It's not too late! Set it up today! I am in 6B and started in the middle of June last year using extra loam we had delivered for something else. I bought the raised bed kits from home depot to start and started with plants. I had really great results with cucumbers, eggplant, butternut squash, zuchini (i would have liked more,) kale. my tomato luck was terrible.

The raised beds took me about 15 min to put together but thats extra $$$. My neighbor just dug rows of hills and has a great garden going. You can amend your soil when you do this. But that's time.

So your choice- time or money I guess. :)

Raised beds are a great way to start! Easy to maintain and less weeds. As you get hooked and expand to a larger garden you'll find there are lots of seeds left in the packet. Put them in a plastic bag in the fridge; they'll keep. Read the seed packets, they'll tell you the correct planting time and how many days until harvest. ( I have two plastic bags, one for cool and one for warm season vegetables).
AND! find out what your family will eat. I am in a community garden with two other women, both of whom planted large beds of lettuce and spinach this spring. We ended up pulling most of it up, none of us ate much of it. So next year, some of that space will go to radishes and peas!
Bagged soil is a waste of money, after you till up the ground and make your beds add compost. I had to call around to find a garden center that had bagged compost. Worth the effort tho.

Cheapest way - mark out a 4 foot wide by 10-12 feet long patch in your yard, mow down the weeds as close to the soil as possible then till it or dig and turn it well at least 8 inches deep. After tilling it well mix in 6 bags of composted manure (Walmart $1.50 each). Then if you can still find transplants plant tomatoes and eggplants. Buy seeds for squash, cukes (you'll need a trellis), beans, and okra and direct seed them. Too late for potatoes and watermelons take up way to much room. Save them for next year when you have the time to either double the size or build another bed. You can frame them in later to make raised beds.

Main tip is start small and expand in the following years and begin with realistic expectations. Trying to jump in at the deep end of the pool when you don't know how to swim yet only leads to drowning. :)

Dave

It's for sure not too late to start this year :) Don't know where you are in 6b Michigan... but I'm in 6b Michigan too, and I'm still seeing folks buying plants and planting gardens. It's not too late for some seeds either, like quicker growing green beans, some cukes and summer squashes, and herbs like dill and parsley. It's still early in the season to do fall growing on stuff like peas, radishes, and spinach if you want to try fall sowing later this year.

Some folks use containers including 5 gallon buckets for "quick fix" gardening. I even know a few people that just cut off the top of the dirt bag, poke holes in the bottom, and plant right in the bag- and they claim good results.

Why do you think your soil is bad? Is is full of rocks, or mostly sand or clay, or sparsly anything but a few bits of grass and weeds.. or what?

Raised beds are wonderful! I recommend them for a lot of growing. I use a few of them, and build more every year. I'm also a lazy gardener and do lasagne beds too- that's just cutting the grass as low as possible, putting down a thick layer of cardboard, newspaper, or brown paper bags as a weed block... then start layering on your garden on top! I tend to use a few straw bales as a flake base layer, then layers of dirt, horse compost, leaves, grass clippings... whatever I got on hand. Tilling out your bed and doing it properly is the better way to go, but that usually isn't the option I have with how much other stuff I do, lol.

Like others have pointed out... just plant in what you guys like, and don't get so overboard that you get overwhelmed- start small and build up from there.

Check out Square Foot Gardening. You can start small and add more next year. You don't have to till if you have raised beds. New research is coming out which says that tilling disrupts the soil food web and should be avoided. What you buy to put in the vegetable beds depends on what kind of soil you have. You may be lucky and have a nice sandy loam and not need much of anything else. Do fertilize when the plants start to grow.

Location is important. Six - eight hours of sun is great. More is even better.

I have a raised bed because of hard clay soil. I started with one bed and now have two, plus some tomatoes in containers.

My raised bed

Great comments above. When I started gardening, I quickly became aware of the sun's trajectory like never before, because my plants were not getting enough sun. I became frustrated because there are many gardening basics that i had never imagined before... for example you can see the same questions about watering and garden pests in these forums asked over and over again. My last big lesson was when I nearly burned myself out by being too ambitious and not being able to maintain my garden's needs when the weather gets warm. Fortunately I started again, but smaller. It wasn't big enough but it was manageable and therefore more satisfying. My advice is take your time and enjoy every step of the process.

