Green Thumbs

Green thumbs, as we know them; are qualities of individuals with the gift of making anything grow. Not neccessarily under the right conditions; but under any conditions. But you do not have to be a green thumb to know how to prepare a garden for spring planting...no!! An ability to take a seed and coax a life to begin and flourish is quite an ability if I may say so...but can be easily learned by anyone.

Although I may not have a green thumb, or even a yellow one; there are some secrets I would be glad to share with my friends, about preparing the home soil for planting.

Soil
Nothing happens without the right foundation-namely the right mixture of soil. The earth in some regions (climates) is not naturally fit for a variety of foods and plants. For example: Cacti require dry loose soil as oposed to tomatoes which require loamy moist earth. Without proper foundation; fruits and veggies may never grow and definitely would not have the strength to ward off pests and diseases. so what do we do if we have poor soil? We improvise. After tilling and weeding and before marking the rows; it is crucial to prepare the earth. Here are a few tips on the preparation.

Pre burning- This is done to stimulate the soil and add acitdity to the earth. Wherever you have marked off the perimeter of your garden, must be burned heavily.
Manure-This will nourish the soil adding whatever it is lacking in natural fertilizers.
Man-made fertilizer- Triple 13 or 7 is efficient for adding artificial fertilizer to the lacking soil.

Pre Planting
After the soil is ready; then attention must be given to time, spacing and grouping of the plant. Before shoving your green friend or little seed into the ground; much preparation must be done. Time is extremely important. The time between fertilization and planting makes the difference between life and death. After fertilizing the farmer should wait at least two or three days before planting and should turn the soil mixing the additive.
Spacing the rows and marking them is very important as well. This can be accomplished by driving stakes at the ends of each row and spacing as far apart as you wish. After driving the stakes, Yarn can be strung from one end of the row to the other. Tied by the stakes on either end.
Before planting; notes should be written describing the placement of the fruits, veggies or herbs. It is very important to place certain produce in specified relation to one another. Some plants do much better according to who their neighbors are. For example: Any thing planted in close proximity to chili peppers or any other spicey fruit, will be expected to be spicey as well.
Preparation of the soil, and preplanting are the basics of gardening. Green thumb or not; with these techniques, one is sure to have success when beginning and completeing the first steps toward raising their own fresh fruits and veggies. Good luck with this and happy planting!

cited sources:
personal hands on knowledge.