Vegetable Garden How To Information

With the rising cost of living, growing awareness and increasing concerns of chemicals in our food, increasing numbers of people are choosing to grow their own vegetables. This page will be covering starting a new vegetable garden, companion planting, harvesting vegetables, insect problems and general vegetable gardening tips and how to information.

Starting A New Vegetable Garden

Location, Location, Location ~ Choose the sunniest location with very good drainage; both are critical for a productive garden. It cannot be a low spot with boggy wet soil. You’ll want to have it relatively close to your outdoor faucet to run a hose over to it easily. If you desire raised beds, you can nail together some untreated boards. For a more permanant frame, 6" round PVC pipe will connect easily, never rot, and looks pretty darn good.

Restrain Yourself ~ Plant to start out with a small space for your first garden. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ll need to tend it regularly. If you start out with anything much bigger than 8’ x 8’ by mid summer you’ll be frustrated and be saying foul words about me and gardening. Expand it next year, after your really hooked on the fresh and incredibly tasty vegetables.

Testing – Testing ~ It is very important to invest in a soil test to determine what the soil is lacking and check for pH levels. Minerals lacking in the soil will translate to minerals lacking in your food. To do a soil test you’ll collect samples and send them to your local University Co-operative Extension Service. See the links page for one near you. You will get a report from them that will help you determine how much fertilizer to use as well as how the pH of the soil needs to be adjusted for it to achieve the 6.2 to 6.5 level. Not testing the soil before you start is like buying a 10 year old car without looking at it, driving it or having a mechanic scrutinize it.

Break it up ~ Determine when the soil is dry enough to dig up by squeezing a handful. If it falls apart when you lightly tap it, it’s dry enough, if it remains a ball you’ll need to let it dry out longer before you do any digging. Now you’ll have to evaluate how deep the soil is to work with. If you have a newer home, in all probability you only have the usual contractor ration consisting of barely 4” of poor soil. Call some local companies and order a small truckload of 50% compost & 50% loam mix. You won’t need a large amount for your small area. (Remember we talked about this being a small area to start out with) you’ll need 8-12” of good loose soil, depending on what you will choose to plant.
You’ll dig up the entire area either with a spade or garden fork. Remove every weed and grass clump including the roots that you can, to spare yourself the grief of trying to get rid of it later when it re-grows. Get in the habit of always having a small jar of soapy water with you in the garden. As you are turning the soil you will hopefully see earthworms and other signs of life in the soil. Search for grubs, which turn into Japanese Beatles and toss those into your soapy water to drown. They are mostly white, curled into a c shape. Break up the large soil clumps.
Mix into the existing soil organic matter such as compost, aged manure, finely shredded leaves, peat moss, shredded newspaper, seaweed and organic fertilizers. The more varied organic matter going into the soil the better. Think of it as making a soup, the more ingredients, the more vitamins there are. More soil improvement information will be available on another page, soon.

If there will be a waiting period before planting, cover the area with a large tarp and keep it from blowing with boards or bricks etc. This will keep the soil protected from wind, heavy rain, and compaction.
If it’s possible, all the steps up to this point can be and is better, if done in the fall prior to your new garden project to give the organic matter the time it needs to really improve the existing soil.

Choose what you want to grow ~ Narrow your list down to your absolute must-have favorites. Keep in mind the small space to start with. Corn requires a large amount of space and is not typically very practical in a home garden. Some popular and easy choices: beans, beets, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, carrots and every kind of squash. Research to see which varieties have the most flavor and disease resistance.

Shop early ~ Buy from the most reputable company. For best results look for already growing plants that are stocky and show healthy green leaves. Avoid plants that look weak and lanky or showing insect damage or fungus that may look like white fuzz, webbing, or powdery looking film. Pick up your favorites as early as you can to get the best choice and best quality. A few vegetables grow very easily starting them from seeds by planting them right into the garden. If you’re on a slim budget this is a good way to save money. Choose the best quality, fresh seeds. The 10 for a buck seeds at Cheapo-Discount-Mart are that cheap for a reason. You don’t get what you don’t pay for. Maximize your chance of success and shun those.

Don’t make this common mistake ~ Don’t plant your garden until all the danger of frost at night has past. Rush into it and you may lose every plant to frost. If you bought plants early, transplant them right away into larger pots to jump-start the new healthy growth. For tomato plants: 1. Carefully cut off all the lowest leaves close to the stem. 2. Bury the plant in a deep pot leaving only the top most leaves exposed. (A half gallon milk carton or soda bottle works well) You should end up with only 1- 2 inches of the tomato plant showing. The long bare stem that you buried will form roots all the way up the stem and give the plant a very healthy head start. For all the others, gently pull the roots apart, and plant them at the same depth that they were.

Pamper them ~ Keep the soil moist, not sopping wet. Bring them outside for a little time each day. Bring them in at night. Keep increasing the time they spend outside to toughen them up for the outside grownup world. This is called hardening off.

