The First-Time Vegetable Gardener -- Some Pathways to Success
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Article by: Fred Davis Did I hear you correctly? You're just "starting out" in the rewarding (and often exhausting) hobby of gardening? Think you'd like to grow , Garden Etiquette - How To Act When In Another's Garden your own vegetables, , New Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project instead of limiting your choices to that natural-looking, neatly-arranged assortment of mostly foreign grown produce in the supermarket? Are you concerned that, in all likelihood, most supermarket vegetable , Attract Butterflies To Your Garden! offerings may contain substances (additives, pesticides, and other chemicals used in their production) over which you have absolutely no control, and that you'd prefer not to serve to your family? Then you're among a growing , Attract Butterflies To Your Garden! number of consumers with a yearning to take control over the quality and content of at least some of the food , 6 Factors that Directly Decide the Landscaping Design of a Home Garden consumed, and have made a firm decision to grow , Japanese Plum Yew - Cephalotaxus Harringtonia 'Prostrata' their own. Below are some helpful tips , African Violet Care for the health-conscious neophyte veggie gardener. . .tips not cast in stone, , Location, Location, Location: Where to Put Your Water Garden but ones that will improve your chances of success and satisfaction. First, your new garden's location. , Outdoor Furniture Cushion Replacement- Redesign Your Outdoor Space Most vegetables grow , Have Year Round Color by Planting for Birds and mature best in full, uninterrupted sunlight. You've probably noticed that the big, profitable market-growers don't have too many trees , Teak Furniture: The Premier Outdoor Furniture in and around their production fields. Eight to ten mid-summer hours is preferable, but that may be a bit difficult for many home-gardeners. Try for an absolute minimum of six full hours of direct sunshine during the brightest part of the day. Save , Garden Gnomes Inspire Cult Following Worldwide the shady spot in your yard , Back Landscaping for the hammock. For the beginning vegetable , Location, Location, Location: Where to Put Your Water Garden grower, 650 to 1,000 square feet of space is manageable. Be careful not to bite off more than you can comfortably chew! If you find you need more space, you can always expand the following year. If your new garden , Watering Your - How to Make Each Drop Count space is currently lawn , Container Gardening: Urban Alternative for Plant Lovers or weeds, , Lap Pools - Great Exercise Inside Or Any Size Backyard here's a word or two of caution: tilled into the soil, , Backyard Landscaping crabgrass, Bermuda grass, , Attract Butterflies To Your Garden! dandelions, and many other aggressive weed , Have Year Round Color by Planting for Birds species will re-grow from the tiniest fragment and quickly return to haunt any gardener. Take the time to remove all weeds , Backyard Landscaping -- leaf, stem and root , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden -- before starting the garden. , Japanese Plum Yew - Cephalotaxus Harringtonia 'Prostrata' Most experts correctly recommend that you "peel" off the top two or three inches of turf before you begin preparing the soil , In the Veggie Patch - December to receive valuable seeds , Frame Your Garden With Edging or transplants. And you should know that rototilling a patch of lawn , Watering Your is probably the most common and tragic mistake made by overly-enthusiastic novice gardeners. Soil preparation is next. Don't begin until the ground is drained well enough that a handful of soil , 6 Factors that Directly Decide the Landscaping Design of a Home Garden squeezed into a lump breaks apart when dropped from about chin-high. Resist the temptation to disturb soil , What Does A Brassia Orchid Plant And A Spider Have In Common? that's gooey and sticks together. I've always preferred to prepare a new garden , A Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden soil with a spade. . .and I like to drive that spade completely to the "hilt" and turn my soil , Discount Patio Furniture with Patio Chair Cushions is a Smart Choice upside-down -- literally. That's ten to twelve inches deep. Homeowner-size rototillers rarely have the ability to cultivate any deeper than four to six inches. Not enough! Having said that, I've never been a fan or proponent of "double-digging"Ā¯ to the oft-proclaimed depth of 16 to 24 inches. Realistically, root , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden systems of the overwhelming majority of common vegetables , 6 Factors that Directly Decide the Landscaping Design of a Home Garden perform admirably in improved soils , Tick Removal cultivated to a depth of a foot or so. Exhausting -- and frequently discouraging -- double-digging is not for me! Soil that's been lawn , Outdoor Furniture Cushion Replacement- Redesign Your Outdoor Space or field weeds, , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden and hasn't been cultivated for several years, is probably dirt-poor, so to speak. As you turn your new food-growing plot upside-down, mix in organic , Have Year Round Color by Planting for Birds material such as compost , Pond Filter or sterilized cow or horse manure to make it rich, deep and loamy. Three or four inches worked in deeply would be great! Peat moss can be used to break up heavy clay soils , Barefoot at the Cottage but should not be relied upon to add nutrition or beneficial biology to your soil. , 6 Factors that Directly Decide the Landscaping Design of a Home Garden Peat moss is quite literally nutritionally and biologically dead and adds nothing of any lasting benefit to the soil. , Tips On Lawn Aeration For A