Andrew Bicknell asked:


Learning how to plant a vegetable garden is not hard, but without careful planning and proper follow through, your garden may perform poorly.  If done correctly it pays off with big benefits in so many ways.  Before you know it you will be picking perfectly ripe, perfectly delicious tomatoes without having to wonder what chemicals went into growing them.

The most important part of successful gardening is to properly prepare the soil.  A routine soil test gives information on any lime requirement, phosphorous and potassium needs and estimated nitrogen requirements. A good soil mixture contains two parts loam, one parts and, and one part organic matter and many pre-mixed soil mixtures are available at garden centers.  When manure is added to the soil, it must be composted prior to planting, because fresh, hot manure will also burn your plants.  Vegetables need a lot of nutrition to grow well, so the better you prepare the soil before planting, the better chances you have of producing a bountiful crop. For information on soil testing, call your local county extension educator or the local university soil testing laboratory.

Planting a vegetable garden is not hard, but without careful planning and proper follow through, your garden may perform poorly.  Tilling the soil in late fall facilitates earlier spring planting.  Cool versus warm planting periods are determined by your choice of cool-season vegetables and warm-season vegetables.
Successful vegetable gardening involves far more than just popping a few seeds into the ground and waiting for a tomato to appear. When sowing your seeds stretch a string between the two stakes you set to mark the row, or use a straight piece of lumber, and use it as a guide to open a ‘V’ shaped furrow with the corner of your hoe.  Tear the corner of the seed package off and use your finger to tap the package lightly as you move down the row, carefully distributing the seeds evenly. Larger type seeds may be placed individually in the row.  You will want to plant extra seeds in each row to allow for failed germination, and for thinning.  Cover the seeds with fine soil (no clods or rocks).  After the seeds sprout, the weaker seedlings should be pinched off to give the rest enough room to grow.

Vegetables that are leaves or stems, such as cabbages and onions, can usually be harvested over a long period as they are needed.  Vegetables that are the fruit of the plant, such as peas, beans and tomatoes, should be picked every two or three days to get them when they are first ripe.  Any vegetable garden should receive a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight during the day and grow best on soil that is well drained. Vegetable gardens do not always have to be laid out in large plots in the backyard; you can grow them nearly anywhere as long as all their growing conditions are met and your choice of plants will be largely determined by the likes and dislikes of your family.  If the same garden plot is used for vegetables for many years, your crops should be rotated, so that each type of vegetable is in a different position during the following season. 

Planting a vegetable garden is hard work but for both the beginner and experienced gardener the rewards can be delicious.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


I’ve been gardening vegetables for quite a while now, and I’ve learned some lessons the hard way. Vegetable gardening offers some great rewards – the pride and satisfaction of cultivating beautiful edible plants and the savings on the weekly grocery bill! Here are some tips that should help you plan and grow healthy fresh vegetables in your vegetable garden.

The Versatile Legume

There are two basic types of beans – bush beans and pole beans. Bush beans do not need support, and pole beans are climbers. In my garden, I normally grow bush beans because they require less work. Call me lazy. Call me well-fed.

But I’ve found that pole beans are best in my vegetable garden are nice because they can climb along old fences or up the stalks of taller plants like sunflowers. I’ve also used pole beans to beautify my vegetable garden. I’ve planted these tall bean plants at the end of each row of the vegetable garden, making arches from tree limbs bound to make arches from row to row. The pole beans grow along the branches, making an attractive frame for the vegetable garden.

Beans are a warm-season crop and are easy to grow. They like rich, warm, sandy soil. They need full sun and well-drained soil. Also, I’ve found that they grow better when I rotate them with other vegetables every other growing season.

For the best tasting beans, I wait until all danger of frost has passed and dig the vegetable garden deep. Normally, I work the garden several weeks before I plant the beans because birds will eat the insect eggs and larvae that might damage my plants later. Then I work some lime into the soil to give the beans a healthy start.

I plant my bush beans from one to 1-1/2 inches in the surface and about eighteen inches apart. My pole beans need more space with rows three feet apart for best results. Bush limas need more space than most dwarf bean plants – as much as pole beans. Remember to plant the beans edgewise with the eye pointed down.

Generous spacing allows for easy cultivation with a hoe through the growing season. And if my bean plants get to high, I just pinch off the ends of the growing plants. This encourages outward, rather than upward, growth.

