The First-Time Vegetable Gardener -- Some Pathways to Success
|
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 , Sunflowers your own vegetables, , Caring for Your Garden Furniture 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 , Sunflowers 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 , Wind Chimes Soothe The Soul number of consumers with a yearning to take control over the quality and content of at least some of the food , Bring the Smell of Nature into Your Home with These Fragrant Flowers consumed, and have made a firm decision to grow , Relaxation in the Garden Starts With a Swing Bed their own. Below are some helpful tips , Solar Outdoor Lighting for the health-conscious neophyte veggie gardener. . .tips not cast in stone, , Low Cost Home Landscaping Tips but ones that will improve your chances of success and satisfaction. First, your new garden's location. , Cultivating Plants In Your Garden...What To Watch Out For Most vegetables grow , Step by Step 'Leaf' Stepping Stones and mature best in full, uninterrupted sunlight. You've probably noticed that the big, profitable market-growers don't have too many trees , Flower Shops 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 , Gardening Tools - An Overview the shady spot in your yard , Teak Garden Furniture for the hammock. For the beginning vegetable , Flower Shops 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 , Picking up Roses for Your Landscape space is currently lawn , Make a Plan for Vacation Watering or weeds, , Colour in the Garden here's a word or two of caution: tilled into the soil, , Which of the Hundreds of Tomato Varieties Should I Plant? crabgrass, Bermuda grass, , Lawn Mower Guide - How to Prepare your Lawn Mower for the Season dandelions, and many other aggressive weed , Colour in the Garden species will re-grow from the tiniest fragment and quickly return to haunt any gardener. Take the time to remove all weeds , Relaxation in the Garden Starts With a Swing Bed -- leaf, stem and root , How to Care for Long Stem Roses -- before starting the garden. , Want to Stamp Your Patio? Most experts correctly recommend that you "peel" off the top two or three inches of turf before you begin preparing the soil , Low Cost Home Landscaping Tips to receive valuable seeds , Flower Meanings or transplants. And you should know that rototilling a patch of lawn , Invisible Fences 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 , Garden Sheds: Wood Finishing and Weatherproofing Tips squeezed into a lump breaks apart when dropped from about chin-high. Resist the temptation to disturb soil , Peonies 'Krinkled White' and 'Vivid Rose' that's gooey and sticks together. I've always preferred to prepare a new garden , Makeover On A Budget soil with a spade. . .and I like to drive that spade completely to the "hilt" and turn my soil , Fertilizing Your Water Lilies... 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" to the oft-proclaimed depth of 16 to 24 inches. Realistically, root , A Rather Shady Affair systems of the overwhelming majority of common vegetables , How To Build A Garden Bench perform admirably in improved soils , US Flags cultivated to a depth of a foot or so. Exhausting -- and frequently discouraging -- double-digging is not for me! Soil that's been lawn , Cultivating Plants In Your Garden...What To Watch Out For or field weeds, , Florida Homes: Easy Landscaping and Curb Appeal 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 , Wrought Iron Garden Benches material such as compost , Wind Chimes Soothe The Soul 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 , Invisible Fences but should not be relied upon to add nutrition or beneficial biology to your soil. , Flower Meanings Peat moss is quite literally nutritionally and biologically dead and adds nothing of any lasting benefit to the soil. , Vacation Proofing your Garden Now's the time for a soil , Do It Yourself: An Attractive Rock Garden Anyone Would Be Proud Of test. A mailer and complete instructions are available at your local , A Rather Shady Affair 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, , Gardening Tools - An Overview sets, transplants, and roots , Lawn Mower Guide - How to Prepare your Lawn Mower for the Season carefully and, based on your preferences, availability and quality. At nurseries or garden , Caring for Your Furniture centers, never settle for tall, spindly vegetable , How Savvy Gardeners Use Mulch To Make Garden Work Easier transplants that are root , Multi Purpose Tree Sugar Palm bound, or appear to have been neglected in their tiny containers, or ones that have already begun to bloom or have set fruit. , A Rather Shady Affair Those are "dead-end" -- and the furthest thing from a bargain. Make your purchases early enough in the season , Flower Meanings to ensure strong, stocky plants , Outdoor Wood Furniture - Check the Method of Construction Before Buying that have a solid, healthy , Chives - Allium Schoenoprasum appearance and color. , Colour in the Garden 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 , Garden Sheds: Wood Finishing and Weatherproofing Tips from displays infested with aphids or small, winged, "gnats" or moths. Most nurseries and garden , Annuals For Shade centers will carry one or more lines of acceptable quality packaged seeds. , A Rather Shady Affair Personally, I get my seeds , Picking up Roses for Your Landscape from well-known and reliable local , Want to Stamp Your Patio? 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 , Picking up Roses for Your Landscape fresh, and I take comfort in the assurance of optimal, carefully controlled storage conditions. Johnny's Selected Seeds , A Rather Shady Affair of Winslow, Maine (http://www.johnnyseeds.com) is, in my opinion, a good place , The Basics of Plant Growth; (Part 3) Root Formation in Cuttings to start. Fertilizer is, of course, an important consideration. I prefer to avoid use of bagged, granular, non-natural mixtures for use in soil , How To Build A Garden Bench intended for producing my food. , Do It Yourself: An Attractive Rock Garden Anyone Would Be Proud Of Yes, you can use the recommended 10-10-10 (a "balanced" commercial plant , How To Build A Garden Bench food), but for me, the jury is still out on the long-term health consequences of non-natural fertilizers and plant , Garden Sheds: Wood Finishing and Weatherproofing Tips food. In my mind, a safer choice would be an organic , Ferns as Indoor Plants mixture of naturally-occurring plant , Iris Flowers Remind Me Of Mom! nutritional elements available at most large farm-'n-gardens and garden , Landscaping Tips: 6 Basic Steps To Building A Pond centers. Always follow directions printed on the package and the recommendations included in the results of your soil , Multi Purpose Tree Sugar Palm 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 , Hibiscus Flowers or plunk in your transplants. There is actually more to achieving real success in the home , Sunflowers vegetable patch. But now you have a basis from which to begin. You might like to read an 8-part series on vegetable gardening , Garden Makeover On A Budget beginning at http://www.HillGardens.com/veggie-1.htm. So, as soon as spring , Chives - Allium Schoenoprasum arrives, off you go! Enjoy your new garden , Wind Chimes Soothe The Soul -- 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 , Vacation Proofing your Garden 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 , US Flags 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, , How Savvy Gardeners Use Mulch To Make Garden Work Easier correspondent, lecturer, owner/operator of a popular 18-year-old perennial , Relaxation in the Garden Starts With a Swing Bed nursery in south-central Maine, and author of "Keys To The Garden , Flower Shops 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 |
  
|
Landscape Gardening
- Bamdoo
- Benches
- Berries
- Bonsai
- Building
- Bulbs
- Compost
- Flowers
- Gardening
- Grass
- Herbs
- Hydroponics
- Landscape Design
- Landscaping Ideas
- Lawn
- Lawnmowers
- Mulch
- Orchids
- Outdoor Furniture
- Outdoor Lights
- Patio Furniture
- Ponds
- Roses
- Seeds
- Sheds
- Shrubs
- Soil
- Tomatoes
- Trees
- UK Home and Garden
- Vegetable Garden
- Vines
Seasonal Gardening
mygarden.net.au Gardening | Landscaping | Climate Change | Home Improvement | How To DIY | Home Garden | Interior Design | Home Security | Home Finance | Forum | DIY | Add Your Link |