Vegetable Gardening And Planning

If you thought that all that it takes in vegetable gardening is to plant a few seeds into the ground and expect nice ripe tomatoes to grow, think again. There are a few things to consider if one wants to have a vegetable garden and hope to harvest as well as consume the fruits of one's labors. You will need to plan the garden, prepare its soil as well as plant vegetables, at the very least.

Plan The Garden

Vegetable gardening should involve planning ahead and take into consideration things such as the site location which should get full sunlight and should have good drainage, quality of soil as well as get shade from buildings or trees. If one wants plenty of sunlight, plan the garden in a spot near the house and if one wants drainage, shade as well as good soil one may choose an area further from the house. Vegetable gardening may also require choosing the vegetables that one's family most likes and also consider whether the vegetables are to be consumed in large quantities or not.

Having planned ahead, vegetable gardening will require one to prepare the soil and it is also important to have well drained soil as well as have plenty of organic matter that should be free of stones and be able to retain moisture. Also important is the subsoil and infertile soil may have good physical properties that may further be made productive with the help of organic matter, lime, commercial fertilizer as well as other material that can improve the soil. Vegetables of different types may require different degrees of acidity in the soil and the acidity or alkaline content can be measured by pH and soils with pH less that 7.0 are acidic while those with pH higher than 7.0 are alkaline.

If you use commercial fertilizer on your vegetables you might want to also till in some fertilizer at the same time you are preparing your ground. Vegetable gardening requires certain nutrients in the soil to produce strong and healthy plants.

Vegetable gardening would require planting vegetables according to the layout of the garden and one may use stakes to mark out different rows. The trellises can be built or set in stout stakes if planting climbing plants like peas and beans. Also, one may create mounds to put the vining plants like cucumbers, pumpkins and melons. It is also important to set out pathways in vegetable gardening to prevent having compacted soil and allows one to walk across areas that are to be planted. All that needs to be done now is to sow the seeds and put in vegetable bedding plants.

Vegetable gardening in dry periods will require extra watering and vegetables will get adequate water if an inch or more of water is given every week, more so when they are fruiting. To control weeds, mulch between rows and this will help conserve moisture in the soil as well and make a pathway to access plants. One should also be on the lookout against insect pests throughout the growing season and there is also the possibility that weeds will steal the water and light as well as root space from the vegetables and good vegetable gardening requires pulling out the weeds at regular intervals.

Choosing Which Vegetables To Grow

Often this is the hardest decision to make in vegetable gardening. Choose vegetables that your family likes to eat. Most people love vine ripened tomatoes and these are fairly easy to grow. If you have several plants you might want to can some for use in soup and chili during the winter months. Corn is another popular vegetable which is easy to grow. Once the corn plants reach a certain size they will pretty well be self sufficient. After the initial planting and weeding, there is not much left to do until it is ready to be picked.

Summer squash is probably the easiest vegetable there is to grow. Once they start bearing, you will have to pick them about every other day. You need to keep this in mind when planting since you can easily become overwhelmed with squash.

Many people enjoy growing summer salad vegetables such as leafy lettuce, green onions, and radishes. All of these are fairly easy to grow but keep in mind they do not have a long growing season. Unlike squash, these vegetables will not continue to bear.

For many people vegetable gardening is fun and relaxing. There is a definite advantage to growing your own vegetables. You know how they have been raised and what has been used to raise them. There is also a distinct difference in flavor as opposed to those bought in the store. Having your own fresh vegetables can be a healthy and tasty treat and might even save you a few bucks at the store.