Bush beans include dwarf, snap or string, wax, limas, and what is called brittle beans. Pole beans include pole limas, wax, and scarlet runner. The scarlet runner is a wonderful decorative addition to my vegetable garden. Its flowers are deep red and look great against my old fence. Scarlet runners are nice additions to flower gardens and anywhere you want a vine. The nicest thing about the scarlet runner is that you get both beauty and food.

You Can’t Beat Beets!

Beets are root vegetables that grow on flowering plants. They’re easy to grow, and you can eat almost all of the plant. The top leafy part (a good source of Vitamin A) can be used fresh in salads, and the roots (good source of Vitamin C) can be cooked. Believe it or not, the leafy green part is more nutritious than the root!

While beets tolerate heat, they do best in a cooler climate. They’re good for a long growing season, and you can stagger planting to assure a continuous supply of fresh beets throughout the rest of the year.

Beets need organic soil to grow well. My beets do best in rich, sandy loam. I learned the hard way that fresh manure is fatal for beets. A particle of manure next to a beet root can doom a young plant. To avoid this, I dig a foot-deep trench, spread a very thin layer of manure at the bottom of the trench, and cover the manure with well-crumbled top soil. That way, you get the fertilizer benefits of the manure while also protecting your young beet plants.

When planting, I space rows about one foot apart to leave enough room for cultivation of my vegetable garden. Beet “seeds” are really clusters of small seeds in a dried fruit. They won’t grow well if they’re transplanted, and they need to be handled more carefully than many other vegetables. I plant the seeds about one-half inch deep in the rows. I’ve also found that I have to thin my beet sprouts to keep them healthy. Beets have very shallow roots, so I have to weed the vegetable garden often so that they don’t have to compete with weeds for important nutrients.

The Diverse Cabbage Family

The Crucifer family – cabbages – include many vegetable plants: cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, and kohlrabi (a combined cabbage-turnip).

The high-classed cauliflower needs rich soil and doesn’t tolerate frost. I’ve learned to give my cauliflower plenty of manure water for extra richness. Like with young cabbage, the outer leaves should be well- bent to get a healthy white head. I’ve found it best to plant and easier to grow the dwarf varieties.

Kale is not so picky. Though it needs rich soil like cauliflower, it can tolerate frost. Because kale matures slowly, it needs to be planted in early spring. But you can also plant it in early fall to get an early crop the following year.

The popular brussel sprout is a good substitute for the larger common cabbage plant. I enjoy growing brussel sprouts in my vegetable garden because their stalk stands tall. Almost like an umbrella, the top is a closed head of leaves. But this is not the part we eat. The umbrella crown shades the delicious small cabbages (sprouts) that grow along the stalk.

Like most Crucifer plants, brussel sprouts need rich soil and lots of water. I plant the seeds in May and then transplant the young plants in late July. My vegetable garden rows for brussel sprouts are 1-1/2 inches apart, and I put the plants about a foot apart in the garden rows.

Kohlrabi bridges the gap between cabbage and turnips. Sometimes called the turnip-root cabbage, its stem expands into a turnip-like vegetable. The true turnip swell is underground, but the kohlrabi’s edible part is above ground. Kohlrabi is easy to grow, but I have to encourage the plants to grow fast. Growing too slowly, the swell gets too woody for good eating.

I like to plant the seeds inside in early spring and then transplant them to my vegetable garden as the weather and soil get warmer. I form my vegetable garden rows two feet apart, and put the young plants about a foot apart when I transplant them to the outdoors. Kohlrabi seeds go a long way – an ounce of seed will produce a hundred-foot row of plants. A great early crop, I prepare and serve my kohlrabi like I do with turnips.

One of my favorite cabbage plants is the Savoy. It’s one of the best varieties for cooking, especially for slaw and salads, and it’s best for growing in poor soils. I plant seeds early in the year (February) under cover and then transplant the young plants to my vegetable garden in the spring (March or April). The closer together I plant the young savoy, the smaller their heads. So I try to provide for at least one foot of space in all directions around each young plant.

What’s Up, Doc, with Carrots?

Carrot is a hardy cool-weather plant that creates a thick root in its first growing season. There are two general types of carrot plant: long roots and short roots. For healthy long-root types, I have to work the soil down to at least eighteen inches. The short carrots do well in eight inches of sandy soil. Like beets, carrots don’t tolerate manure very well.