They Have An Attitude ~ What? It’s true some plants don’t like to have certain other plants near them. They don't throw things at each other or anything, they just don't don't perform as well. Some plants perform exceedingly well when certain other plants are growing near them. Some plant combinations even have an added benefit of repelling problem insects or attracting beneficial insects. This is called companion planting. You’ll want to take some time to look through the companion plants listing and make a plan on paper for how to arrange the plants you’ll be growing. I’ll be putting the Companion Planting List in the next section below relatively soon.

Let’s Din In ~ All the danger of frost has past right? You checked the weather forecast and there is not a long period of cold rainy weather in the forecast. You checked the companion planting list and have a bit of an idea of what needs to be planted where.
A very good option would be to now lay out a soaker hose in a big S formation for future watering ease.
Now you’ll look at the tags that came with the plants to determine how far apart things should be and start planting. If you have tomato plants you will want to repeat the Tomato treatment 3 paragraphs up and remove more bottom leaves, planting even deeper. Tomato and peppers require more calcium than other plants. You should add a tablespoon of Epsom salts and mix into the soil all around the plants along with tomato fertilizer. Other plants are not particularly fussy about what kind of fertilizer you use. At planting time you’ll want to go easy on the fertilizing and increase the amount as the plants mature. Use a fertilizer with nitrogen and phosphorus. Mix it well into the soil or do this ahead of time for better results. Just make sure to reduce the nitrogen later in the season to get the vegetable production. Too much nitrogen will give you pretty, lush foliage but fewer or no veggies. See the fertilizer page for more information. Water each plant carefully as you go along planting.

Start some from seed ~ Some plants grow better if they are sowed from seed directly into the ground: Beans, carrots, beets, turnips etc. Plant seeds according to directions given on the package. Mark the area that they are planted with little stakes and string so you won’t forget where they begin and end. Some veggies like beans you will not need the entire seed pack planted all at once. The beans will mature all at the same time and then you won’t have any to eat later in the season. Plant a portion of the package and another portion in two weeks.

Cutworms are notorious little buggers that just adore new seedlings. They will wrap themselves around your new seedlings and actually cut them off at the soil line. Prevent this by pushing small sticks into the soil right up against the stems of the seedlings. It can be toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, straws, pencils, or twigs.

Involve the kids in the garden ~ Take them shopping with you and let them choose a few plants to grow for themselves. Involving kids will give them a sense of ownership, accomplishment and teach them patience in this instant gratification world. They will be much more likely to taste a new vegetable if they’ve grown some. If very quick results are required to keep youngest ones engaged, try radishes or some flowers. Try some fun funky colored vegetables, pole beans they can train to climb up a teepee or other support, giant sunflowers, or mini pumpkins. Use the time in the garden to teach about bees and other pollinators that help the garden grow and that without them plants would never be able to produce fruits or vegetables. Teach them how to measure by having them measure and chart progress of a certain fast growing plant every week. If bugs get them excited review the beneficial insects page to see how many they can find in the garden. Don’t forget to make a big deal about his or her incredibly bountiful crop at the next cookout, birthday party, Sunday dinner at Grandmothers, NH Lobster Fest and the play group meeting.

Tending ~ Watering and fertilizing will be the primary things to keep doing regularly along with scouting for pest bugs. Watering will need to be done when the soil is dry below the surface. Make sure there is not hot water in the hose before you put it in the garden. Don’t use a sprinkler; keep the foliage from getting wet as much as possible. If you don’t have time for hand watering put the soaker hose to use.
Check out the Beneficial Insects page and protect any that you find in your garden. Research the pest insects to be aware of what to look for. Keep that little jar of soapy water handy to toss them in if you find some. Remember that a little bit of nibbling on your plants is not cause for alarm. If you can check regularly you won’t end up with large populations of the pests.

Cage, Teepee, Trellis, Obelisks, or Fence ~ Many plants will benefit from growing with some form of sturdy support. Metal, wooden, bamboo, PVC pipes, copper pipes, branches, fence posts, mesh, pre-made or homemade the options are endless. When in doubt of which to choose go with the largest sturdiest choice. Put it in securely in place as soon as possible, it becomes much more difficult to do without damaging the plants once they have grown considerably, or worse when they’ve toppled over and they’re laying on the ground. Some plants that benefit from a support: Tomato, cucumber, pole beans, and peas.

Mulch ~ You can mulch between plants to help keep weeds under control keep the soil moist, and also keep the leaves and fruit cleaner and less prone to fungus problems. I’m a big fan of using many layers of newspaper or even cardboard; wetting it all down and then covering it with straw, seaweed, compost, grass clippings, finely chopped up leaves or other weed free material. Newly seeded parts of the garden will have to be done after the seeds have germinated. Bare soil is a weed invitation.