Tips to Gardening

The Real Scoop on Planning a Vegetable Garden

Garden grown vegetables are superior to grocery store produce by anyone’s  standard, both in freshness and flavor. You can go out to the garden and pick your vegetables just before mealtime, at the peak of ripeness. You’ll save money and your family and lucky neighbors will love the results. Here’s a quick primer on the basics of planning a vegetable garden. If you’ve never grown your own vegetables, give it a try!

Start small. It’s easy to let your enthusiasm run wild, wanting to plant all of your favorites. The problem arises when you find yourself overwhelmed by the time required to maintain a large garden. Get one growing season under your belt to get a good idea of the tasks involved and the time you need to nurture your babies. A good size for the first-timer is about 4′ x 8′. A patio or balcony garden is easily managed, even when filled to capacity.

When planning a vegetable garden, your first decisions are location, layout and type of bed. Most vegetables require a southern exposure with at least eight hours of sunlight, so plan accordingly. Raised beds are easy to work and drain well. Lining the bottom of the frame with wire mesh provides protection from burrowing critters. You have a little more initial expense in constructing the frame and filling the bed, but in the long run, you’ll have less work and better results. If you choose to dig the ground directly, double-digging to a depth of 24 inches is recommended for the most friable soil and best drainage. If you’re growing in pots, use oak half-barrels or similar sized containers. Consult your nursery worker for veggie varieties that grow well in pots.

Prepare your soil thoroughly. You should be able to gently squeeze a big handful and have it just barely hold its form, then easily crumble as you sift it through your hands. Get a soil test kit and make any adjustments to correct for too acid or alkaline soil.

Planning a vegetable garden for maximum yield includes considering interplanting, a technique that allows you to grow two crops in sequence in the same space. For example, carrots and radishes may be planted with a row of lettuce. The carrots and radishes will be ready by the time the lettuce fills out the space.

Knowledge of companion planting is also useful when planning a vegetable garden. Some vegetables grow more vigorously when planted with another particular plant. For example, tomatoes and basil are good companions, producing better tomatoes, tastier basil and provide natural protection from pests. You also want to know what not to plant in proximity. Gladiolas shouldn’t be planted anywhere near tomatoes! Your tomatoes will not thrive!

Planning a vegetable garden is almost as much fun as growing and harvesting the delectable fruits. Start small, do your research, apply TLC generously and watch your garden grow!

Vegetable Gardening: Grow Your Greens in Containers

If you long to grow your own vegetables but you’re surrounded by concrete or live on a piece of land too small for a vegetable garden, don’t give up hope. The answer for you may be container vegetable gardening. Container  gardening makes it possible to grow vegetables on patios , tiny balconies or the rooftops on high-rise buildings and with just a few exceptions, the same methods used in regular vegetable gardening also apply to container gardening.

The best containers for vegetable gardening are those that are light, portable and often free.  There’s no need to spend a lot of money on expensive containers made of wood or pottery. You can of course, if that’s what you want, but half the fun is in finding unique containers for your vegetable garden. Drainage holes can be drilled in the bottom to keep the plant roots from sitting in water and small containers can be grouped inside larger containers such as wooden crates or larger tubs to keep them from blowing over.  Containers should set on bricks or small blocks to help with drainage and prevent mold from growing under them.

Finding the Light
You can place your containers almost anywhere as long as there is plenty of light. Vegetable gardening requires a lot of sun and while plants prefer full sun all day long, you can make up for some loss of light by growing them against a light colored wall that reflects the light and heat back onto the plants. You can also place light reflective material behind your vegetables to help them take optimum advantage of the sun. Also turning containers during the day helps to expose the entire plant to the light.

One important thing you have to consider in vegetable gardening is the type of soil you will need for your containers, which should be light weight, and drain well. The best soil is actually a soil-less mix which is light weight and allows roots to grow faster, making for larger plants and more vegetables.  Most vegetables like to be grown in soil at least one or two feet  deep, and larger plants need more soil so take that into consideration when planning out your vegetable garden.
Finding the Space
To take advantage of limited space, stair step your container vegetable garden on benches, or use a step ladder or boards placed on cement blocks to create your own mini terrace. Even vegetable plants can make a beautiful garden setting if they are grouped or mixed in with a few flowers. Some vegetable plants can even be grown in hanging pots, such as lettuce, small cucumbers and tiny cherry tomatoes.

So if you’re a green thumb at heart, living a city life and wishing you could do a little vegetable gardening , you can make it a reality with container gardening. It might take some added creative and work, but what true blue gardener ever let that stop them?