I’ve also found that I must thin carrots frequently. As the seedlings sprout, they are too close together and compete for nutrients and sunlight. I thin a little, wait a while, and then thin again. I love growing carrots because I can harvest the young tiny carrots for my table. I can also wait and have big Bugs Bunny type carrots for my kids.

Cucumbers – the Fresh Pickle

Cucumbers are really fruit, but they can be grouped with gourds among vegetables. I’ve heard the cucumber originated in India. It’s a creeping vine that roots and grows in spiraling strands or climbs trellises or other supports. Its large leaves shade the fruits.

I get the best plants when I use light, sandy, organic soil. And I’ve also found it’s best to plant them on a slope where drainage is easiest. In hot-houses, they can hang from the ceiling where they become beautiful hanging vines. I’ve seen some brave vegetable gardeners keep a hive of bees in their hot-houses to help with cross-fertilization of their cucumber plants.

I’ve found that it’s best to plant the seeds indoors, covered with one inch of rich soil. In an area of about 30 square inches, I plant six seeds with the germinating end down. When all frosts are past, I plant each set of six plants, together with the original planting soil, in the open vegetable garden. Later, I plant them in hand-made hills with four feet of space on all sides.

Let Us Have Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the earliest human vegetable crops, growing wild before it was cultivated by man. I can tuck it into spaces throughout my vegetable garden. It’s a very decorative plant, with a compact head and lovely big green leaves.

As the lettuce plants age, they go to seed. I pull them up, as I have no interest in going into the seed business. But I do want fresh tender lettuce throughout the season. The only way I have achieved this is by planting in early spring and then planting again every ten days or so throughout the summer.

There are many varieties of lettuce with different planting and growing requirements. I prefer leaf, cos, and butterhead lettuce because I can plant them anytime in the early spring. I’ve found that my lettuce doesn’t do well in the heat, so I stop planting about a month before the hottest part of the summer. But I’ve planted lettuce plants in the shade of other plants in my vegetable garden and planted late in the summer to get good fresh lettuce into the fall.

I plant lettuce seeds shallow – from a quarter to half an inch deep – in rows about a foot apart. Then I thin the seedlings so that plants have six to eight inches between them. The nice thing is that I can serve the seedlings I’ve thinned in my early spring salads. Nothing goes to waste.

More than Veges in My Vegetable Garden – Melons

Though they originated in Asia and parts of Africa, melons pleased the taste of ancient Romans. They’re a summer fruit, often grown in hot-houses. They need a lot of space, a lot of heat, and a lot of sun. They also need 3-4 months of growing time, fertile soil, and lots of water.

I prepare 2-3 foot mounds spaced 4-6 feet apart for my melon plants. The mound soil should be compost-rich. Sprinkling sand or lime on and around the mounds helps prevent insect damage to the young plants.

As they grow, the vines get to heavy to stand on their own, so I provide something like tennis netting for the vines to follow. I plant eight seeds in a mound, setting them about two inches apart, and planting them about an inch deep. Watermelon plants need more space – up to ten feet between each mound.

When the plants reach about four inches in height, I reduce the number to two per mound, always picking the sturdiest plants. I cut the close to or below the surface rather than pulling plants up as this is likely to damage the roots of the remaining plants.

One word of advice – be very careful in watering your melons. They’re vulnerable to fungal diseases, and overhead watering may be dangerous for them. I’ve found that drip-irrigation, a slow trickle at the base of the plant, keeps my melons growing healthy throughout the growing season.

The Joys of Vegetable Gardening

I love my vegetable garden. It gives me many hours of peace and serenity as I work with the soil and gently grow beautiful plants. My vegetable garden repays my family with many fresh, healthy meals and good nutrition.

It’s taken a lot of experimentation and some failures to have a productive vegetable garden, but it’s been worth every minute of work. The joy of handling soil and seed, tending to precious young plants, and harvesting beautiful mature plants is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.

Susan Slobac asked:


How do cherry tomatoes in the dead of winter sound to you, a gardener in a northern clime wishing for summer? Impossible, you say. Not if you garden indoors. Vegetables of all types can be grown year-round indoors, with the proper light, soil, fertilizer and temperature, as well as focusing on suitable plant varieties.

