Gardening Basics before Planting Vegetables

Good Morning,

Welcome to my first blog post. It is going to be a kind of  "all-inclusive" post on how to get ready for gardening. I plan on writing detailed information on each of these sections in the coming days so be sure to stop back by to check it out. But for now.... let's get your mind thinking about gardening.

Spring Vegetable Gardening

Along with all of my other pursuits in the spring, there is one that I love and enjoy above all else. It's a subject I have not covered much and that subject is vegetable gardening.

 

I grow a garden every year, planting anything and everything that I love to eat. I have been growing vegetable gardens since I was a kid. My folks had a large one and we used to pick and then take our vegetables to town to sell at the farmer's market. Always a source of income in our household.

I am now grown and long gone from the farm, but the lessons learned there are with me still.

How to pick a spot for your garden.

If you have never grown a garden before, you need to decide what you are going to plant and how many plants you will need to provide the amount of vegetable you plan to grow. Also, for a vegetable garden you are going to want an are that receives approximately 6 hours of sun daily and it must drain well. If the area does not drain, you may want to consider, building a drain system. Also, check with the nursery and gardening centers near you to see if they sell organically grown starts. If not, you may wish to buy your own seeds and start your own plants.In my gardening experience, start small and grow form there. Once you have that in hand, time to till.

Preparing the ground

The ritual begins with readying the plot. I used to use a great big old Troy tiller for years, but now days I have a small Manta Tiller. It is far lighter, just as easy to use and I am no longer growing a garden to feed a family of six. The smaller tiller matches the size of my garden. That's not to say I grow very little, because I still grow a lot of vegetables. the ground has been prepared for many years and requires very little effort to get it ready.

It's a simple test to see if the ground is dry enough to till, and that is by picking up a handful of dirt and crushing it in your hand. If it does not crush and only turns into a ball of mud? it's too wet to till. If on the other hand, it can sift through your fingers? It's dry enough to till.

Composting

I till and mix in my organic compost at the same time. My first till is down the long axis of my plot.  I let that sit for about two weeks and then add more compost and I re till the same area only crosswise. It probably isn't necessary to do this, but I learned it from my grandfather and use that technique still. I find it makes the soil very loamy and smooth to prepare it for planting. Plant roots grow best when there is air spaces between the dirt particles.

Choosing what to plant

Once your garden is tilled and composted, let it sit for a couple weeks before planting and then you are ready to plant your garden. At the home and garden center, check to make sure that the plants you buy are not already grown with fertilizers and chemicals, as you can transfer that to your garden by planting these. Besides, plants grown from seeds and with fertilizers and other chemicals tend to not do well once weaned. save the effort and purchase only organically started plants. They are clearly labeled as such and easy to find.

How to prepare your starts for planting

When you get all of your organic starts home, water them even if you plan to plant them very soon. Check each start for any disease problems, trim accordingly. Also inspect the roots. If for example the plants roots have been root bound when you pull them from the cup, just cut the root ball off by about a 1/3 or so, so that the new roots can expand when planted. Doing these simple tricks will lessen the plant shock of replanting.

Planting

Dig your hole for the new plant, just as deep as it's root ball and make your hole almost twice as wide as the root ball. Carefully place your new start in the hole you just dug and fill back in with the dirt you dug up. Hand tamp around the plant and then water thoroughly. You need only repeat this procedure for your entire garden. Once everything has been planted, tamped and watered, cover the entire area with a layer of organic mulch.   2-3 inches should be fine. I use the grass clippings from my lawn mixed with straw. The reason I do this, is to keep down the weeds and help maintain moisture.

Also at this stage, people suggest labeling your plants, either in the garden or on paper, but I have a much better method.......let the plant grow and then I know. Thanks for reading and good gardening.