Garden Medley

So you’ve decided to take the plunge and grow your own vegetable garden. Maybe it’s because you want organically grown produce without the high prices found at the store, maybe you want to show your kids where food comes from or maybe you just finally have room!

Whatever the reason, you want to read up on what you need to get done and keep things under control. Getting too ambitious with a vegetable garden can leave you overwhelmed and limit your ability to enjoy the produce.

Start with a reasonably small garden, say 8×10 feet at most. Gardening and weeding are hard work and until you know you enjoy it you don’t want the gigantic garden.

You’ll want an area in your yard with a lot of sunlight, the more the better. Most vegetables really love sunlight.

The very first step is to till your soil. You can rent a tiller, borrow from a neighbor or do some heavy work with just hand tools. But that soil needs to be well worked and soft. You do not need to remove the sod… in fact, you are best off working it into the soil.

The type of soil you have will determine what you do next. If it’s mostly clay or sandy, you will need to invest in some topsoil or at least a good quantity of compost or manure to mix into it. You want to improve the quality of your soil. This can take a few years of adding compost every spring and fall.

Next you want to plan your garden. Research the seeds you want and figure out how much space they will take. You do not want to crowd your plants or you won’t have a good harvest. Don’t forget to leave room to work in your garden.

If you want something simple to grow, start out with things like peas, beets, squash and the infamous zucchini. If you’ve ever had a neighbor grow zucchini you may have had some of the excess handed off to you. It’s one of those plants that really produces when it gets going.

If frost is a problem in your area, make sure you plant after the last frost is expected. Otherwise your garden can be wiped out. When in doubt do research on your area to find out when it is probably safe to start planting. There are no guarantees in gardening, especially when it comes to weather, but you have to do your best.

Critter and pest control can be a major problem. I’ve read that plastic snakes, moved about periodically, can be quite effective at keeping out rabbits, and for other animals chicken wire can work. Insect control can be more challenging, especially if you’re trying to go organic, so you may want to read up on natural pest control.

Heat waves can be a major problem for your garden. Make sure your soil is appropriately moist… if your plants are wilting they are much too dry. Don’t over water your garden, however. So long as the soil is moist a little ways under the top level you are generally doing well.

You probably won’t become a master gardener in your first year but you will learn a lot. And when your vegetables ripen you will love the flavors which are so much better than that which you can get at the grocery store.

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