Gardening From the Ground Up.

With Corey, Brad and Cody.

Hi, I'm Baxter County agent Brad Runswick

with the University of Arkansas System,

Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.

Welcome to the Gardening

From the Ground Up video series.

This series of short three to five minute

videos will walk you through

how to create a basic traditional

tilled garden spot in your landscape.

I'll be joined by

Fulton County Agent Corey

Tyler and Sharp County agent Cody Stroud.

We'll take you from breaking ground the first time

to planting to basic care and maintenance

and all the way up to the harvest

of your first ripe red tomato.

The recommendations we make along

the way are research based,

reliable management decisions that will ensure

both the success of your new garden

as well as the safety of the food you produce.

The topics discussed throughout

this series will be somewhat general

since not all situations

and growing seasons are alike.

For specific recommendations, you should reach

out to your local county extension office,

and with that let's get to it.

Perhaps the first topic to address

is where to locate the garden.

Sun exposure is a major

consideration for any vegetable garden.

Vegetables do best with full sun,

and that means a minimum of six hours

of direct sunlight per day.

Now many cool season

vegetables like cabbage and broccoli

can handle less than that.

Keep in mind that the sun

and shade locations will be different

during winter than they are in summer.

Proper drainage is also a critical component.

Sites where water tends to pool or not

drain quickly will result in plant

disease issues further down the road.

An area with a bit of a slope is even preferred.

Also, there must be ample topsoil

present for plants to grow.

Thin, rocky areas which are very much present

in much of Arkansas will not support

a successful vegetable garden.

In those instances, one should look to raised

beds or container gardening.

Lastly is water.

There will be times a year

where the garden will need

to be watered due to lack of rainfall.

Ease of access to that water

must be accounted for,

whether it's from a garden hose

coming from your home,

a nearby creek, or even rain barrels.

Know how you intend to provide water

before selecting your garden site.

My name is Corey Tyler.

I'm the agriculture extension agent in Fulton County.

Today we're going to talk a little bit

about garden sizing.

One of the first things we need to do

is decide on how big our

garden needs to be.

And there's a few considerations

we need to have with that,

and one of those is how many people

are we going to be feeding?

Are we going to be feeding

just a couple people,

or are we going to be utilizing it

for a whole family?

Also, are we going to be utilizing it

for a fresh vegetable garden,

meaning we're going to pick it

and utilize it as it grows,

or are we going to be preserving

a majority of this?

Plant size, too, will also determine

how big your garden size needs to be.

For example, if we were to plant watermelons,

we would need more space

than if we were just to plant peppers.

Plant size really plays

a factor in determining

the garden size itself.

Now, once we've determined

where our garden will be located

and what size it needs to be,

it's time to get prepared.

The first step in preparing a site

is to get rid of the existing vegetation.


Lawn grasses and weeds

are competition for your future vegetables.

They steal water and nutrients.

This is most easily accomplished

by using a rotary tiller

to break the ground

and kill some of the grass

and sod that is there.

One of the benefits

of tilling it is that you expose

many of the underground

rhizomes and roots of plants

such as Bermuda grass,

which will make them more

apt to be winter killed to reduce

this vegetation.

It's better to do this

both in the late fall and late winter

prior to planting, but if late winter is

your only option, that'll work.

It's not a bad idea

to till the area in both directions

to better break up the ground

and kill out that old vegetation.

Once complete and the grass and weeds

have had time to die, rake it off trying

not to take too much soil with it.

Now that we've gotten our site

prepped, it's time for soul sampling.

Soil sampling helps to identify

any nutrient deficiencies

we may have and correct soil pH.

To take a soil sample,

all you need is a bucket

and a small shovel.

We are using a soil sampling probe,

but any small shovel will work.

Go around the area

and take 20 to 25 small samples

at a depth of four to six inches.

It doesn't need to be exact,

but avoid getting only surface

soil or soil that's below 6 inches.

Take whatever amount you get

and mix it up, removing

any large rocks or roots.

It doesn't have to be finely sifted,

you just need to get out the big stuff.

You can get soil sample boxes

from your county office.

Take out enough soil to fill that box

and turn it into your local extension office.

Typically it will take two to three weeks

to get the soil analysis report back.

Then you can visit

with your county extension agent

to identify what fertilizer

and or lime might be needed.

If you don't have a soil test,

an application of 8

pounds of triple 13 fertilizer

per 1000 square feet

will work in a pinch,

but guessing isn't the way to go.

Take a sample.

We'll cover how to read

the soil report, fertilizing materials,

and applying fertilizer in the next video.

For more detailed information

about taking soil samples

and to learn about the U of A system soil

sampling lab, check out these links

which can also be found below.