Starting a Vegetable Garden
Starting a vegetable garden is an exciting undertaking. It's easy to get over-enthused and make a lot of work for yourself. My advice is KISS(keep it simple stupid). Use the 7 guidelines below to keep yourself on target and the work manageable. When starting a vegetable garden: - plant what you like to eat
- sure eggplants look nice, with their deep, purple color; but why grow it if you're not going to eat it? If it's something you love, you're going to be more interested in the plant itself. And finally, you will receive the most benefit growing something you love to eat.
- locate your garden where you can see it
- Out of sight, out of mind. Don't let this happen with your garden. Keep it in sight and in mind. That way, you'll be more likely to take care of little things before they become big things.
- Make garden access easy
- Make everything as easy on yourself as possible. My husband built a fence around my garden with no gate. I had to use a ladder to climb over every time I needed to get in. This is not what you want to do.
- Make access to water easy
- This is the same idea as above. Make water easy to get to and easy to use. Watering the garden shouldn't be a chore of hauling hoses and connecting several hoses and accessories.
- Use plenty of compost
- Compost is your friend. Compost improves soil, holds water, adds vital nutrients, helps create humus, adds important microorganisms, and prevents disease.
- Keep to smaller beds
- Smaller beds are easier to manage. By adding smaller beds (4x4 or less), you'll be less likely to bite off more than you can chew. As well, with smaller beds, plants with similar characteristics can be kept together.
- Don't cry over a sick or dead plant. Plant another.
- It happens. Plants don't make it sometimes. If you've tried to revive it, just pull it and plant another. Some plants die out in the heat. It's okay, pull it and plant something that does well in the heat. If a plant is diseased, it may be better to get it out and away, rather than risk infecting the other plants.
Starting a Vegetable Garden With Seed
There are many ways to start seed. Larger seeds with a tough coat should be soaked for 24- 48 hours first. These seeds include: corn, beans, squash, and gourds.Seeds can be started in a shallow tray of soil, seed starting trays, small peat pots, newspaper pots, or between layers of paper towel.
Tiny seeds, such as lettuce, can be spread across the soil and thinned later. Or, use a little seed eyedropper to plant 1 seed at a time.To label seedlings I like to use toothpicks and a color coding system. Each toothpick is marked with a single color. For example, pumpkins are marked orange, gourds are red, and zucchini is yellow. I mark each of these colors on the seed packet. After the single color, I go to double colors. For example: tomatoes are red and orange, peppers are red and yellow. I've never had to go past 2 colors, but it is possible.
High Elevation Gardening
High elevation gardening requires cold weather protection and season extending techniques. I've dedicated a whole page to
high elevation gardening
.
Starting a Vegetable Garden in a Hurry
Gardening with a raised bed saves you time, but if you're really in a hurry, here are some in-a-hurry starting a vegetable garden tips: |
