Step 1: Get a soil test.

My advice skip it. They really don’t cost that much, but the results will most likely give you a lot to do. No one’s soil is ideal and the work trying to improve your soil and make it “perfect” is likely going to take away from the joy of gardening. Wait for future years when you have a better feeling for your garden.

Step 3: Apply sheet mulching

Once again, if you want to get started immediately, skip this step. You will need at least a full year to see the benefits.

Step 7: Amend your soil

I actually agree with this statement but not in the context written. They want you to amend your soil based on the soil test. Since I recommend you skip this step in the beginning years, it would be hard to know what to put in the soil. My recommendation, compost. If you don’t have a compost bin, simply buy bagged compost. It is a wonder ingredient and is hard to over apply. It not only will help with nutrients, it will help with your soil texture and composition.

So, now that I’ve told you that the article is full of nonsense, you should read the rest of the article. They have good advice on planning and the advice on proper soil preparation is still solid advice, I still don’t recommend some of the soil preparation steps if you are just starting a garden. Keep the experience light and enjoyable. Don’t make it a job or a burden.

10 Steps to Gardening from Scratch « Straight from the Farm.

If you want to go the cheap or quick route, I recommend, using something like palettes or wire mesh. Wire mesh can be formed into a roll and the edges zip tied together. I especially like this method as it is easy to move the compost bin or disassemble it to remove the compost. Pictured below are a couple of examples. The palette version sits behind my fence and holds mostly leaves and grass clippings once the leaves start to fall.

If you would like to make something more involved then you can make something similar to the following. Essentially I made three squares from 2x4s. I then covered the sides of the frames with hardware cloth. I bridged the frames together across the back of the bin to hold them at the desired dimension. I also add a couple of 1x4s across the bottom to keep the front from bowing outwards too much. The front edge of the bins have strips of wood that were screwed into the front to make a channel. The channel on mine accepts fence picket material. This is simply what I had laying around. I like using the strips of wood because you can make the front of the bin higher or shorter depending on how full your bin is. Here are some pictures to try to illustrate.

A couple of final tips.

• Having more than one bin makes turning the material much easier
• The true composting zealots suggest that you always keep your compost covered to prevent the nutrients from leaching into the ground below your bin
• Don’t put any meat or dairy products in your compost
• Don’t put any cat or dog feces in your compost
• A mix of roughly 50/50 “brown” to “green” material is best if you can
• Don’t build your bin against your house, the heat of the composting process has in some cases caused fires
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