Free Garden Catalogs

this summer i'm going to plant a fruit and vegetable garden, but i'm new to this, i need a little help first?

i live in the dallas/fort worth area of texas. when should i start preparing for the garden. for instance, when should i turn all the soil, mix in the compost, plant the seeds in there own little things to get them started? what are the easier vegetables and fruits that a begginer could start with? any advice and tips would be much appreciated. thanks. and i've got an acre in the back and a lot of time on my hands so the garden is gonna be fairly large.

Public Comments

1. Hi: There are many vegetables and fruits you can plant in Dallas. You live in zone seven where the ground doesn't freeze. We lived in Oklahoma many years ago and had a veggie garden. Okra is a big success in your area. Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini and corn are all great crops for your area. As far as the right time you can start preparing the ground , anytime. I also presently live in zone seven and recommend to my clients to start preparing in Febraury and you can start your garden in March with cool weather vegetables. Most fruits like melons need warmer ground temperatures. Make sure you properly prepare your garden. Tilling, and raking out, and add some organic mushroom compost to your soil. This is an organic fertilizer that will last up to one year. I just put a page up on my website on temperatures for planting vegetables directly into the ground. I will link you to my simple solution section and browse through this section and see if this page will help you. I will also link you to the plan - prep - plant page as this is an overall on properly doing a garden. I will link you to my site map as this page has everything that is on the website. There may be some information you could use for your vegetable and fruit garden. Also, consider doing a couple of ornamental fruit trees. Hope this has helped some and good luck to you. If you need any other suggestions, please feel free to contact me at the website. Have a great day! Kimberly http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Solutions.html http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/plan.html http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Site.html
2. Unsure about Texas gardens, was in that area this past summer in July and it was so HOT. I would think a garden that large would need alot of water. So think about that. I live here in Iowa so I don't start my garden up here till end of April or May. I would imagine you could start earlier to beat the heat of summer. I would guess that your garden would start several months before us. I would suggest you go to the library and check out some gardening books and read them and get ideas from them and your zone you live in. With that much area to be planted you could plant alot of vine crops; cucumbers, squash varieties, watermelon, melons etc. they take alot of space. The easier plants would be radishes, tomatoes, green peppers, green beans. You know if you plant an acre into a garden, I would plan for alot of leftover produce. You could learn to can them or freeze them for future use. Or you could take them to a farmer's market and sell them. Lots of people go to farmer's markets here to buy fresh produce. Good Luck on your adventure.
3. So you are going to have a back breaker garden? LoL HERBS Basil Chives Thyme Rosemary FRUIT Canteloupe Watermelons Blackberries Loganberries VEGETABLES Bush beans/(no pun intendedalso called bunch beans [ EASY GROW] Tomatoes Radishes Lettuce Onions Corn Bell peppers Hot chilies of choice Broccoli or Cauliflower need to be in the ground by Feb or March. It likes cooler weather. Vegetable and Fruit Catalog THESE ARE REPUTABLE SOURCES It's always good to browse just to see what might interest you. http://gurneys.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1200585912 http://www.tmseeds.com/?er=overus;term=flower+seed+catalog http://www.burpee.com/home.do You might want to check out Yahoo! Answers gardening groups Browse Groups about Gardening http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Family___Home/Home_and_Garden/Gardening The possibilities are endless
4. Hiya, i live in the San Antonio area so I can kinda tell you about our area. i am much further south so we are a lot drier. But as You already know we get hot here in Texas, murderously hot! :) I've found peppers, squashes, and beans & pumpkins grow great as long as you tend to them daily. Animals are a big pest. We have a lot of gophers/voles that attack the gardens and eat tender young roots. Also fireants are a menace as well. Start working the land now and ask about remedies for fire ant control from your local nursery. I do not advise the poisons since this is an eating garden. They may have alternatives. Fruits are a little harder to manage. We used to try strawberries but the heat was just too much and we couldnt compete withthe birds. Orange and Lemon trees do wonderfully here in Texas though. We have a couple of each and even though they are only about 8ft each we have more fruit than we can handle! even among 4 families!: We live on several acres as well. Now is the time to start getting the soil tilled and draw up a layout of plots. Remember some plants need room to ramble out like watermellon and squash and some need vertical supports like some peas and tomatoes. Ask me anything you want, i am no expert but I genuinely want to help
5. The first thing I would do as a new gardener is to go to the nearest bookstore and get a couple of good books on vegetable gardening. There is an excellent Rodale book on vegetable gardening, an Ortho book, a book called Square Foot Gardening, and many others. That way, you can study them, plan and lay out your garden, learn how to prepare the soil and all of the questions you have asked, this winter while you are waiting for spring. By having these books in your home, you will have all the information you need at your fingertips. Telling you all this on Y/As would involve way too much space, as most of these books can be 200 or 300 pages long. Your local Home Depot also has some really good books.