If you are going to grow indoor vegetables in winter, you will need to start by raising plants from seed in late summer or early fall. It’s best to buy your seeds in the spring if you wish to do this, because it is not always easy to find seeds for sale at local garden centers in the fall.

Use a light seedling mix for starting your seeds. Its loose consistency will make it easy for the plants new roots to start to develop. After the seedlings have two true leaves, you can begin to carefully transplant them into individual four-inch containers. You can use any good potting soil for this purpose, but do not use regular garden soil. It is usually very heavy, has poor drainage and can also harbor disease and insects that can kill your new starts.

Because you will be watering these plants every day or every other day to keep the roots properly moist, you are also washing nutrients out of the soil. So feed your plants with a complete organic fertilizer every couple of weeks to give them the food they need to grow and flourish.

You will be playing with temperatures when raising indoor vegetables to suit the particular plants you wish to grow. Some vegetables, such as lettuce, endive, and radishes like cooler indoor temperatures. Daytime temperatures in the 60s work well, while night temperatures should go no lower than the 40s. A basement situation might work well to provide these temperatures, or an unheated porch if it doesn’t get too cold.

Sun lovers like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and beans must have daytime temperatures in the upper 70s and nights can go down no lower than 60 in order for these plants to flower and produce fruit. You will likely need to provide bottom heat to your containers to make sure they are warm enough to do well indoors.

If you do not have the proper hydroponic lights, you will be doomed to failure when it comes to growing vegetables indoors. This is of utmost importance to your success. You need to keep your light two to four inches above your plants for them to thrive. HID lamps, in conjunction with digital ballasts or electronic ballasts can be purchased in as hydroponic grow light kits, work well for this purpose. These grow lights provide a complete spectrum of light for every stage of plant growth, and work well in indoor applications.

Jane Thomas asked:


The best way to ensure that your children eat healthy is to grow your own vegetables! And the trick to getting your children interested in healthy, organic vegetables is helping them grow their own.

You and your children can grow your own vegetables even if you don’t have masses of space to grow vegetables in your garden or a specified vegetable plot, since there are more and more possibilities for growing vegetables in containers.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Set aside a couple of containers or a small area of your garden and designate it the “children’s garden”. Obviously, you as a parent will be doing most of planting, tending for vegetable plants, weeding and watering, but let your child take pride in selecting (from the list of easy to grow vegetables) which vegetables to grow and how the plants will be positioned. If you don’t have a garden, there are many vegetables that can be grown in containers!

2. Choose vegetables that produce something to eat quickly, such as radish, spring onion, baby carrot and baby salad leaf. Quick growing vegetables are the best way to insure your child remains interested in vegetables and gardening! Tomatoes are another obvious choice, especially cherry types, as children can pick and eat them straight off the plant. Cucumbers are great candidate also. The traditional type is too large, but looks for varieties which are ready when they’re just 10cm long.

3. Encourage your child and to keep up the enthusiasm, by letting your child choose some of easy to grow vegetables, and you will both be delighted with the results. Find out what vegetables grow in your area, and what time of year each vegetable should be planted. (Check the library for magazines and books on vegetable gardening, look it up on the internet in gardening related sites and forums, or ask a gardener or farmer in your neighborhood).

4. Remember, make growing your own vegetables a FUN activity! Your child will love digging up the potatoes and carrots – make it a game, like digging for buried treasure! And watching seeds grow from tiny seedlings into grown, mature plants, tending for them and keeping an eye on their progress every day, protecting them from invaders (slugs and insects), really is quite an adventure even for us adults, let alone for the children.

Additional benefit from home growing vegetables with your kids is that it will encourage your kids to eat more vegetables – especially the fussy eaters! Let them choose the vegetable seeds or plants, help them plant and tend for vegetables together, and finally harvest the fresh vegetables. Home grown vegetables taste SO much better when they are fresh and not mass produced or bought at the supermarket. Tasting the difference between home grown vegetables and the supermarket kind is like eating a completely different vegetable. And your kids will notice the difference!

Another benefit that comes from growing your own vegetables with the help of your children is that children actually learn what vegetables look like, where vegetables come from and how vegetables grow. Furthermore, use this opportunity to teach them how to prepare vegetables for eating. Given that more and more children seem to have difficulty recognizing basic vegetables and knowing what to do with them, learning how to grow vegetables in your home garden or in containers will provide your children with a valuable education and a useful life skill– while at the same time they have fun and plenty of fresh air!

