Plan Before Planting a Vegetable Garden

In times when most families are looking hard at the amount of spending on grocery bills, planting a vegetable garden becomes a viable option that achieves two things; it helps reducing the cost of the family vegetable bills from the local supermarket, and it offers the opportunity to sell or "give away" excess produce to other family members or friends or neighbours. This will also reduce their grocery bills and will be much appreciated. Starting a vegetable garden is not particularly difficult as long as you put enough thought, time and effort into what you would you want to achieve from your garden. It's essential that you plan your vegetable garden first before planting.

LOCATION OF YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN: This is the first decision that you must make. The location of your vegetable garden must be in an area where it is exposed to at least 6 hours of sunlight. It must not be in total shade and it must also be near to where you will source the water you will use to water the plants. You really don't want to be walking 100 metres carrying your watering can every time you want to water the plants. Ideally it should be near enough to be easily accessible to the hose that can then be connected to the water supply either inside your home or if you are lucky enough to have a water outlet close at hand. The location of your vegetable garden must be somewhere accessible so that you are able to frequently check for pests that will damage the plants and be able to pull out weeds when it is necessary.

SOIL PREPARATION: The next important factor to check is the condition of the soil. Check to see if it is suitable for growing the type of vegetables you have in mind. It must have good drainage; you don't want the ground waterlogged because this will rot the plants roots. It must be free of stones and other hard objects that will inhibit the growth of the plants. To most people soil is just "dirt", but if you think about it, to a plant its life or death. Basically this is what the plants feed off plus fertilizers that you add yourself. It's not difficult to identify your soil type. One thing to remember is whether you garden on CLAY, SANDY, CHALK or LOAM soil it will affect what vegetables will grow well. Usually whatever type of soil you have to work with, it can always be improved by adding plenty of organic matter such as well-rotted stable manure.

TYPE OF VEGETABLES: Included in your plans should be the type of vegetables you want to grow and the quantity of each. This consideration will help in determining the size of the plot you will require. Make a list of all the different types you want to grow, but a word of warning, this cannot be completely random. You must give thought as to what your garden will yield. What are your family's favourite vegetables, what do they like to eat in the winter and in the summer seasons. Consider what vegetables are often used for cooking the family meal. Will you be planting just for family consumption or do you have plans for the excess either selling them or giving them away to neighbours. Taking all these points into consideration will determine the size of the vegetable garden and reduce the risk of produce being thrown away.

PLANTING PLAN: It is worthwhile making a plan of where the vegetable plants you choose are to be planted. Consider the frequency of the yield of each type. Plants that can be harvested consistently throughout the year should be placed at the back of the plot where they will be undisturbed by whatever gardening activities you may have to do in the rest of the garden. Crops that produce early yield should be put together. These include such crops as RADISHES, SPINACH and CARROTS. Allow space for planting crops successively, so as you harvest one row you are able to plant another that produce yield later thus achieving produce all-year round.

PLANTS THAT CAN GROW TOGETHER: It must be noted that there are plants that you cannot grow along side other plants. There are vegetable plants that enhance the growth of another vegetable when planted together and there are those that restrict the growth of another plant. It is important that you take into consideration which of the plants inhibits the growth of another. If you overlook this, it could result in a much lower yield than expected. For instance, POTATOES are capable of inhibiting the growth of both SQUASH and TOMATO plants.BROCCOLI will also inhibit the growth of TOMATO plants. BEANS, on the other hand, inhibit the growth of ONIONS. This by no means stops you from planting all these plants in the garden it just serves as a reminder that when deciding what vegetables to grow, consideration must be given to which crops can be grown together without reducing the yield.

Planning is an essential part of having a successful vegetable garden that produces high yields of nourishing crops all-year round and ultimately rewards you financially by having smaller grocery bills.

Planning a Vegetable Garden for the City, Town or Countryside

It's true to say that people who live in the city where pollution is great because of traffic, have a busy lifestyle and more than likely live in a property that has confined space for a garden, so it seems inconceivable that a vegetable garden would survive. Whether you live in a house or an apartment the fact is, you don't need a large area, you can grow vegetables in tubs, growing bags or small raised beds. Therefore you can actually grow vegetables if you live right in the centre of a busy city, town or country if you get the basics of planting vegetables right.

One of the first things you need to get right is soil preparation. This is vitally important if you are a new comer to gardening whether you plan to use the back garden to grow vegetables or plant in boxes or tubes. Soil preparation plays an important role as to whether the vegetables will survive or not.

