My daughter and I would like to start a vegetable garden. We are military and this has been the first place where we have had a yard large enough to try one and will be here long enough to benefit from it.

We are in St. Marys, GA. I have a nice sized sunny spot that is about 10 ft wide and can be up to 35 feet long. My soil is sandy and this year has been pretty dry, but the area was a bit swampy after all the rains the two previous years and the water would tend to sit and not drain very well when it was so wet. I know it is too late to really start anything right now, but I figure I have a few months to get the area tilled up and the soil in decent condition to plant before it is time to plant.

What I need help with? Everything! How do I get the soil ready? Should I add dirt to raise the area bit higher? What types of fertilizers or nutrients do you add and when and what can I reasonably expect to grow well here? When to plant? I'd like to start from seed, but if that's not the best way, where to get the starter plants from? How much water? And probably a million more things I should know as well.

My list of things I'd like to try are; sweet corn, bell peppers, sweet peas, cantaloupe, watermelon, carrots, cucmber, pumpkin, onions, artichokes, green beans and strawberries. I also have a spot against the shed where I would like to try blueberries and blackberries.

I'd like to plant at intervals so that I can have two or three rows that will be harvestable at diffetent times instead of all at once and it will just be a family garden, no need to grow huge amounts to sell.

I really appreciate any tips or starters you can give! I am really looking forward to starting this project and I think both of the kids will benefit from learning to garden too.

Thanks so much!