Thanks for all the great comments!!

Our soil is mostly Silt and some Clay. If there is any sand - it's gotta be in VERY small amounts. Our location is southeast Michigan.

The reason why I said our soil may not be good is because (other than our neighbor on our left with a green thumb), our other neighbors have failed to product any fruits (from trees) and barely had any success with their vegetable gardens - 1/2 veggies from each plant... then abandoned their gardens the next year (could be they are beginners too... don't know).

In terms of our house - the front yard has a lot of rocks and the back yard failed twice with grass (both seedling + laying) - instead the weeds thrive. We have fruit trees - however, their growth rate.... pretty much insignificant over 5 years (one did fruit... poor quality peers) - could be poor gardening. Again I'm a newbie

If I were to start now - from plants (since seeds I'll probably do it next year) - other than Cukes - what else might grow assuming I will have everything planted next weekend?

Thanks!!

You've got some good advice above. One thing that I haven't seen discussed much, and it is most important when deciding to set out the garden, is the orientation of the beds.

Dave mentioned 4' wide beds. Many use this method, including myself. You can choose among many bed styles, but as bardamu mentioned, pay attention to the sun's path across the sky. Remember that in the winter it will travel lower in the southern sky, slowly increasing and decreasing by degrees in 'height' through the seasons.

If you choose the 4' wide beds, you may wish to orient them so that the length runs as close to east - west as possible. If you ran them north to south, the plants on the south side tend to shade those toward the north. Also, plan your plantings so that shorter plants are on the southern side. For example, planting tomatoes in front (to the south) of peppers is usually a bad idea.

Also, when first designing a garden, you may not need to learn it right up front, but there are benefits to long-term gardening practices such as crop rotation. Think about such when laying out your plots. Rotation is more than just moving a plant from one end of the bed to the other. When you till, soil is mixed, and the tools carry what they picked up from contact. Multiple beds allows you to rotate most effectively. If you have the space, keep these things in mind... including a fallow year employing a cover crop, mulch, or in-bed compost pile.These things do not have to be used your first year, and in fact it's usually best to start small, but keep them in mind and if your space and desired efforts allow, use these concepts as you expand.

During your first year, learn about good sanitation practices. Examples are... where to throw diseased debris, and washing and sanitizing tools. It's not difficult at all, and good long-term habits will save you future headaches.

Our soil is mostly Silt and some Clay. If there is any sand - it's gotta be in VERY small amounts. Our location is southeast Michigan.

The reason why I said our soil may not be good is because (other than our neighbor on our left with a green thumb), our other neighbors have failed to product any fruits (from trees) and barely had any success with their vegetable gardens - 1/2 veggies from each plant... then abandoned their gardens the next year (could be they are beginners too... don't know).

In terms of our house - the front yard has a lot of rocks and the back yard failed twice with grass (both seedling + laying) - instead the weeds thrive. We have fruit trees - however, their growth rate.... pretty much insignificant over 5 years (one did fruit... poor quality peers) - could be poor gardening. Again I'm a newbie

The sand grains should be small. Scoop up some of your soil
mix it up well in a clear mason jar.

Let it sit overnight than whiteout disturbing it examines
how it settles out.

Sand will be the first to settle on the bottom, silt will be
next and then clay anything that remains floating will be organic matter. These
graduations in layers are seldom sharp they blend one into the other.

South east Michigan has some of the best soil in the Country,
much of the bagged product that is sold is
simple Michigan top soil.

Your neighbor on the left is an experienced gardener who has
learned what plants need to grow, who once was a beginner.

Your other neighbors that have had little success do not
know what they are doing or do not maintain the effort to be successful.

I see so many people become enthusiastic about gardening in
the spring and buy a lot of material

And then Plant. Within
a couple of months when the weather becomes hot, and the weeds have grown, and the
insects come, they become disinterested, because by that time they have more
summer time activities that they would rather do.

There are many reasons why your grass could have failed

I would say that if the weeds thrive, the grass can thrive and
vegetables can thrive, but not together in the same place at the same time.
Leaning how to keep them separated is
one of the biggest lesson a new gardener needs to learn.

