You can certainly use the test kits you have, but personally I would take a couple samples and send them to an extension service lab indicating the soil will be used for veggies and asking for specific recommendations as to what to add, if anything.

Assuming this soil has previously been used for a garden it is probably in acceptable shape for growing, but you still need to provide nutrients to the plants, particularly nitrogen which is very mobile in soils and may not be present in adequate amounts for good veggie growth.

The professional soil test will advise you how much of what to add.

900sq ft is a lot of area to water with only what you can bring in your car. Hope for lots and lots of regular rain :) You might try creating a furrow next to each row and water the furrow. This will allow the water to seep into the soil instead of running off over non planted areas.

You may also wish to mulch the planted rows to help reduce water loss from evaporation.

Hi Albanach!

I think you're probably right on time to plant peas- I'm waiting for our snow to melt and the ground to dry a little then mine are going in! Potatoes go soon, too. As for veggies I would reccommend, sweet potatos grow real well here and are pretty care-free, and let us not forget beans! Lots and lots of beans! Oh, swiss chard- that starts early and goes until frost and makes a wonderful tender green. Also relatively carefree. I think you'll have good luck with your herbs.

I agree that it will be hard to bring enough water in your car- each gallon of water weighs close to 10 pounds- 10 gal = 100 pounds! But where there's a will, there's a way! :) Mulch will be helpful and I would add that compost to the whole garden to increase the organic matter, and so the water-retention of the whole plot.

I've been growing veggies in Va. for about 4 years now and I still remember my first year... lots of learning! Start a garden journal and write things down- what you planted, when, what the temperature was, etc. And what worked and what didn't. Bring it with you when you come to read about things on the forums so you can jot down ideas of what might work better next year. Record your successes with lots of exclamation points!!! Oh, and visit your plot often. :) Good luck!

Sunni

Some advice. Yes, water will be a big problem, mitigating factors could be clay soil (if you have it), and mulch. You have to mulch anyway, because your soil has a large seed bank. If I were you I would:

a) cover with cardboard or multiple layers of newspaper. Go to a recycling site and get a big stack. Or in the back of a supermarket

b) call a tree company and get ten tons of wood chips. This should be free of charge, or at least it is around here. Spread the chips on the cardboard. They should be about 8 inches deep. You don't have to do it right away, you can wait until weeds have sprouted, but do it a good 3 weeks before the big spring planting.

This will,

a) halve your water bill this summer. The plot will need
two 55 gallon drums of water on a hot day this summer.
Only the watermelon and herbs, in your list, are somewhat drought resistant, once established.

b) kill most if not all dormant biennials and perennials (such as brambles or dock) which are about to restart

c) in a couple of years, create one inch of seed free top soil. Biological activity will constantly unearth seeds, but you will be miles better than with the soil you have now, which would probably require 40-80 hours of weeding
every spring

You can still plant everything in your list except lettuce. Wood chips are too harsh for it. For the rest, buy plants (or whole potatoes), dig through the mulch, cut through the cardboard, and plant. Potatoes can be just placed on top of the cardboard and covered with chips.

The wood chips will create a acid soil. Next year you can plant most everything you want (including lettuce), but give the greens some lime to sweeten the soil and help them along.

Be generous with herbs. Most are perennial, and they give you a lot, year after year. 20 square ft of herbs for a family is not an exaggeration.

Well, there has been some good advice give so far, but I must say that I disagree with the cardboard and wood chips. I think that you will find too much moisture is absorbed by the wood chips that will be subsequently evaporated. Sure the depth will keep the soil moist, but I think there will be more lost through transpiration than will be absorbed through that wood mulch. If you must mulch (which is not a given like everyone would have you believe), try less carbon rich and more permeable materials like dried grass clippings or straw.

As for the rest of your questions, 900 square feet is a good space. With limited access and no water on site, I would strongly advise against any bio-intensive methods that propose tight spacing of plants. Increasing the spacing in between plants will result in a more 'waterless' approach that will suit you well. Really, given enough room, the only crops you have listed that will encounter problems from little or no water will be the lettuce.