Greg F Williams asked:


Weeds are the primary drain on your gardens resources, such as, nutrients, sunlight and revenue for farmers. So the sooner you annihilate them, the better it will be for your garden and crop development. This will take up a extensive amount of your time in different seasons, but if you keep on top of your weeds, then it will for sure be worth the time and effort.

Weeds are ordinarily much worse to get rid of when they have grown. So it might require you need a keen observing eye to really check out and scrutinize your garden for the earliest appearances of these culprits. Cultivating your soil on a regular basis in your garden will help do away with the newer weeds. Once you let those young weeds take hold and get firmly established in your garden, it will become a more serious undertaking to try to take out them from your garden.

The various times of year will also affect the appearing of weeds in your garden. Warm-season and cool-season weeds grow at different times of the year and if you learn to distinguish which weeds are in season, then you can gear up for there coming with your anti weed armoury and deal with the far more efficaciously. Weed seeds also lie in your garden, so it is advised for you to work your soil frequently and the right way

You should make certain your garden is well planted and if you do leave an area unplanted, cover it with a good organic mulch. This will stop any weeds from getting hold in your unplanted area and then from invading your plant territory. Also a organic mulch gives an natural feel to your garden.

In the instance where weeds have already grown when you found them, chopping them off from the ground is the most efficient way to remove them. Some of these weeds may stop once removed, but others will not stop even when you cut them down. But persistent cutting down of those weeds will help eradicate them for good after some time.

The application of herbicides and pesticides is also well advised, but it is not completely needed when you are able to do effective cultivation of your soil. Any pesticides and herbicides, peculiarly the commercially available ones, may prove to have other harmful results. It may also pose as a threat to other useful organisms living in your garden.In the case, when you have a big weed problem, you may use herbicides and pesticides in small amounts.

Mulching and composting are also a effective way to help maintain your soil and fight off any weeds. You should not have to deal with any weed problem, if from the very start, you are able to deter them from growing in your garden in the first place.

If you are really consistent in digging up your space, you will have made the most out of your vegetable garden and have practiced true growth control against weeds that can steal, kill and ruin your organic garden.

Elizabeth T James asked:


If you are going to take up a new hobby, you might as well do something that is productive as well as fun. One such activity is vegetable gardening. Vegetable gardening is a very relaxing activity that millions of people love to do. There is also a certain pride when you know that you can grow your own fruits and vegetables right from your own backyard. In order to become a successful vegetable gardener, though, you must have a specific plan involving the kinds of plants you want in your garden, as well as the placement of these plants.

Basic Requirements for Vegetable Gardening

A flat, level surface is necessary for vegetable gardening to ensure that the water will flow evenly, giving sufficient nourishment to all the plants in your garden. If you have an uneven terrain, some of your plants may drown while others might be dehydrated. Good soil is essential as well so make sure that you buy quality gIf you are going to take up a new hobby, you might as well do something that is productive as well as fun. One such activity is vegetable gardening. Vegetable gardening is a very relaxing activity that millions of people love to do. There is also a certain pride when you know that you can grow your own fruits and vegetables right from your own backyard. In order to become a successful vegetable gardener, though, you must have a specific plan involving the kinds of plants you want in your garden, as well as the placement of these plants.

Basic Requirements for Vegetable Gardening

A flat, level surface is necessary for vegetable gardening to ensure that the water will flow evenly, giving sufficient nourishment to all the plants in your garden. If you have an uneven terrain, some of your plants may drown while others might be dehydrated. Good soil is essential as well so make sure that you buy quality garden soil that is packed with sufficient minerals for the healthy growth of your vegetables.

Choosing the type of vegetables you want to plant in your garden is the fun part. There are hundreds of vegetables you can choose from, but make sure the ones you pick are well adapted to the particular environment and climate in your area. Most vegetables are actually very easy to cultivate if you provide them all their growth requirements.

Planning is very important for the success of your vegetable gardening venture. You need to at least have a general idea of where you want to place your different vegetables in relation to each other. Using pots is a good idea so you can rearrange your garden if the need arises. Of course, your options will be limited if you have a small garden space but if you have a large area to work with, your gardening options are limitless.

One more important element that all vegetable gardeners find very important is the elimination and prevention of garden pests. There are many organic pesticides that you can use to solve this problem without inflicting any damage to your crops.