I am working on an app that might be helpful - its called EdenPatch. It is pretty basic, but has a feature where if you put in your zip code, it should show you what you can start now as seed (taking into account your weather at time of harvest), and what will grow well if planted now.

It also lets you plan a garden to get the spacing right and build a schedule of what needs to be done when.

The link for the weather component is here.

Its early days, so would appreciate any and all feedback, if folks have some.

Good luck!

<other than Cukes - what else might grow assuming I will have everything planted next weekend?>

Tomatoes, peppers, squash.

Dave

I would try to get a load of compost or even mushroom soil and have it plowed or tilled for the whole size of garden that you would like to have so it gets a head start for next year, Could still plant beets, fall cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

Thanks all for the great comments!

I guess I'll skip out on veggies this year for next year.

I guess the plan to figure out what we're planting/how much room we need - this is proving to be much harder than I thought - so much to learn and so many options!!! Then add a good amount of compost and till the soil (remove the weeds fully from that lot). I'm thinking of doing it at the end of fall - I think? Advice on this part... My only concern is the weed problem - how to stop weeds from coming. Like I mentioned earlier, we tried glass twice - two different methods without success. Pictures below - yep our backyard is a total mess

Thanks!!

One passive strategy you could take is planting fall bulbs like garlic/shallot in a section. You can also plant perennials this year, like herbs and fruiting bushes.

Of course, you will have to carve out the grass. Once spring 2016 rolls around, you must be very actively pulling weeds--for they never sleep. You will learn to enjoy pulling weeds from your new garden bed pretty fast, else cut your losses and give up soon.

In your shoes I would start with an 8 inch raised border with untreated wood... maybe 12 feet by 4 feet bed for fall planting.

You can start a compost pile in the fall with leaves. Your compost pile is free gardening power.

Very good tips given, and your yard is not the mess that you advertise it to be. I would also add: take this time to prepare the soil now for spring plantings if you're not looking for much fall harvests. Save your grass clippings and scraps, begin now, and get composting started. There are plenty of browns around for the picking. You will be so pleased to add your own compost to your beds come spring. Better yet begin a lasagna bed for next year. This is the second year of mine and its broken down to about 40% its original size and is growing all veggies beautifully!

I use raised beds lined with landscape fabric due to gophers. I would first consult with neighbors if you have critter problems(gophers/moles/voles/groundhogs, etc). Since you have several months til your first planting, I would look around these forums! I like a "pretty " garden, but didn't have a lot of room to do paths, etc. Look into the Pottage and Cottage garden forums for design.

Check out the soil and composting forums also, though, to start, you may want to get some soil to fill your beds to start (remember they will settle, so re-filling will need to happen for the first few years!)

With my heavy clay soil, when I start a new raised bed I start by forking the soil down as deep as I can, add horse manure, water in, water in again, and again. Then I place my raised bed with the hardware cloth attached , start adding the soil (from our organic landfill soil), water in every 6 inches or so, til FULL (it will still drop!)

I made some mistakes with path width, and regret that! Be sure you have 3' paths in order to maneuver a wheelbarrow without stepping in another bed. Cause you are going to be adding compost/soil/etc to your beds over the years!

Have fun and Happy gardening! Nancy

Again thanks for the great comments - this fall I'll be removing top layer of our soil (yummy weeds) - I'll see how far I have to go down... gotta till the soil - and I plan on raising a bed 12x4 feet and 8 inches high... so if my calculations are right - that is 12x4x0.66 = 63.99 ~64 cubic feet. That is a lot of extra top soil/manure bags!! Trying to keep costs down as much as I can. I know there is no exact precise method to measure how many 40 pound (standard size) bags I need... but approx 40 pounds ~ 0.5 cu feet... so we're looking at 128 bags >_______<

I guess another option is to get some from a local farm -they sell by the yard - which would be 2.3 cubic yard. So about 2 yards - rest can fill up

Found two options

1- Black Sandy Loam/mushroom compost $20/yard + $40 Delivery

2- "Top Soil" $13/yard + $65 Delivery

So pretty much the same ~roughly $100 ... and they dump it on your drive way - won't be easy transporting it to the back - gotta use my lady arm muscles. No pain no gain right >___<

I feel like this post is mostly me thinking out loud. But first I gotta figure out where the light hits my garden most - then outlining the layout of my garden from east to west. This will give me time to think about what to plant and which plants to plant next to each other.

