View source for Organic Gardening


== Fall 2015 ==

I moved to a new house with just over half an acre lot.  Nice new and big garden to make.  The previous owner had not done a lot to the backyard.  So I wanted to establish a good price for setting up a new garden as this would come in handy for estimating a garden setup for when the wife and I make the move to retirement.


I borrowed a rototiller... yes I am going to til the soil instead of putting down newspaper and garden beds.  I wanted to mix some amendments into the soil since this would be the base for the new garden.  I used some tent stakes and paracord that I had laying around to establish the boundries and squared it off the house foundation.  I setup a 25' X 35' area and tilled it, added some rock dust and biochar.  The soil has some organic matter and is sandy.  Not a bad starting soil... at least its not clay.


Over the final weeks of fall I added leaves that I picked up with the leaf blower/mulcher.  I also got leaves from a couple of neighbors that I added as well as some final grass clippings.  I did not till the leaves or the grass clippings into the soil, if the were not fully decomposed they might lead to a temporary nitrogen deficiency.

I put up a fence around the garden which I am going to guess costed about $50.  This was to keep the dog out of the garden as well as rabbits.  I also staked the fence into the ground with landscaping spikes every 5 feet or so.

At this point I am not going to count the price of the fence, biochar, and rock dust used when I tilled.

== Winter 2015/2016 ==

This section will mainly be costing out the price of setting up a new garden from scratch.  Now you can do this on the cheap, but I don't really have time at this point to do that.  There are not a lot of places in Colorado Springs to find some of the items I want... so it is going to cost...

=== Soil Amendments ===
 [http://www.groworganic.com/gaia-green-glacial-rock-dust-50-lb.html Gaia Green Glacial Rock Dust (50 lb)]     $29.99 + $39.97 shipping and handling
 [http://www.wondersoil.net/store/wondersoil-products/expand-and-plant-organic.html Wondersoil Organic Coco Coir Mix (10 lb)]     $33.49 with shipping
 [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B2W8BA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01 Down To Earth 6-Pound Oyster Shell Flour]     $13.73 (Amazon Prime)
 [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4RI88Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00Wiggle Worm Organic Earthworm Castings]     $24.02 (Free Shipping)

=== Seed Starting Equipment ===


=== Seeds ===

 [http://www.groworganic.com/pvfs-bean-pole-scarlet-runner.html Organic Scarlet Runner Beans]     Free because of my purchases
 [http://www.groworganic.com/pvfs-tomato-amish-paste.html Amish Paste Tomato]     Free because of my purchases