I agree that a professional soil sampling will help determine what needs to be added and in what quantity. Adding organic matter like compost is usually a good idea, but adding too much can actually reduce yields in some cases of medium-high to high fertility soils. Caution should be used. However, an addition of 0.5"-1" of good quality compost to the growing beds/rows only will probably be in the cards.

I would suggest that you brush up on the information provided here, but also I would take a look into a real dry-gardening, traditionalist approach like Steve Solomon.

Here is a link that might be useful: Steve Solomon: Gardening When it Counts

I really have to strain to think of a situation where mulching decreases moisture availability (short of plastic mulching), compared to no mulch. I can imagine where a really fine mulch (say, "playground" chips or sawdust, or perhaps thickly matted leaves) may let a bit less water through than, say, the coarser wood chips that a tree company will provide. But less than no mulch? And to boot, with scarce crop cover? Totally against my experience, under any circumstances.

My far garden (I have two) is out of range for the hose. There is drip, but seedlings still need hand watering until the first big rain/until the rootball is several inches across. I mulch and mulch, and carry the seedlings water with a 55 gallon drum in the tractor cart. I can't remember water ever standing on those 1 inch chips. Quite the opposite, no mulch and my soil dries down to two inches within a few hours (it is very sandy).

IME, all crops are somewhat drought-hardy if started from seed. That isn't an option for tomatoes and peppers but it is for potatoes and greens. Mulch is good for sure, but don't use wood chips if the soil is sandy - very bad combo; if heavy clayey stuff then the woodchips would be ok. I'd always go for hay or straw if possible.

If you sow from seed rather than transplants then you have to wait on mulching until crops are up at least some inches. The potatoes, however can get set right on the soil and covered with 4-6 inches of mulch, and keep adding as the tops come through.

Buy (or make)two or three rain barrels near the plot. These can be simple lean-to's with a slanted roof, a gutter, and downspout into the barrels. They can even be connected to one lean-to, so overflow flows from barrel to barrel.

Prof....

You stole my thunder! You read my mind. I have a 1000 and a 125 gal tank on my farm.

It is amazing how much rain you will catch if you make a small lean-to structure. Its free, renewable and best of all plants love rain!

Albanach, if you do this, you'll never worry about water again.

Cheers!

I don't think rain barrels will work - I can't construct on the plot, and I suspect if there's a hundred gallons of water available on site, it will mysteriously disappear into other gardens when I'm not around.

I've since learned that there's a creek about 100ft away that I can draw water from. I'm now leaning towards investing in a gas water pump which should give me an ample supply as long as there's no extended drought.

It would be a substantial investment, but I think worthwhile for reducing my effort and increasing productivity of the plot.

Wood chips around here seems to retail around $20/cubic yard - so eight inches of cover would cost over $100. Given I'd still need to get water on site during the 90 degree summer months, this seems like an easier route - unless someone sees a problem with it?

Thanks again for all the help!

If the plot as been overgrown with weeds, you need to dig up the soil to remove weed roots. Otherwise, you will pulling established weeds all Summer.

You might want to try solarizing the plot by covering it with clear plastic. That lets the sun really heat the soil and kill the plants in it.

So excited to see this post! This is similar to the garden I will have this year. I live in a condo and I am allowed to have a garden on an empty area at the back of our complex. There is no water source, and I live in dry, windy Colorado.
This week, I dug two ditches to collect water in barrels off the buildings, mulched the pathways and surrounding area with 1-2 inches of wood chips which I hope will reduce weeds (which will steal water) and I will mulch the beds with found materials including dry cat tails, hay, and pine needles as soon as temperatures warm a bit.
I have also buried some water bottles so I can water the roots of mature plants directly and avoid evaporation.