Thanks!

I would spend some extra on good topsoil that has minimal weed seeds (cant avoid all). The soil will form the foundation for the next few years, so I would not skimp on that.

Definitely start a compost pile right away. All your kitchen vegetative waste can go right in, and grass clippings picked up(I leave all mine on my lawn, but I sometimes find bags of lawn clippings from neighbors).

Heya,

Again thanks for all the advice -

For a 12x4 feet x 8 inches high raised bed - would I need some additional reinforcements since it's 12 feet long (with the dirt inside - wouldn't that apply to much pressure the wood - the wood is 2 inches thick according to Home depot - might have to thicken that up or apply steel rods).

Second - compost pile. I feel silly asking this - "kitchen" veggies and fruits as compost - I'm a little reluctant/scared about this - since I have no experience and I worry about attracting animals/other things to it and/or it not fully decomposing by next year (especially if I keep adding to the compost pile during winter months). Any advice there?

EDITING: The weeds (crabgrass) seen above - when we "mow it" - do you recommend to use it for the compost pile or do I worry about weed seeds... yeah silly question but like I said I'm completely new to all this and that's how you learn!

If it is finished lumber then it is only 1-1/2" thick, I don't think they sell rough cut lumber, I got mine at a local sawmill that is run by the Amish, It was cheaper then HD and it was 2 inches thick, You could put in corner posts but you should be ok without them, I really wouldn't waste my money on raised beds unless you don't have the extra room, Just put a load of compost on the ground an till or have someone till or plow it for you then you could still get some crops in this year.

A raised bed makes the garden look like something that belongs there. At a basic level, a raised garden looks neat, especially if you are starting out. It gives your eyes a clear separation between weeds/lawn and veg bed.

Placing cardboard around the outside of the box extending one foot outward and topped with generous amounts of wood chips works to keep weeds at bay... otherwise they'll be growing wild alongside and into the raised garden, greener and happier than most.

I have used relatively thin wood of cedar, and they last 2-3 years easily. A raised bed of 8 inches needs some reinforcements to stay upright. If you "Google Image" "diy raised garden beds" you'll quickly get a good idea of how you can do this with either a drill/wood screws or nails and a hammer.

You do not need to fill a new garden bed to the top with top soil and compost. You could fill it a quarter or halfway the first year, and just keep building it up over the years.

If you do decide to buy compost, you may want to check out the compost first hand before you order it, see how broken down it is, and what their practices include (organic, etc).

If you are thinking about starting a compost pile for the first time, you can just pile up leaves without having to think about it. Your grass seeds will definitely germinate in the future, and you can save yourself some hassle and not put grass clipping in your compost. A compost pile consisting partly of kitchen plant scraps is more likely to attract animals than a pile of leaves.

You may want to ask your neighbor what kind of chemical products they've used in their garden before coveting their bags of yard waste for your compost pile.

For a compost container I recommend the Geobin compost system... Some state governments (MD) give them out for free in certain states, otherwise they are cheap and flexible (resizable). I have a few of these and they work great.

I guess I wondered about kitched compost since most of our trees are pine trees (not a ton of compost there). I spoke with my experienced gardener and he told me that he ran a grass cutting business and there is a ton of compost in the forest in front of us that I could use. Haven't checked that out yet.

On another note - @bardamu_gw you mentioned placing cardboard boxes around the raised bed. What exactly do you mean? Carboard at the bottom of the raised bed (wouldn't that interfere with the roots - since 8 inches may not be enough)? Or are you referring to something else?

I have another silly question - as you know I plan on removing the top layer of the soil, then retilling the soil. Obviously I have to manually remove the crabgrass (weeds) while doing this. I worry by doing this some pieces/seeds of the weeds may remain and spread in my raised bed - am I losing my mind? (the neighbor on our left - his bed is made out of 1 foot long weeds... he has neglected it mind you). Sorry if I sound crazy - my family keeps telling me that this is the dumpest idea - weeds, nothing will grow etc etc. I do want to prove them wrong!

Thanks!!

Mystearica, the cardboard and wood chips get placed outside the wood border to keep weeds a foot away from the raised border at all times. It pays to be thorough when weeding.