How To Start A Garden In Lenox MA?

Question

Hi there, I’m an author and my protagonist is starting a large veggie/flower garden in an imaginary town near Lenox. Can you please tell me how she would go about starting a garden from scratch in those soils? How would she prepare the soil and in what steps? Would she use a soil test kit? Would she need to hand-dig up rocks and pebbles? Would she use a rototiller? How would she amend the soil (with what organic, no-kill-animal mixture)? Does she need to work the amendments into the soil with a shovel? A rototiller? Would she used newspaper or cardboard? . . . I need detailed info from soup to nuts. If you don’t have the time or inclination to write these steps down, can you please recommend someone(s) who would, as well as provide their contact info? I’ve read lots and lots and now I’m totally overwhelmed and confused! Thanks so much

Answer 1

Anyone starting a garden, whether a character in a book or in real life, would probably go through a lot of trial and error, but essentially, would do these things:

Assess the soil and its need for amendments; a soil test would let her know what nutrients were lacking in the soil. If the soil is clayey she would want to break it up with amendments such as compost and/or peat moss. And depending on what she was going to grow, she would need to choose a site in full sun (for veggies and most flowers), or part sun to shade for other flowers.

Many people today are opting for the no-till gardens because it keeps a lot of the seeds from being overturned and growing. She could just lay her amendments on top of the soil and lightly work them in with a rake or garden fork, disturbing the soil as little as possible. (If the area is full of rocks and pebbles she might look for a better site. Those are usually deep and hard to remove. Or she can mound up soil on top of the site and create a raised bed.)

I have laid wet newspaper on my soil, then planted flowers, then covered the newspaper with mulch, to help keep weeds down.

Here are some more tips that may help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/starting-vegetable-gardens-guide.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/vegetable-gardening-for-beginners.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/vegetable-garden-soil.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/starting/how-to-start-your-flower-garden.htm