Preparing the soil is perhaps the hardest and most boring part of planting a garden, but it is the first and possibly the most important step. before anything else can be done, the area to be planted must be dug up, spaded at least a foot deep, and made ready to receive the seeds. using a pointed shovel and a spading fork, dig down a minimum of twelve inches. turn the soil and, with your hands, pick out rocks, pieces of glass, sticks, and all other foreign matter. work the whole area down to the proper depth, breaking down the large clods and pulling out roots and other plant parts. this is a good time to work well-rotted manure or other fertilizer, sand, and peat moss into the soil. dig and mix all these elements in well with the soil; then rake the area smooth and level. now that the garden area is worked, enriched, and leveled, you may plan where you will plant the various vegetables. plan to put the tall plants, such as corn, in a position where they will not shade the rest of the garden too much. squash and tomato vines should be kept well away from leafy vegetables so they do not choke each other out. you can plant root vegetables fairly close together. if you crowd them, however, they will become deformed. plan the layout of your garden on a paper, or refer to plans that appear every spring in home magazines. planting is an art; planning is the start. the primary change is a change of action step speaker point of view