Planning a Vegetable Garden

Posts Tagged ‘Planning a Garden’

Planting a vegetable garden can be quite rewarding.  Imagine, home-grown fresh food, ripe for the picking and ready for the table.  The satisfaction of growing the great-tasting food yourself.  And the enjoyment of your new hobby, being out in the fresh air and sun.

Your own vegetable garden lets you grow only the veggies that you and your family love.  And if you grow organically, you won’t have to worry about harmful insecticides on your food.

Sunlight for Your Garden

First off, the area you choose for your vegetable garden needs plenty of bright sunlight.  Most vegetables require at least 6 hours of sun a day, and 8 hours is even better.  However, if you have a somewhat shady corner, not to worry — vegetables like lettuce and spinach don’t mind filtered sunlight part of the day.

Your Garden’s Soil

If you’ve not been gardening in your yard before, chances are your soil needs some help to grow a bumper crop.  The main kinds of soil problems you might run into are:

• Dry, sandy soil
• Damp clay soil
• Thin soil cover (rocky underneath)

Not to worry, all these can be overcome with soil amendments like compost, peat moss, composted manure and other natural ingredients.  Compost in particular helps sandy soil hold moisture.  It also opens up clay soils for better drainage.  And of course, adds depth to a thin soil cover (although you may need raised beds).

To test your soil, take a handful and squeeze tightly.  When you release your hand, the soil should crumble slightly but retain the basic shape.

Planting Your Vegetable Garden – Water

Wherever in your yard you’re planting your garden, make sure you have easy access to water.  Hauling water in a bucket is fine for a couple-three plants, but a garden hose is better.  You may want to eventually try an irrigation system, but in the beginning, a hose works fine.

Small, Large or Even Containers!

You don’t have to have a large space to grow vegetables; maybe you want to start small, with maybe a 12 foot by 3 foot row (you can grow more veggies than you think).  If you have the time and inclination, make your garden as large as you choose!   But you may want to try something like a 12 foot by 12 foot to start, so that you don’t become overwhelmed.  You can always add to it in the coming seasons.

You can even plant a vegetable garden in containers!  There are lots of veggies that will grow quite happily in containers, so don’t let a lack of a yard stop you from your garden.

Congratulations for deciding to grow your own vegetables!  It’s a hobby that can be very rewarding, not to mention profitable (should you go that route).  It puts food on the table, and a smile on your face when people say, “This tastes so good!”.