Starting a vegetable garden?
 

I recently moved to a new house. Theres tons of space in the backyard; but its all gravel. Im going to allocate a section to do something I've wanted to do for awhile; start a garden.

I know I will have to buy soil and obviously seeds. Thats as far as I've gotten. I will do research on what and how to do it, but any advice would be great. What's harder to grow, vitamins in the soil?, etc.

Your standard Tomatoes, cucumber, peppers are pretty easy to grow. I would recommend some plant food "not too Much".

A little seceret I learned is to add a bunch of broken egg shells to the soil as well. This will help add lots of good nutrients to the mix.

My brother had a gravelly back yard (previous owner's extra parking spot actually). Since he didn't want a raised garden, the only realy option was to dig it out. Since we were both poor at the time, that meant spades and picks and a few weekends before we dumped a couple truckloads of nice black dirt in.

The problem (other then working our hands raw and our backs to spasms) was drainage. Almosted ended up with a muddy pool after he watered his first rows of seeds. The eventual solution was sod.

In our case, it wasn't worth the effort. Somehow, and I don't know how, make sure the garden can drain as needed.

My 3' high wire fence and gate around mine worked out well for me. Keeps lots of critters and deer from wrecking things. Don't use artificial fertilizers - esp. miracle grow. These push too much "new" type leaf growth and end up attracting bugs. Fish emulsion is good fert. Compost pile is a great idea to continue building soil. Will make your trash less smelly too. Don't add your lawn clippings if you use lots of bad chemicals on your lawn - you will eat the chemicals that way. Rotate where different veggies are grown each year. Keep tobacco products away from tomatoes and wash hands before gardening if you smoke - tobacco smut virus. One of the best things I ever did was buy this small soaker hose, about 3/8" O.D. diameter. I put a run of it under each raised row and keep about 4-5 psi. on it all summer. I never have to water garden. If it gets really wet from rain I shut it off for a few days. Top watering with sprinklers contributes to a lot of plant desease. Test soil to see how much lime you need. I would rent something to dig out area of gravel . I would frequent the forums at http://www.gardenweb.com as that site can't be beat for this stuff.

Thanks for the tips I was about to bad too much ofthe wrong things.