Next steps

Mom and I went to a Vegetable Gardening class offered by the Clemson Extension Program in February and March.  It was 4 weeks long and we learned so much.  

Following the master gardeners' advice and guidelines, we started a compost pile (later replaced by a compost bin that I found for $40 at Sam's club.)  This has gone quite well so far!

I filled the completed beds with a combination of good quality potting soil, peat moss, and compost.  The compost came from the Charleston County Landfill on Bees Ferry Road.  It's $10 a ton, or .05 cents a pound!  I ended up getting 600 pounds in two trips and paid $3.00 total.  

I purchased lots of vegetable transplants at Wal-Mart and Lowe's.  I went from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart, waiting for those first shipments of veggie plants.  Finally, I got word that a store had a truck come in, and I went right over.  We've had the plants on the front porch (somewhat sheltered, south facing.  We haven't done anything but give them water, and bring them indoors when the freezes were forecast.