prongs sticking out on each edge) so you have two long pieces. Lay each length on the ground just outside your finished fence (long sides first) with the freshly-cut prongs pointing at the fence. Make sure the long lengths of cut mesh extend past the standing fence corners by at least 18" on all four ends for overlap, then cut off the excess. Use the excess to do the same on the shorter ends of your fence, again with the prongs facing toward the plot, again with an extra 18" sticking off the ends. All the corners should be overlapping. It would be best to lay them down so the curve of the mesh is downward, or the ends may stick up and trip people. Now push the flat pieces right up against your standing fence, sliding the prongs under the fence, and bend the prongs up and around the bottom wire of the standing fence. You can do all of them if you want, or just every 6" or so, and cut off the extra prongs. Do this all the way around, including the section right in front of the gate. Fix the soil before you install the fence, it will be easier. Your fence can also be a trellis.

You can divide the driveway into "rooms" with "walls" of raised beds or occasional plants in large pots. Your firepit patio area is one of those garden rooms. This is an excellent place for raised bed "walls." You might also use an outdoor rug to delineate the space -- or if the budget will stretch that far, put down some sand or crushed rock (or whatever the experts say is appropriate) to even out the asphalt, and add pavers to make the "patio." The cheap pavers I buy at Lowe's for stepping stones are just under $3.00 per square foot. Probably at the right time of year, theyd be on sale. If that's beyond the budget, try Craigslist, Freecycle, your local Habitat for Humanity store, etc., for whatever someone's giving away or selling cheaply. If you see a building being demolished, ask if there are any bricks or pavers you could have (this saves on their dumping cost). Mention it to everyone, and you'll have a better chance of finding something. I've seen photos of hardscape made from mixed types of bricks and/or pavers. To me, it seems to look best if you either have a pattern (for example, one type in the center, another on the outside) or mix everything really well. However, since you'd be working on a hard surface, IÂm assuming it would be difficult to do this unless all your different pavers/bricks were the same thickness. What are you growing in the raised beds? Veggies, flowers? Is there a purpose for the raised beds other than to disguise and make use of the old driveway? That purpose might be a consideration in designing the "garden." Plot out possible arrangements on graph paper and see what works best with the space you have. You can cut different-sized beds from colored paper and move them around the graph paper. To avoid boring rows, use L-shaped beds with a path that meanders back and forth between them. Have beds of different sizes and/or heights. Add a change of pace with a large pot in the corner between two raised beds. Or a birdbath at the end of a bed or in a small open area. Or in a larger space, a secondhand garden bench. Add surprises with an occasional bit of garden art (itÂs okay to make your own). Karen makes a good point about disguising the boundary between the former driveway and the rest of the yard: try to create opportunities to cross the drive and be on one side facing across it, rather than opportunities to walk and look along it. You might even create complete barriers between sections, whether with plants or something else, requiring a person to step onto the adjoining steps to get by them. If the wooden deck doesnÂt border the entire driveway, another way to do this would be to place some of the raised beds so they are partly on the driveway and extend a few feet beyond the driveway. Or plant a tree next to the driveway that will hang over the driveway and blur the boundary. With the right tools, you could even excavate part of the driveway and plant a tree there! A possible answer for the leaking-dirt problem is to make mulch "paths" between the raised beds. When the mulch decays, add it to the beds. [You may be able to get free mulch from utilities pruning around power lines; or ask your countyÂs Cooperative Extension Service for possibilities in your area.]

Now that everything is planted, I decided to bring this thread back, and post a few pics. Here's a list of what's planted there: Beans - Jackson Wonder Lima, Dixie Speckled Butterpea, Supernana Marconi Gold, Roma II, Garafal Enana, Black Valentine, Contender, and Vittoria Cauliflower - Chef's Choice mix Lettuce - Simpson Elite, Freckles Melons - Rocky Ford, Far North, Noir de Carmes, Collective Farm Woman, Tigger, Golden Midget, Blacktail Mountain, Sweet Siberian, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Sweet Passion, and Cream of Saskatchewan Tomatoes - Gold Medal, Caspian Pink, Earl's Faux (if it makes it), Brown Berry, Black from Tula, and Marianna's Peace Peppers - Ancho, Alma Paprika, Beaver Dam, TAM Jalapeno, and Senorita Jalapeno. Squash/Zucchini - Cocozelle, Black Beauty, Australian Butter, Bush Buttercup, Uchiki Kuri, and Gold Nugget ... and a small patch of Quinoa All of that in a 20' x 20' plot!!! Have a feeling it might be a jungle in a few more weeks! Anyway, here are some pictures taken today: Beans Cauliflower - you can still see some of the leaves are shredded from the hail a couple of weeks ago. Lettuces Melons Squash Tomatillo Pepper - you can see the newer leaves are a brighter green, and the older ones are brown on the edges A sad looking Earl's Faux (the leaves at the bottom weren't eaten by something, I pinched them off because they were dead) A much healthier looking Gold Medal An extremely pitiful looking ground cherry plant, and the others look even worse than this one! They were beautiful when planted a week ago ... So you can see that some things are coming along nicely, and a few are just barely hanging in there. I ordered an early birthday gift for myself, a stirrup (scuffle) hoe, which should be a big help getting those weeds under control at the community garden. Jennifer, I just realized that I forgot to plant any marigolds there. Do you think its too late? Bonnie