If you have a little more open space at home, you can go for regular home vegetable gardening as well. This is a more structured type of gardening in which you can lay out your garden more systematically than when you are using random containers.

If you live in a cramped apartment or high-rise condominium where there is no backyard to plant in, you have to use your creativity in order to create your own indoor garden. You can use any kind of containers to serve as an improvised garden plot and place this near a window in order to get as much sunlight as possible.

When it comes to productive hobbies, nothing can be better than vegetable gardening. Not only will vegetable gardening provide you with fresh vegetables to serve your family, but it also has therapeutic and relaxing effects on your body and mind. Regardless of what kind of vegetable gardening you choose, planting your own vegetables will definitely be much healthier and cheaper than purchasing them from the local grocery store.arden soil that is packed with sufficient minerals for the healthy growth of your vegetables.

Choosing the type of vegetables you want to plant in your garden is the fun part. There are hundreds of vegetables you can choose from, but make sure the ones you pick are well adapted to the particular environment and climate in your area. Most vegetables are actually very easy to cultivate if you provide them all their growth requirements.

Planning is very important for the success of your vegetable gardening venture. You need to at least have a general idea of where you want to place your different vegetables in relation to each other. Using pots is a good idea so you can rearrange your garden if the need arises. Of course, your options will be limited if you have a small garden space but if you have a large area to work with, your gardening options are limitless.

One more important element that all vegetable gardeners find very important is the elimination and prevention of garden pests. There are many organic pesticides that you can use to solve this problem without inflicting any damage to your crops.

If you live in a cramped apartment or high-rise condominium where there is no backyard to plant in, you have to use your creativity in order to create your own indoor garden. You can use any kind of containers to serve as an improvised garden plot and place this near a window in order to get as much sunlight as possible.

When it comes to productive hobbies, nothing can be better than vegetable gardening. Not only will vegetable gardening provide you with fresh vegetables to serve your family, but it also has therapeutic and relaxing effects on your body and mind.

Mary Hanna asked:


Here are some tips on vegetable gardening that should help make your gardening experience easier and a very gratifying experience. Preparing the soil for your garden is the most important step. The basis of any successful garden is proper soil that creates good seed germination. Vegetables enjoy garden soil that is well drained, deep, contains high organic matter and retains moisture. Make sure the soil is dry before you try plowing or working the dirt. Check the soil acidity or PH for the different vegetables you are going to plant as some may require varying degrees of PH levels. Another tip on vegetable gardening is that you need easy access to water to keep your garden moist during the growing season. Regularly watering is necessary to keep your garden healthy. In most gardening areas, a vegetable garden requires approximately one inch of rainwater or tap water weekly during the growing season. So, if you experience a dry spell, make sure you water your vegetable garden sufficiently to keep the plants healthy and growing.

Another couple of helpful tips on vegetable gardening are making yourself knowledgeable about the requirements of the vegetable seeds and vegetables you want to plant in your garden. Find out information, such as tendency toward insects, germination qualities, light required, vigor of the plants and the planting zones. This will help you determine the best varieties and types of seeds and plants for your area and garden. A great tip on vegetable gardening is, when you sow your seeds, always plant a few extra to replace ones that fail to germinate. Keep the garden moist until the seedlings have emerged and never thin them until their second set of leaves appears. Thinning out the row when the seedlings are small keeps you from disturbing the other vegetables roots. Test your soil periodically to determine if you need fertilizer and the amount you need. Having your own compost is a great and natural way to fertilize your vegetable garden and cuts down on garbage.

The best way to keep pests away or under control is to start by having healthy soil and plants, using compost, regular watering and adequate drainage. When considering tips on vegetable gardening, do not forget weed control. Weeds rob plants of water, light and nutrients. Hoe or cultivate the soil between your plants after it rains, as this kills any newly sprouted weeds. Use a mixture of pine needles and grass if available, to keep the weeds down or a layer of wet newspaper between the rows of vegetables. Try planting marigolds around the vegetable garden border in order to discourage aphids.

A very good homemade deterrent for pests is:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.

Most important of all is that you enjoy your vegetable garden. You will gain a lot of satisfaction from the fact that you grew the vegetables yourself. Not only will you have fun from your garden hobby but now you can start a culinary hobby with all your fresh produce.

