Planning a Vegetable Garden

Posts Tagged ‘Choosing Vegetables’

Planning a vegetable garden for Fall is necessary where I live in South Florida, because in the summertime, it’s just too hot to grow veggies!  When you have days in the mid to upper 90’s and nights around 80 with high humidity…the plants just die off for most mortal gardeners.

However, the nights are back in upper 60’s.  Even though the days are close to 90, the plants can handle it now, because they get a reprieve at night.

So, time to get the garden ready for fall plantings!  It’s the beginning of October, and since we don’t usually get frost until January, we have until then to bring in some garden produce.

Therefore, today’s post is about gardening in South Florida for Fall and Winter.  For the rest of you, I’ll have another post in a few days about making sure your garden is ready for Spring plantings.

South Florida Fall Vegetable Garden

It’s been a brutal summer for us down here; even my hot peppers (which love the heat) didn’t want to thrive, and I lost 4 out of 6 pepper plants totally; the other two are on life support.

The weeds, however, seemed to love it (isn’t that always the case?).  Since this past Saturday was the first day I’ve been able to venture out to work in the garden (too hot or rainy otherwise), it was weed-pulling time!  In fact, to show you what I was up against, here’s a photo of the main garden bed.

I ended up spending around 3 hours pulling weeds from the main bed before I gave out.  I managed to plant 4 plants (1 tomato, 1 pepper, 1 basil and 1 catnip) before the heat got to be too much.  So I still have 4 tomatoes, 1 catnip and around 6 pepper plants that need a home.

So, what other plants might be OK for a fall planting here (from seed)?  A partial list is:

• Lettuce (when it gets a little cooler)
• Radish (ditto)
• Bush beans (early type)
• Spinach

If I had planned better, I’d also have some winter squash on the list — it’s too late to grow them from seed.  Same thing for zucchini and other summer squash; a little late for planting from seeds.

I considered broccoli and cauliflower, but I don’t think they’d be sufficiently ready before a frost hit.

Get ‘Em in the Ground!

So if you’re here in South Florida and you haven’t already grown them from seeds, you need to get out to your local garden center and get some plants.  Reminder — tomatoes need to be early to mid-season in order to ripen before the first really cold snap.  Bell peppers are really iffy — they like warm weather, but banana peppers should do OK.  Jalapenos as well; I’ve successfully grown them in mild winters.

I’ll post a photo of how far I’ve come with clearing out the garden and what I’ve been planting next weekend.

Small space vegetable gardening is perfect for anyone that doesn’t have the yard space or time for a larger garden.  By giving yourself permission to garden only what you can do comfortably, you’ll both increase your enjoyment and your harvest.

The thing is, there isn’t anything more rewarding than growing your own vegetables!  You’re putting food on the table, which is especially important these days. Gardening in a small space is just as fun and rewarding.

Vegetable Gardening 101

Small space vegetable gardening follows all the same rules as does a larger garden.  To summarize it quickly, you need the following:

• At least six hours of direct sunlight a day. 
• Nutrient rich soil (see the posts on types of soil and composting). 
• Plenty of water.

When it comes to small space gardening, you’ll just need less soil and water.  Not to mention space and time!

How’s Your Soil?

It’s really important that you have the right type of soil in your garden, because without it, all the fertilizer in the world won’t give you a bountiful harvest.  You need soil that is moist and rich in humus (and therefore natural nutrients).  Start with a good loamy soil and you’ll improve both the harvest and surprisingly enough, the taste!

(Not to worry if you don’t have naturally good soil — the vast majority of us don’t.  Adding sufficient amounts of compost to your garden soil can work wonders.) 

Watering — Not Too Much or Too Little

Watering can be by rain or hand watering.  It’s rare that you get just the right amount of rain at the right time, so plan on grabbing a garden hose or a watering can at least twice a week if the rain isn’t sufficient.

How do you know if your garden has enough water?  The finger method does well for me — stick your finger about an inch to an inch and a half into the soil.  If it’s completely dry, it’s time to water.

Eventually, you’ll get to know your vegetable garden and will be able to judge the watering needs without the finger test. 

Vegetable Selections

If all you have is a small space, you need to carefully select the vegetables you will grow.  For example, if you only have a plot of garden that is four feet by four feet, you probably won’t want to grow squash, watermelon or most cucumbers — they just sprawl too much.  One plant could cover the 4′x4′ space all by itself!

Your best bet is to select vegetables that will grow well but not crowd each other out.  One way to get an idea of which seeds or plants to choose is by looking at the variety name.  For example, I have a tomato plant called “Patio” and it remains nice and compact.  Look for seeds or plants with names with worlds like “pixie,” “dwarf,” “bush”, “baby,” “patio,” or “tiny” as part of the name.  These varieties usually remain small (or at least smaller), but still give you a nice harvest.

Consider trellising your vegetables.  Train your tomatoes up a stake, your beans up a pole, and even a cucumber up a trellis.  Use vertical space where possible, and it will give you more growing space on the ground.

Read the vegetable seeds for a small garden post for some more ideas as to actual plant varieties.

More Information on Small Space Vegetable Gardening

One book that I have found invaluable for the times I have been limited to a small gardening space is the book Square Foot Gardening Although I do have a large yard, there have been times that I couldn’t work anything but a very small space, due to health or time constraints. But like anyone else, I wanted all the “bang for the buck” that I could get!

Square foot gardening is basically a way to maximize your small growing area. Of course, the same principles can also be applied on a larger scale! While it might take a little effort to get started, it’s not appreciably more than a “regular” garden. And the results are worth it. Give it a read if you want to maximize your harvest while minimizing the upkeep.