Beautiful Healthy Yard Now's the time for a soil , How to Build a Fence test. A mailer and complete instructions are available at your local , Container Gardening: Urban Alternative for Plant Lovers Cooperative Extension Service office. Cost for a test is in the range of about $12. . .good insurance for improving your chances of success right from the start! While at the Extension, ask about their selection of very helpful publications to help you get off on the right foot. Most are free. Select your seeds, , Pond Filter sets, transplants, and roots , Vermiculture: Indoor Composting and Organic Soil Improvement carefully and, based on your preferences, availability and quality. At nurseries or garden , A Teak Table - Accent Your Outdoor Decor With One centers, never settle for tall, spindly vegetable , Tips On Lawn Aeration For A Beautiful Healthy Yard transplants that are root , Rose Gardening: Water, Sun and Shade bound, or appear to have been neglected in their tiny containers, or ones that have already begun to bloom or have set fruit. , Outdoor Furniture Cushion Replacement- Redesign Your Outdoor Space Those are "dead-end" -- and the furthest thing from a bargain. Make your purchases early enough in the season , Recycling Carwash Wash Water for Landscape and Toilets to ensure strong, stocky plants , Fertilizing to Create More Blossoms on Your Flowers, Flowering Shrubs, and Trees that have a solid, healthy , Garden Etiquette - How To Act When In Another's Garden appearance and color. , Pond Filter Reject any transplants that have excessively curled leaves, and those showing signs of nutritional deficiency (bronzing or yellowing of lower leaves, for example). And never accept young veggie plants , Fertilizing to Create More Blossoms on Your Flowers, Flowering Shrubs, and Trees from displays infested with aphids or small, winged, "gnats" or moths. Most nurseries and garden , General Lawn Maintenance Tips centers will carry one or more lines of acceptable quality packaged seeds. , In the Veggie Patch - December Personally, I get my seeds , Watering Your Garden - How to Make Each Drop Count from well-known and reliable local , Frame Your Garden With Edging sources when possible, and I always stay away from the bargain racks at markets and those high-volume, high-traffic big-box stores. I like my seed , Have Year Round Color by Planting for Birds fresh, and I take comfort in the assurance of optimal, carefully controlled storage conditions. Johnny's Selected Seeds , Attract Butterflies To Your Garden! of Winslow, Maine (http://www.johnnyseeds.com) is, in my opinion, a good place , Backyard Landscaping to start. Fertilizer is, of course, an important consideration. I prefer to avoid use of bagged, granular, non-natural mixtures for use in soil , General Lawn Maintenance Tips intended for producing my food. , In the Veggie Patch - December Yes, you can use the recommended 10-10-10 (a "balanced" commercial plant , Hydroponics Gardening - An Introduction to Hydroponics Gardening for Beginners (Part 12) H2O2 food), but for me, the jury is still out on the long-term health consequences of non-natural fertilizers and plant , A Garden Bench: A Beautiful Addition To Any Garden food. In my mind, a safer choice would be an organic , Frame Your Garden With Edging mixture of naturally-occurring plant , How to Build a Fence nutritional elements available at most large farm-'n-gardens and garden , Tillers - How to Find the Right Tiller for the Job centers. Always follow directions printed on the package and the recommendations included in the results of your soil , New Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project test. You'll have a better grasp of just how much fertilizer and lime to apply once you have those results in-hand. Get the recommended fertilizer and any other suggested amendments thoroughly tilled-in a few days before you actually sow your seeds , 6 Factors that Directly Decide the Landscaping Design of a Home Garden or plunk in your transplants. There is actually more to achieving real success in the home , Growing Great Asparagus vegetable patch. But now you have a basis from which to begin. You might like to read an 8-part series on vegetable gardening , General Lawn Maintenance Tips beginning at http://www.HillGardens.com/veggie-1.htm. So, as soon as spring , What Does A Brassia Orchid Plant And A Spider Have In Common? arrives, off you go! Enjoy your new garden , Etiquette - How To Act When In Another's Garden -- and keep a stiff upper lip, a smile on your face and a song in your heart! One final thought: don't be afraid to ask questions. A successful neighborhood gardener is a tremendous resource. So also is the local , Growing Great Asparagus library. And your state's Cooperative Extension Service can put you in touch with a Master Gardener or two for some first-rate and accurate local gardening , New Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project assistance. While you're at it, why not consider becoming a Master Gardener yourself? The Extension offers courses; the price is right; times are convenient; instruction is by top-notch professionals; and then you'll be the expert -- and successful! Hey!...what's wrong with that?Fred Davis is a Master Gardener, Master Composter, , Container Gardening: Urban Alternative for Plant Lovers correspondent, lecturer, owner/operator of a popular 18-year-old perennial , What Does A Brassia Orchid Plant And A Spider Have In Common? nursery in south-central Maine, and author of "Keys To The Garden , Hydroponics ing - An Introduction to Hydroponics Gardening for Beginners (Part 12) H2O2 Gate...Saying Some Things That Need To Be Said." He and Linda, his wife of 44 years, reside in Palermo, Maine and may be contacted by visiting http://www.HillGardens.com |
  
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