It's easy and fun to grow your own vegetables, and there are many other benefits to being a home gardener. The initial cost of planting a garden is a fraction of what you'll pay for produce at the market. You always know whether or not pesticides have been used. The biggest payoff, however, is the pride you'll feel when you enjoy vegetables you've grown yourself.
These days, vegetable gardening is almost as popular as shopping for produce at the market. Backyard, patio and rooftop gardens can produce a bounty of crops. The vegetables usually taste better, and are far cheaper than buying at the store. If you've grown flowers or herbs, you can use the same degree of care and effort to plant and pick healthy vegetables.
The first step to a successful vegetable garden is finding the right space. Decide how big you want your garden to be, and then select the best spot. You need to look for an area that has good drainage, proper air circulation and rich, deep soil. Find an area that gets as much sunlight as possible, and try to shelter the garden. The tasty treats in your garden will attract all kinds of animals, no matter where you live. Even rooftop gardens can be infiltrated by wildlife, so take measures to protect your produce. Surrounding your garden with a fence or placing traps for small animals are good options.
Before planting, you need to be sure that the soil is properly prepared. Soil preparation for vegetable gardens includes careful cultivation and the application of organic materials. The soil must be tilled, turned or plowed to help control weeds and mix mulch into the soil. If you have a small garden, spading will certainly do the trick. Mulching is another vital step in soil preparation. In order to thrive, plants need to grow in soil that has been enriched with nitrogen, minerals and other nutrients plants found in organic material. The most popular and beneficial type of mulch you can use is compost. Simple sheep manure is another cost-effective application that will do wonders for your plants.
The type of fertilizer and application depends on the types of plants you'll be growing. Leafy plants like lettuce, cabbage and spinach usually grow best with more nitrogen. Root crops like carrots, beets, turnips and even potatoes with thrive with more potash. Beans and tomatoes require less fertilizer, while celery, onions and potatoes need a larger amount.
It's important to consider the arrangement of your garden before you begin planting. No one variety of vegetable is guaranteed to thrive in every garden condition. To ensure the overall success of your garden, you should plant several varieties of vegetables. Most successful gardeners will arrange their plots according to the space needed by the individual plants. Crops like pumpkins, corn, potatoes and squash should be allowed plenty of room to grow. Varieties such as beets, radishes, spinach and lettuce, on the other hand, are compact plants that can easily share a garden space. Place your tall plants like corn and tomatoes toward the back of the garden. This will provide shelter for the smaller plants, and allow the most amount of sunlight to the rest of the garden
When the preparations are complete and you're ready to begin planting, make sure that the time and weather are just right. Some seeds, like lettuce and peas, do very well if they are planted in the cool springtime soil. Most tender plants, however, can be killed by frost. Be sure the danger of frost has passed before you plant young tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables. If you'd like to get an early start, you can begin your garden inside in a hotbed or even on a windowsill, and then transplant when the weather permits.
When the vegetables have all been planted, make sure that you water them on a regular basis. All types of vegetables have different watering needs, so check with a gardening guide. As a rule of thumb, however, you can count on about an inch of water per week.
Deal with weeds promptly and properly, or they'll cause big problems in your garden. Weeds are not just eyesores, but can rob your vegetables of precious water, light and soil nutrients. Insects and disease are more common when weeds are present. There are other methods of controlling weeds and disease than simply using herbicides. Pull the weeds as soon as they emerge to keep them from spreading. Some seeds will produce disease-resistant plants, so look for these properties before you plant.
It can be a lot of work to grow your own vegetables, but your effort will be worth every penny you saved and every delicious bite of produce that you grew yourself.
