|
The Basics of Vegetable Gardening
If you are indeed blessed with a green thumb, there are few things more satisfying than vegetable gardening. You will enjoy the satisfaction of watching your plants grow from seed and then sprouting fruit, and you will save on your grocery bills when you can get much of your fresh produce right from your own backyard. Vegetable gardening is not as difficult as you might think, and once the initial costs to put in the garden are past, you will find that vegetable gardening can be quite economical as well. This is also a great activity to incorporate into a family hobby, since children can learn much from vegetable gardening and it give your entire brood the chance to spend plenty of time together.
Step One: Plan your Garden
What is your favorite veggie? Do you have a hankering for a juicy, red tomato, or are snap beans more your style. How about some fresh radishes or zucchini squash? The first part of planning your garden will be to determine which produce items you want to grow. Take your climate and zone into consideration as you make these decisions, to ensure that you will see success with your vegetable gardening efforts. You also want to think about how to group your plants to make your vegetable gardening easier and more fertile. For example, perennials like rhubarb and many herbs should be planted to one side, where they will not interfere with the garden planting in future years. It is also wise to group crops that will yield a crop earlier together, so that you can rework this area mid-season to put in late crops.
Step Two: Prepare your Soil
This is probably the most important step in successful vegetable gardening, but it doesnt have to be a complicated one. Find a plot of ground in your yard that does not have too many rocks or is very sandy. Make sure that your bed will receive plenty of full sunlight during the day, and that it is close enough to a water source to make daily watering convenient. Add plenty of organic material and some fertilizer to the dirt and either plow or spade it in. Make sure that you use composted manure, and dont add too much or you run the risk of burning your tender, new plants. If your garden bed is a previously unworked patch of ground, it is best to perform this step in the fall and allow the bed to sit through the winter before being planted.
Step Three: Plant your Seeds
Once your soil has been prepared properly, it is time to sow those seeds. If you measure and mark each row at the ends of your beds with a stick, and then tie a string to the stick on each side, you will have no trouble keeping your rows straight and even. Smaller seeds can be tapped lightly out of the container right into the ground, while larger seeds can go in individually. Water your seeds daily, and use a lighter mist until the seeds germinate to avoid washing them away.
Vegetable gardening can be a fun and rewarding hobby. And your family will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor during the long, cold months of winter. |