I read that if you let tomato plants sprawl without support, they will provide their own mulch to retain moisture though in VA, it may be too humid for this technique. Vegetables generally need 1 inch water per week, which amounts to 65 gallons per 100 sq ft. Mulch can cut that in about half, and of course you can count rain water. I'd love to see how you're coming.

Good luck.

Here is my blog showing how I've been planning this waterless garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: water efficient garden

I also recommend using mulch in your walkways. Place down 10 layers of newspaper under the mulch and you have a pretty effective weed barrier in place and that will significantly reduce your time spent weeding.

Now as to the herbs, you can't start French Tarragon from seed; so if you bought/were given Tarragon seed its the Russian type and not worth growing (worse than a weed). French Tarragon is the culinary tarragon and does not produce any viable seeds; you start it from a cutting. I have heard of folks actually rooting cuttings that they bought in the grocery store!

I'd recommend that you plant the oregano in a very large plastic pot, and then sink the pot into the ground so that ~2" of the pot's rim is above ground. That way the oregano will not invade the rest of your garden. I didn't see mint on your list; if you plan to grow mint please keep in mind that it is ferociously invasive. The thyme spreads but is easy to relocate. Chives can self-seed everywhere if you don't snip off the flowers (use flowers in herbed vinegar or in salads as an edible garnish). If you are turning the garden by hand its ok to sprinkle the herbs throughout the garden for beauty. However, if you are tilling or if the community garden is disked using a tractor you will want to keep the herbs in one corner of the garden so that you can preserve them. Basil and coriander (cilantro) are annuals; your other herb choices are perennial.

You could use a electric water pump for a garden hose they cost around $70 you would then need an inverter to hook to your car battery sometimes on sale for $100 at sams club or similar get about a 1000 watt one it will probly be alot quieter and cheaper just a thought though

And yes mulch I have never needed any more than a few bales of straw a few inches deep

Congratulations! Where you live mulching would be a great idea for keeping down the weeds, preserving soil moisture and getting beneficial critters like worms to grow. Instead of working your soil over with a shovel I would go over it 2-3 times with a good rear tine tiller. Front tined tillers were designed by an evil engineer who was dumped by a beautiful gardener. Just kidding, but those things buck and don't dig very deep either. As far a finding mulching material maybe you could look for neighbors with grass clipping who don't use chemicals on their lawn or leaves in the fall. I live up north where it would be unusual to spray leaves, but check it out in your area. Good luck and you are so blessed to have the creek!

I forgot to mention planting winter rye all over your garden when you're done with it late in the fall. I like to rototill the garden first to make it even. The winter rye will help your garden to dry out a little earlier in the spring so you can start planting cool weather crops earlier. If it is rather tall when its time to turn it under you should mow it first especially if you're using a walk behind tiller. A tiller behind a tractor would have no problems. Winter rye adds a lot of organic matter to your soil not only because of the top growth but also because the same roots that are drying out your garden run dense and deep. Also, winter rye inhibits the growth of weeds. I've read that it has a chemical in the plant that does this, but I think it just shades out the weed seeds.

I got one of those cheap soil tests last year, and was advised by more experienced gardeners that the cheap pH tests are not very reliable.

Amen to the solarizing. You may even want to solarize, then till, solarize, till, solarize, ADD LOTS OF COMPOST, then till solarize and then start late. Then never till again.

Start some stuff in containers while you're 7 years of weed seeds, just to give some early rewards.

I can't warn you enough how horrible weeds can get when a fertile garden is left to the weeds for 1-2 years. A bad enough first year can ruin your outlook badly.

I let my garden go for 2 years when we had to remodel to move my disabled father in with us. I'm 6'4" and the weeds were so high I could get lost in them. Last year I planted again without trying to kill off the weeds seeds first. A newbie would have thrown in the towel. It was like a horror movie - Attack of the bodysnatching weeds monsters. This year I spent almost $1000 to build raised beds and fill them with a 10yd dump-truck load of dirt. Weeds buried 6" deep don't exist to me. Of course some will eventually be worked to the surface, but this is nealry a fresh start.

Solarizing is cheaper.