There are different types of soil, sandy, clay, chalky, loamy. Sandy soil is loose in texture and helps the roots of the plants to breathe because it lets the air pass through easily and won't hold together if you form it into a ball. Clay soil if formed into a ball will hold its form without crumbling or falling into pieces and once wet it becomes a sticky mess. Chalky soil drains very freely and therefore puddles drain away quicker. Loamy soil is dark in colour and when formed into a ball will hold its shape.

All types of soil can be improved and can benefit from digging in lots of well-rotted organic matter. Clay soil can also benefit from digging in horticultural sand.

When preparing the soil for your vegetable garden, dig up the soil and break up the lumps. Remove rocks, stones, weed roots. If you have clay subsoil try not to bring that up to the surface when digging. Remember that you don't want soil that traps the water inside too much that the roots of your vegetable will choke and rot. One good way to test whether the composition of the soil is good is by taking a handful and forming a ball with it. The soil should hold its shape; if it doesn't there may be too much sand in the mixture. If the soil holds its shape but does not crumble easily when you press it between your fingers, then the mixture may have too much clay in it, this then needs to have a dressing of horticultural sand mixed in. Whatever the soil type you have to work with, it will always benefit from a good generous dressing of organic matter, whether it is rotted manure, garden compost or peat, they all add nutrients to the soil which your vegetables will thrive on.

Once you have completed cultivating the area for your vegetable garden, you then have to make a decision as to what kind of vegetable you want to grow. Take into account that some vegetables don't grow well when they are planted too close to certain types of other vegetables. Potatoes for instance shouldn't be planted too close to squash or tomatoes because their growth will be inhibited. They can be planted in the same garden but don't plant them beside each other.

Having decided on the kind of vegetables you want to plant if the area is large, you may want to consider using a water irrigation system. This is where a tube or tubes with many holes along its length is placed between the rows of vegetables and connected to a water supply. When the water supply is turned on, water seeps through the holes and around the plants. This is a good system to install especially for summertime watering.

Deep or raised beds is a very popular way of growing vegetables where you only have a small area. These can be constructed by arranging planks in a square or oblong shape with a minimum size of 1.2 metres wide so that you can work without stepping onto the soil and 3 metres long. Growing your vegetables this way means that the soil never gets compressed because you work from paths either side. The depth of the bed should be a minimum 40cm. This should be filled with a mixture of top soil and compost providing a good composition so that the roots of the vegetables can penetrate a long way down.

Whether you have a large area or raised beds to grow your vegetables, it is a good idea to plan where you plant the different vegetables. A good way to do this is to divide a piece of paper into the number of sections that your vegetable area allows. For instance if you divide the area into three, in one area you can grow root vegetables, e.G. Potatoes, carrots, beetroot, the second area brassicas vegetables, this include cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, the third area for salad crops e.G. Lettuce, peas, onions and beans. One point to take into account is that some crops take longer to mature than others. Brussels sprouts take a full season to grow, while others like the lettuce mature in 3-4 months.

Crop rotation is another thing that should be taken into account. This means that each year you move everything on to the next space so that you don't grow the same type of vegetable in the same area two years running. Crop rotation means that the each type of crop get the right soil preparation, each benefits from whatever nutrients the previous crop left in the soil and most importantly that there is less risk of plants picking up root diseases from a previous crop.

Autumn, winter or early spring is when you prepare the ground with spring being the main sowing seeds and planting time. In summer as you get to the end of the early crops, clear the ground and plant another crop to fill up the gap. Mid to end of summer you will be preparing the ground for the last sowing of seeds and plants. The seed sowing programme and instructions are always provided on the back of the seed container. One important point is to gather your crops little and often. You don't have to wait for the complete row to mature, if you wait, you will see the fruits of your hard labour go rotten in front of you.

Growing your own vegetables is very rewarding but it can be labour intensive but the rewards are greater than the effort that you put in throughout the growing year. Eating vegetables that you have grown, tended to throughout its growth, is far healthier than the ones purchased from the grocery store. You know what nutrients you have put into the soil to produce the produce, you don't know with the purchased product. You can go to your vegetable garden and pull the produce, prepare a meal with fresh produce, you don't know when it was pulled and how long it's been stored with the purchased product. There is no need to store your produce because you can go and pull it fresh which is far healthier for you and your family.

Remember, you don't need a large area to grow vegetables, you can grow them in tubs, growing bags or small raised beds. Therefore you can actually grow vegetables if you live right in the centre of a busy city, town or countryside.

Grow your own vegetables, eat more healthier!