So, you want to grow your own food?  Congratulations!

Fortunately, the earth will yield its fruit if you plant the seeds.  But . . . it does take some work.  Below are a few steps to take if you want to grow a garden. If you have done this before, this may seem pretty simple.  If you are new, it may seem complex.  In either case, it is a start.  And you can find ways to get help with your gardening on the ECWT website.

Make a plan

Ask yourself some questions. Have you ever gardened before? How much help do you need? How much time do you have to work in your garden? How big is your family?

Find some land

Obviously, the bigger the piece of land, the more you can grow. But you can grow food in containers on a balcony or porch. You need to find land that has at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.

Prepare the soil

If you are turning a lawn into a garden for the first time, you will need to prepare for heavy work. You may think about using a tractor to plow the land, or a heavy roto-tiller. The sod will need to be removed, and the land worked thoroughly.

Test the soil

If you are using land that has been a garden before, you may not need to test the soil. However, testing the soil provides information about the condition of the soil, and lets you know what kind of fertilizer you need to use.

Compost

Gardens do well when you use compost to add elements to the soil, and to control weeds.

Lay out the garden

If you are an experienced gardener, you have ideas about how different plants can be placed in a space. If you are new, you might want to ask for some help in thinking through how to put these together.

Thinking about perennials

There are some crops that come back every year. Examples would include asparagus and rhubarb. There are fruit bushes such as blueberries, raspberries, and fruit trees. If you have secure access to land, you might want to consider this.

Raised beds

One popular option is to create raised beds for certain kinds of plants. Raised beds allow you to start plants earlier that you could otherwise.  It is also an efficient way to use smaller spaces.  You will need to use some kind of wood to create a raised bed.

Buying seeds and starter plants

You need to decide what kinds of foods you and your family enjoy, and what grows well in a backyard garden. Some vegetables are best started from seeds. Others are transplanted. There are many places in Elkhart County that sell seeds and transplants.

Pest control

Planting a gardens bring us into nature. As we grow food for ourselves, we provide food for the animals in nature. We need to find ways to control the amount of food the insects and larger animals eat in order to have food for ourselves!

One of the best natural options for keeping rabbits, groundhogs, and other “varmints” out of our gardens is a fence.  You can construct a wire mesh fence fairly easily.

The smaller bugs and insects that can wreck havoc in a garden can be controlled a number of ways.  You can go the “spray” route or the natural route.

Compost pile

A composter can be a place to place yard waste such as grass clippings and leaves, food scraps from the kitchen, and the old stalks and leaves of vegetables that grew in your garden.  You can buy composters on line.  It is also fairly easy to build a composter yourself, either using a circular wire mesh fence, or a double bin wooden composter.

Rain barrels

Gardens need water. Many years the natural rainfall is enough. If you have a well, irrigating is an option. Using municipal water is expensive. One option to get a steady supply of rainwater is to get a rain barrel, and connect it to the downspout of your house.

You can get information about rainbarrels at www.elkcoswcd.org, or by calling Eric Kurtz at 533-3630, ext.3.

General information

You can get a wealth of information about gardening from the Michiana Master Gardeners page on the Purdue Extension website.  http://www.michianamastergardeners.com/