Vegetable Gardening

Every vegetable garden has its purpose. It may be as simple as a spot of herbs or as ambitious as culinary self-sufficiency.

A frequent cause of failure for beginners is a gardening project that proves too large to maintain or that has goals that are unrealistic. If you have not established a vegetable garden before, starting with a few pots of “bush” varieties can be an excellent beginning. If you are starting with a space in your yard, 10’ x 10” is a pretty good beginning. It is more fun to try several different vegetables rather than committing too much space to one variety.

Site Selection: Locate your garden where it will receive at least six hours of full sunlight per day. The garden will need about 1 1/2 inches of rain per week. An average thunderstorm deposits about 3/4 inch of water, enough to sustain a garden for four days without additional water. Mulching the garden is a very effective way to maintain soil moisture. Some organic mulches are straw, old hay, shredded leaves, and compost. If you have raccoons, or other nocturnal visitors to your garden, it would be wise to fence in the area.

Soil Preparation: The right time to cultivate soil is when you can squeeze a fistful of it and have it crumble again right away. If soil sticks together, wait until it gets drier. If ground is too dry and hard, soak it to a depth of 6 to 8 inches, then allow it to dry until the soil passes the squeeze-and-crumble test.

The following steps will help you prepare and plant your garden.

• Eliminate existing vegetation. Spray sod or weeds with Round-up; after seven to ten days use a sharp spade or sod cutter to remove the dead vegetation.
• Apply fertilizer. Rake Ferti-lome Gardener's Special lightly into soil.
• Cultivate soil. With a fork spade or rototiller turn over and break up the soil 6 to 8 inches deep. Add garden compost or peat moss to improve soil structure.
• Rake smooth. With a garden rake, break soil into small pieces.
• If you are planting vegetable plants -- rather than seed-- follow specific instructions on the pot. But basically: Dig holes for transplants. Holes should be both wider and deeper than the plants roots. This allows you to gently spread the root system out, backfill partly with soil, and gently tamp out any air pockets. For plants in peat pots, tear the pot down to the soil level. Any exposed peat will act as a wick and dries the soil.
• Dig seed furrows. Drive stakes at each end of a planting row and tie a cord between them. Use a hoe handle to make shallow rows, or the blade of the hoe to make deeper furrows. The string will act as your guide in keeping the rows straight, and the seed packet will indicate how deep to plant the seed.
• Plant seed, pressing lightly into the soft soil.
• Cover seed. Tamp soil firmly on top of seeds.
• Soak soil. Water immediately. Keep the seedbed and transplant soil moist until seedlings or new leaves appear on plant.
• Try to stay caught up on weeding. Weeds can grow aggressively in your fertile, well-watered vegetable garden and quickly overpower your new plants.

Have fun harvesting your crop!

You may even wish to keep a journal, with photos, to help you make decisions about next year’s vegetable garden.