We have taken the liberty of recommending a few of our favorite
products that are time tested and proven to help yield enjoyment
when vegetable gardening. These products are shown in color and
also highlighted in our how-to-guide. Enjoy!
Choose a Sunny Location: There is no better way to start
than by choosing a sunny spot for your garden. Most vegetables need
six to eight hours of direct sun a day. Leafy greens can thrive
with a bit less. The ideal location has loose soil that drains well.
If your soil is not perfect, than you can improve it over time by
adding organic matter such as compost.
Make the Garden the Right Size: Using the following plan
as a guideline, substituting crops to suit your own tastes. Plot
your garden on graph paper, with a grid of ¼ inch squares.
Each square represents one foot in the garden.
Create Your Garden: Once you have a plan, you are ready
to stake the garden. You will need a tape measure, plenty of string,
12 to 18-inch stake and a hammer. For the best sun protection, orient
the garden so the rows run east to west, with the tallest plants
on the north end. Following your plan, drive a stake in each of
the four corners of the garden. At this point, you will need to
rototill or turn the garden by hand and remove existing weeds.
Next, test the pH of your soil. Most vegetables require a pH between
6.0 and 6.8. Next, measure and stake each garden bed an then shovel
soil from an adjacent path onto the bed. Keep adding soil until
the bed lies evenly between the string boundaries. The object is
to end up with a flat-topped raised bed that extends fully to the
string boundaries.
Feed the Soil: As you build each bed, broadcast several
inches of compost or natural fertilizers over the surface and work
into the soil with a rake.
Decide What to Grow and When: Many vegetables are best started
from seeds sown directly in the ground; others go in as seedlings.
As you plant, remember which plants are frost-tolerant and which
are not. We will be glad to help you determine what amount of seed
and plants you will need for your size garden, just ask!
Direct-Sow: After the last spring frost, the following vegetables
grow particularly fast from seed: beets, carrots, parsnips, peas,
radishes, salad greens, beans, corn and squash.
Time it Right: The average date of frost in the spring is
the key date to use in garden planning. You can safely plant the
'cool-season veggies' (broccoli, sprouts, cabbage, celery, peas,
radishes and spinach) before the last frost date. Plant 'warm-season
veggies' (green beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, peppers,
summer squash and tomatoes) only after the threat of frost has passed.
Early Season Care Tips: We have found several different
items to help you create the bounty of fresh vegetables that you
have desire from your garden. Once you have established a good start
for your plants, make sure to cultivate the soil to increase the
level of oxygen and to eliminate weeds.
Watering Tips: For corn, watering from above with a sprinkler
can be a tremendous time saver, however, for many vegetables watering
at the soil level is a great way to reduce disease pressure. Be
careful when watering cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, beans
and peas with a sprinkler. These seem to be more susceptible to
disease, especially cucumbers and tomatoes.
