Newbie gardener questions

[chickinlittles]

I grow a ton of Juchinni, Use it all too, I also freeze it raw then vac pack it for wintertime. works great. Zephyr is my favorite!!

 

[SnootyHen]

Work in some aged compost into your beds yesterday. If you DL your chickens, go ahead and take a few bucketfuls, spread a nice thin layer, water or hopefully it will snow and in 2 months you will be ready to plant.
By going up, you can save half the space in the garden. Cukes and zukes adapt well to trellises. Select varieties that have smaller fruit. If you have trouble with fungus on the leaves, this will help a lot because you water the roots not the leaves. Look up cattle panel trellis. Makes an attractive arched support. One tomato plant with a few pepper plants is plenty for one 4x4 bed. Stake and cage tomatoes. Put your herbs in pots (parsley is a perennial if you didn't turn it under last fall)to free up a little space. I think if you go up, everything on the list will fit but don't add anything.
Once the garden is planted, mulch. It will help regulate the soil temperature, help retain moisture and as it breaks down over the summer will add nutrients back into soil.
I will add that if you can, before you plant, turn the garden then give your girls access to the beds for a few days. Let them feast on any grubs and larvae. Get in front of any summer bugs.

Thank you!! Great information and on a level I can understand. So many of the websites I have found probably have great information but I can't understand it once they get into jargon that's outside my wheelhouse. I used PDZs in my coop which is biodegradable but probably not useful in the garden, right?