Vegetable Gardening: The Basics
Local experts can be a great place to start your vegetable gardening odyssey. You may not get the one-on-one garden advice you need from a place like Home Depot, but local nursery store owners and master gardeners are great sources of gardening information. Be sure to visit the Farmer's Almanac page to learn about your local growing season and when the last frost is expected to arrive. This can help you plan when you'll begin your gardening season. If you're beginning in late spring or summer, there are still a few quick-growing crops like lettuce and transplanted tomatoes that you may be able to salvage.
The first step in starting a vegetable garden is choosing the best location and size. Firstly, make sure your site gets as much sunlight as possible. Most vegetables require around six to eight hours of direct sunshine each day for the best results. If you have a shadier location, you can plant your spinach and lettuce there. As you evaluate your yard, make certain to take into consideration the shade cast by your house, trees and storage buildings during specific times of the day.
In a perfect world, the garden will be conveniently located near the kitchen, so you can tend to it with less effort and bring in your crop without traveling a long way. The best soil will be full of nutrients and drain properly, so you might need to add organic compost and use the right tools to aerate the earth before you start.
First you must plan how large your garden will be. Usually, several beds in a 20 x 20 plot for space hogging vegetables like corn, tomatoes or squash is good, or a 12 x 16 plot for cucumbers, peppers and herbs. Once you plot out your garden, you'll need a few garden supplies, such as a tape measure, string, 12 to 18-inch stakes and a hammer. Situate the rows running from east to west, with the taller plants on the north end. Stake down the four corners of your garden and then set to work roto-tilling to turn up the soil. Get rid of all the weeds and test the soil before your vegetable gardening can officially commence. Ideally, you want a pH between 6 and 6.8. For low pH, use limestone. For high pH, use sulfur.
Over the years, you'll begin to fine-tune your vegetable gardening. You may find some crops do extraordinarily well, while others are a flop. You may decide to add new veggies to the mix or plant more of a certain crop that worked very well. Once your cool season crop finishes its season (like peas), you can try planting a warm season crop (like zucchini). You may also try a technique known as "interplanting," which involves planting a quick-maturing crop like lettuce next to slow-growing broccoli. The idea is that you'll harvest all your lettuce by the time the broccoli is looking to stretch out. Try growing plants from several different varieties to increase your chance of success and to find the best performing types.
The benefits of a vegetable garden can't be beat. You'll get to enjoy fresh picked produce and you'll get some great exercise at the same time! From fall vegetable gardens to a raised vegetable garden, you'll find the information you need at the Vegetable Garden Site.
