Vegetable Garden - Pick your own!
Home gardening is a good way to get out and enjoy the warmer weather and get some much needed exercise. So if you have the space, don’t miss the opportunity to bring nature’s bounty to your family table. Fresh picked vegetables are packed with more vitamins and nutrients otherwise lost in time spent getting to your grocery store.
Whether planting cool weather cabbage, broccoli or lettuce, or bumper crops of corn, early spring is the best time to start planning your vegetable garden. Start by drawing the plan on paper and selecting a sunny site in your yard. Make sure you select an area where the ground is level to avoid runoff of top soil and fertilizers. A level vegetable garden will prevent puddles of water forming in some areas and dry conditions in other areas.
A good guide to planting your garden is to make sure the larger varieties are located in the back so they don’t block the sunlight from your other vegetable plants. Spacing instructions are usually located on the back of your seed packets to make sure the roots have enough room for proper growth. Follow these instructions carefully to avoid over crowding.
Once your vegetable garden is planted make sure it is watered regularly to prevent the plants from becoming stunted. This is particularly important during the summer months. Most plants like to have their roots as well as their leaves well watered. That is except for tomatoes. Tomatoes are prone to black spot and other fungal diseases if left wet overnight or not given the proper spacing to allow air to circulate properly. Water your vegetable garden early in the morning to help alleviate this problem and avoid overcrowding tomato plants. A few healthy plants will produce more fruit than a lot of unhealthy ones.
Tomatoes are usually a staple in the vegetable garden because they are so easy to grow and enjoyed in fresh salads and main dishes. Gardeners usually find they have more tomatoes than they know what to do with, so take some time to determine how much you will consume. Another idea is to stagger the planting time so you can harvest successively to avoid wasting. Other gardeners enjoy canning or freezing for the winter months and welcome the abundance.
Cucumbers can also play double duty in your vegetable garden, freshly picked for salads or preserved as pickles. There are many vegetables to choose from the vegetable garden that can be enjoyed pickled.
Your vegetable garden will appreciate a mixture of compost, peat moss and fertilizer. Compost and peat moss should be mixed well in the ground before planting. Compost will provide your vegetable garden with time released nutrients and peat moss will help break up compacted soil and hold the moisture in. Once your vegetable garden is in full swing, apply fertilizer sparingly. Avoid applying fertilizers to new growth or you will have more plant than produce.