bigger garden next year?

[FILMNET]

I need more room for the garden, i got great seeds/plants from the nice friends here. For next year in my backyard, should i make it bigger next spring, or put nice compost dirt in the dirt now, before winter? What also should i do?

[mjc]

Start now...clear the area, start amending it (compost, manure...it can be 'fresh' manure, leaves, etc) to till in come spring.

[FILMNET]

OK How deep should i dig down, 5 inch's or more, for Tomatoes

[oc tony]

I'd try lasagna gardening. Google it and see if it's something you would like.

[Tormato]

FILMNET,

5" might be OK, if you transplant shallow with the stems at an angle. If you transplant deep with the stems straight down, 10"+ would be better.

Gary

[piegirl]

I spade down the length of the spade and sometimes deeper. Five inches seems a bit shallow. If you use a tiller, use the full depth of the tines. My Mantis seems to go about 8 inches at least. As mentioned above, Pile on the 'goodies' this fall and your soil should be wonderful next spring. Piegirl

[Medbury Gardens]

Even 8in to me is to shallow,i recommend double digging so the roots can get down a lot further

[Barbee]

My thoughts are it depends on how big you're going to make it, what's there now, and what kind of equipment you have to work it with.
If you've got lawn there now, you really need to bust that up or remove it. And now is the time to do it. This would also be a good time to add in compost, manure, leaves, etc.
While you're in there working, get a soil sample. Fall is the best time to do that, too. You can see how your soil measures up and add in anything you need in that respect. Come spring, you'll just need to tweak things a bit, depending on what your soil sample says.

[FILMNET]

Thanks all is a very old lawn, I have wonderful compost, black dirt,

[Farmette]

I've used traditional and non traditional methods. Two years ago I created a 14 X 12 foot lasagna garden. Never rototilled the grass, just started the layers with cardboard and went from there. Did this in October and by planting time, I had a nice, deep garden. It was a raised bed without wood sides, later made small areas to walk in and amended as I needed to.

[Douglas_OW]

I suggest adding amendments to the soil now, and incorporating them with a roto-tiller. Go to your local Rental Center and rent a machine appropriate for your size garden; I like this model for medium to larger gardens:

http://www.firthgs.com

[FILMNET]

WOW What if i had some bombs or native indian bones in the dirt, my yard and house is from 1867.

[eyolf]

I love to use mulches to do the work of tilling. I started down this path when I noticed I had chopped up a salamander with the tiller. The Lasagna method is good; there are others. Even Black plastic will work wonders, and In Massachusetts you can benefit from a bit of extra warmth the plastic will provide.

I plant Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in black plastic mulch, and have used this to create new areas as well. Fertilize in your favorite manner now, incorporating extra N to account for the N. binding that takes place as high-carbon materials decompose. In the spring, cut holes through your mulch if you;ve used plastic or paper/cardboard, and dig the soil as deep as you choose. I've used a posthole digger: it actually works well when you have several hundred plants to get in.

I use a home-made fertilizer blend: about 1/2 the recommendd quantity of any prepared fertilizer (organic or not, your choice) stirred into almost any kind of seed meal. I use chicken feed...egg mash/layer ration. I add more amendments to suit my local conditions (local soils are short of calcium, for example) and layer this on at a rate of about 5#/100 sq ft.

The prepared fertilzer gives a quick boost, and the seed and alfalfa/clover meals begin to release N through biological action later. The was a pretty good article in Mother Earth News a few years ago by Steve Solomon...that's a place to start. I'm sure its online.

[FILMNET]

Well i dug the lawn out, and then dig 8 inch come down, so maybe 12inchs , then put black compost on the dirt, sand and some garden lime, so I put some black weed barrier on the dirt for winter, to make it hot/cook?

[FILMNET]

Well i dug the lawn out, and then dig 8 inch's more down, so maybe 12 inch's , then put black compost on the dirt, sand and some garden lime, so should I put some black plastic weed barrier on the dirt for winter, to make it hot/cook?