Also the broad idea that compost is plant matter is misleading. compost can be made from a wide variety of sources plants and animals. Manures in a garden probably isn’t the best idea with few exceptions.

You are in good hands with your commenters. I can’t wait to hear more about your garden plans! Hope you win the seed giveaway too!

1.)If my garden is mulched with wood chips, do I have to remove all the wood chips before I plant anything?

If you are going to use wood mulch on a veggie garden you need to be aware that a) as mulch breaks down it ties up nitrogen in the soil and b) it is hard to know what is in mulch. Some people say you can deal with the first issue by spreading nitrogen on the soil before laying the mulch. The second issue… the problem can be either chemical residue that kills plants, or natural but toxic to plants fungus (I think it’s a fungus…looks like vomit.seriously.)

2.)How do I store soil and compost and all the things they say you need?

Anywhere covered will do, really. Shed, garage, laundry room, porch…whatever is available. Or you could go ghetto like me and leave piles of bagged soil on your driveway until the neighbors start giving you caustic looks. If you have soil (as in, yard you’re going to dig up, have a soil test done first. You might not need a bunch of stuff. The extension agency can hook you up with a soil test. Also, tsk tsk to Rich… Hopefully the MG program will drill into you that dirt is stuff that makes you unclean. Soil is what you grow plants in and is mostly a mix of sand, clay, and silt. And compost is decomposed plant matter (mostly)- animal too in nature, but don’t add meats or oils to a compost pile, and only the manure of herbivores is okay in the garden.

3.)Where do I even get it?

Ditto to Rich’s comments; but again, test the soil before adding anything. It’s the best way, and only way for a beginner, to know what- if anything- your particular soil needs.

4.) How long can it sit around before it gets weird?

For the most part, a long freakin’ time. Compost is or should be alive. But the other stuff you might add are either chemical or mineral. The minerals are stable. Chemicals need to be checked individually.

5.)What’s the deal with thinning, and why wouldn’t I just plant them that far apart to begin with?

What Rich said, plus… Some seeds you can start inside, while others need to go straight into the garden bed (like carrots). I rarely overplant seeds I start inside. But outside, you never know what’s going to happen. There’s germination rate, hungry birds, etc to worry about. Also, starting a dense bed of what you want to end up with helps shade out what you don’t want to end up with, reducing weeding and allowing you to keep the best of your chosen crop and harvest the rest as baby carrots or early greens or whatever.

In gardening there are no stupid questions. Really. And you are right about seed savers. The world is a lot scarier when you realize just how much control Monsanto and ilk have over seeds worldwide.

Also wanted to thank you for suggesting Cage Free Family and, by extension, This Ordinary Day. Both sites I needed right now. How did you know?

1) If my garden is mulched with wood chips, do I have to remove all the wood chips before I plant anything?

Nope but you should clear a good area around the place you would like to plant to make sure the plant will have sunlight. However 80% of plant problems deal with the soil and in order to mix nutrients and aerate the soil you will have to remove the wood.

2) How do I store soil and compost and all the things they say you need?

Compost is just dirt so you can store it any where you would like (water can wash some of the nutrients away) other soil amendments tend to come in bags and a shed is a good spot.

3) Where do I even get it?

Most stores especially Home Depot and Lowe’s you can get soil amendments. Also grocery stores and nurseries have them.

4) How long can it sit around before it gets weird?

I doubt you will buy enough in bulk that you wont use it before it goes “bad”. This material will last a while. When you buy compost in bag form make sure it has perforated holes so the bacteria and organisms can breath.

5) What’s the deal with thinning, and why wouldn’t I just plant them that far apart to begin with?

When you buy seeds they should come with a germination rate, meaning the chance your seed with actually grow into a plant. For example you may buy a package of cucumber seeds that have a 90% germination rate. when you dig a small hole you should put more than one seed like 3-4 seeds in the hole to ensure you actually get a plant. If all 4 come up you can choose the healthiest better looking plant to keep growing. If you let all four grow they will be competing with each other and will probably reduce your yield.

Also Colorado State University just built a super kick ass national seed storage. http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=54-02-05-00