Greetings All!!

[KGun12]

Hey there! I'm Katie!

My hubby and I just bought our first house. We have a 9 month old and used to live in an apartment so we needed the space!
I used to dabble in a bit of vegetable gardening on our balcony but nothing on a large scale!
Our new home has an amazing raised box garden in the backyard and I can't wait to get started gardening FOR REAL next spring!
Like I said before, I've never really had an actual, bonafide, on-the-ground, garden so I'm here for help, tips and tricks! I only really know how to grow tomatoes and herbs... even then... it's very amateur haha.
Excited to get started!
First thing is first! Figuring out how to get this raised box garden (that hasn't been cared for for over a month before us moving in - yikes!) ready for the coming winter!

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

Is your raised garden for vegetable? If so, remove dead crops to your compost pile and mulch with a layer organic matter. Free organic matter such as Fallen tree leaves would be fine. The only cover crop that could be feasible in your climate is Winter Rye (Secale cereale) but it is too late to plant and not necessary. Just put the bed 'to bed' for Winter. That should be enough.

 

[KGun12]

Wow thanks for the great response!
I'm really looking forward to taking this on and having the forums to aid in my journey lol it will mostly be for vegetables! I usually grow some lavender as well.
Can I begin removing dead crops now? Someone told me to wait until our first frost to start clearing out the plants. I have plenty of leaves in the yard, nice to know I can put them to good use.
Good to know about the Winter Rye as well, I'll definitely keep it in mind for next time.
Thanks again, so helpful!

 

[Marck]

I'm surprised you haven't had frost yet.
Anyway, you can clear the bed out now, if there are no more crops to harvest.
Some people wait until later when plants are more fully withered, but it is not important either way.

 

[KGun12]

We've had a fairly warm Autumn this year - it's been great haha we'll be due for our first frost this week probably.
Thanks so so much for all your help!

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Bonjour, @KGun12! Will you eventually plant any flowers?

 

[KGun12]

Bonjour, @KGun12! Will you eventually plant any flowers?

I plan on starting small for now! I'm used to typically only keeping 3 or 4 plants alive at a time haha
I have a few beautiful flowers/plants in my front garden that the previous owner planted but no idea what they are. My mom said some of them are hostas, which I'm to understand are a great plant for the shade.
I will most definitely be planting some lavender in the backyard though.
Do you have any flower recommendations for a beginner? I have some space in my front yard still! It gets sunlight all morning and half of the afternoon.

 

[Marck]

I would recommend incorporating local native plants into your garden design. They are likely to be of easy care as they will be well-adapted to your climate. They will also provide habita for local wildlife, especially smaller local wildlife. Also, in aesthetic terms, it gives a garden a local sense of place and gives the gardener opportunities to learn about ecology.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I hope this helps:

Planting Calendar for Kitchener, ON

www.almanac.com

Maybe it will get your planning timed out as you go along. It looks like you are in USDA grow zone 5, probably 5b. It may be a question when you start looking into what plants you would like. I think @Mr_Yan is across the way in Michigan. He has a lot of experience with the climate up there when it comes to tomatoes and such.

 

[WildTomatoGuy]

Always Makes Me Happy To See Someone Interested In Starting A Vegetable Garden.Especially Someone With Two Husky`s Like Me,,,HaHa.....Good Luck Katie !!!

 

[Silentrunning]

Welcome to the forum

 

[KGun12]

I hope this helps:

Planting Calendar for Kitchener, ON

www.almanac.com

Maybe it will get your planning timed out as you go along. It looks like you are in USDA grow zone 5, probably 5b. It may be a question when you start looking into what plants you would like. I think @Mr_Yan is across the way in Michigan. He has a lot of experience with the climate up there when it comes to tomatoes and such.

I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS and then it came to me in a dream last night that somebody had sent me something helpful like this and VOILA here we are haha.
Thanks so much!!

 

[DirtMechanic]

I enjoyed seeing it myself! It looks like things are running hot this year, solar activity is increasing faster than expected:

Solar Cycle Progression | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

www.swpc.noaa.gov