Growing vegetables in a garden is fun, provides exercise for the farmer, is a great family event and puts fresher than fresh vegetables on the table. The garden can be any size, but if it’s larger than what can be taken care of it can be discouraging if the necessary effort can’t be put forth. If you have never planted a garden before, maybe start off slow. Plant and care for a small garden with a few vegetables and if it goes well, expand your vegetable garden each year.
A garden needs sun and suitable soil. If you have a sunny corner of your yard, test the soil for pH. Most garden shops carry pH Test Kits for do it yourself testing. The pH Test will tell you the alkalinity of the soil. The optimum soil has a pH around 7. The Test Kit will contain instructions to remedy the soil if the pH is to low or too high. The remedy will require mixing some type of fertilizer to raise or lower the pH. Another option is to excavate the unsuitable soil and replace it with suitable soil. That could prove to be expensive and labor intensive.
To prepare your garden for planting, scrape the grass or growth away using the flat blade of a pick axe. Shake the dirt out of the clods and toss the remains into the compost pile or yard waste container. Using a rototiller, turn the soil to about 24 inches in depth. Rake in any additives to balance the pH or otherwise enhance the soil. Lightly spray the garden with water and let sit overnight. If a rototiller is not available, use a spade or a pitchfork to turn the soil. This method will be time consuming. Loosened soil is essential to growing vegetables in garden.
Before planting, map out the areas of planting. If the garden is planted east to west, plant the taller plants on the north side and the smaller plants on the south side. This will allow all the plants to get equal amounts of sun and minimizing shade that would affect the next shortest plant. Plant the seeds or starter plants according to spacing and depth instructions. Plant the vegetables in straight lines leaving enough space between each line for walking. To assure planting in a straight line, place stakes at each end the garden. Tie a string from stake to a stake and plant along the string. Once your vegetables have been planted, water generously with a gentle spray. Watering with a hard stream of water could wash the seeds and starter plants out of place.
Proper maintenance will keep growing vegetables in a garden. Keep the soil moist, but not soaked. If it rains, you do not have to water. Weed the garden as necessary. Allowing weeds to grow will sap the soil of strength and nutrients, leaving very little for the vegetable plants. If critters take a liking to your garden add a fence or some other barrier around the garden. If you find gopher holes around your garden, fill them in with rocks and soil. If you take care of your garden, you will have a bounty of fresh vegetables come harvest time.
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