starting a garden

I know we have several green thumbs on the board.

I want to start a vegetable garden this year but don't know where to start. Can I plant in the spring or am I too late? Any hints?

Rachel,
Planting in the Spring is not a problem at all. In fact, we planted our summer garden on Easter sunday with the rest of the family, and it turnout out to be perfect timing for us. We planted transplants for tomatoes and peppers and herbs, seeds for squashed, melons, cucumbers, beans and flowers. I wouldn't start seeds inside last year, and won't this year either. We're just too far behind already. Home depot had great transplants last year, and so do online catalogs like www.territorialseed.com.
The trick is getting the ground prepared and the soil amended ahead of time. We spent a few weeks breaking ground with the backhoe-***-tiller (well, we had a large garden last year!), adding truckloads of mulch and manure, and mixing, mixing, mixing, before cutting paths and building rows and mounds.
It depends on the size of your garden, too. If it's a large lot that you'd like to cultivate, then it helps to start earlier than April getting things ready. If it's smaller-scale, then you'll use fewer man hours preparing.

What are you dreaming up for this year?

Just something little in the back yard. I am not sure exactly what to grow. Tomatoes and carrots for sure. So transplanting is the way to go?

This will be our first big garden this year, but my mom and stepdad do this every year. They plant tomato plants, but almost everything else is seeds. They also start around Easter time - they canned so much food last year that they aren't even close to running out almost a year later (and that is with sharing with us too!!!). Good luck and keep us posted!

I'm right there with Rachel, been wanting too but never have. Is there dirt that's already prepared in bags we can buy somewhere?