how do i start a fruit and vegetable garden, my backyard is all grass?

Answer 1

Till up all the grass and weeds and add organic matter to the soil. Cow manure which has been sterilized works very well. Different areas of the country grow different things well because of different conditions.http://www.best-home-gardening-tips.com/gardening-zones.html This is a site that will get you started. Sometimes, your local nurseries have personnel that are very knowledgeable. Good luck and start small so that your garden doesn't overwhelm you and remains enjoyable and not just a chore. Have an abundant garden.

Answer 2

There is a technique called Lasagna Gardening. You lay down several layers of newspaper to cover the area you want to transform into the garden, cover it with peat moss, manure, leaves, some kind of organic material. Then you wet it down. This process smothers the grass underneath, and it adds a lot of great organic material to the garden area. If you plan it right, and use the right materials to make a thick enough layer above the newspaper, you can even start your garden ABOVE the grass before the grass has even died.

Check out these websites below. There were LOTS of websites when I Googled Lasagna Gardening.

http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm
http://www.bconnex.net/~carolw/lasagna1.html

You can also see if you can get the book "Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding! (Paperback) " by Patricia Lanza from your library to read about the techniques and see if it sounds like it would work for you. I just checked Amazon.com and it could be bought used for as little as $3.12, but of course the library is even cheaper when it's free!

Happy growing!!!

Answer 3

There are several ways. I do it by scoring the turf with my shovel and then digging it up in squares. I dump on bagged topsoil mixed with my compost and then plant away! I use the turf to build walls and berms in other areas of my yard, or I compost it.

I have also done another method where I layered wet newspaper, bagged composted cow manure and bark mulch, right on top of the grass, covered it with dark plastic and left it for one year. It made a beautiful 4 X 13 foot flowerbed and that's where I grow my roses.