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Jane Thomas asked:


Saving money is one of the biggest benefits to growing a vegetable garden in the mind of many first time gardeners. While this may be a good enough reason to start a vegetable garden, let’s not forget that there are others as well. Growing your own vegetables would increase your confidence in food safety and security. You would know where your food is coming from and all the history of plants grown in your own gardens. You would know what chemicals you used (if any), would learn what pests could impose problems and would essentially eliminate the whole resource-gobbling transportation chain to get the food to your plate. And all that gardening is good for you, because it‘s a great form of physical exercise!

For all you first time gardeners, here are several useful tips to consider when growing a vegetable garden in order to save your money:

Select vegetables that you and your family like to eat. Many fist time gardeners don’t know where to start and which vegetables to grow in their gardens. This is quite simple – you’re not likely to take care of vegetables you don’t like to eat. So don’t waste your time or money planting them in the garden, but choose the ones you like (and that grow well in your gardening zone).

Select vegetables that are expensive to buy. To save money, think of growing more expensive items, like tomatoes, or growing large quantities of vegetables that you purchase regularly. You could save money by growing herbs if you use a lot and they’re expensive to buy; mixed salad leaves are also cheaper to grow than to buy. Consider vegetables like broccoli, beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, summer squash, spinach, tomatoes and Swiss chard. All these vegetables will provide the biggest returns on your investment of space and time you spend in your vegetable garden.

Select vegetables that can be easily stored or preserved. A lot of vegetables that you can grow in your garden you can store, freeze, or can so you are saving that money year round, not just during the growing season. Selecting vegetables that have a long storage life or that can easily be canned or frozen is a great way to save money on your grocery bills. Potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can be stored for several months if stored at the appropriate temperature. Other vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and beets, can be preserved by canning or freezing. Preserving vegetables is a great way to enjoy the surplus produce later in the year.

Do some research and start with a plan. Planning the garden on paper could help you decide what you want to grow and determine what will be necessary to be successful. If you need help, ask family members, neighbors, or friends that can help you.  There are many gardening forums and sites on the Internet where you can search for information that you’re looking for.

Start small. Even a relatively small garden, say 20′ x 20′, will give you enough room for variety, without being overwhelmed. Plants will require regular maintenance, watering and harvesting. Growing too many different vegetables your first year in a large garden could become overwhelming for you and can ultimately lead to failure. It’s better to limit yourself to just a few types of vegetables the first year. Later, when you become confident in your abilities, you can gradually increase the size of your vegetable garden and grow a more and more variety of crops!

Graham Williams asked:


For effective gardening of vegetables in your organic gardening, you must first think about fertilization. This is almost always attributable to mulching. But there are other things to consider as well, such as the introduction of fertilizers that are available to you both naturally or commercially. To simply define this, it means to place materials, wether they be inorganic or organic in your garden around your plants.

By doing this you will also provide fertilization, it also helps to protect your soil as well. If you garden receives a lot of heavy rain, or is susceptible to high weed growth causing it to be a weed trap, then mulches will provide some much protection from this and much needed supplementation that will aid the natural growth process of your organic garden vegetables.

Beside this, you will also find it will help to regulate the temperature of your soil. Also the added bonus of gardening this way is the aesthetic look this lends to your garden and the improved ground texture. By spreading the mulch to areas not planted will also help to keep any weeds under control.

If you do decide to establish mulches in your garden, you will find that you need to water less often. This is because it help your plants retain water. Also your plants will have far better growth levels because of this added water retention. It will also help you with your weed control, but it will never stop them completely stop them.

You should always test your soil, this way you can maximise your fertilization efforts. Never buy your fertilizer in bulk before doing a test on your soil, this way you make sure you get the correct fertilizer suited for your soil type. Just what could be a worse experience, than having not tested and then having bought in bulk to find that it is of no use to you.

When you do apply your fertilizer, it is recommended that you should maintain it. Always go for a high quality fertilizer, this in an absolute must do for any gardener, especially if you are a beginner. There are also many fertilizers available to you, that are tailored solely to the beginning of your planting experience. These will require no extra maintenance through your gardening activities. In any rate, make sure that you are getting your money’s worth and have thoroughly proven for yourself that the given fertilizer you are putting on your garden has been tried and tested on your soil type.

Organic material is always the best source of fertilization for your plants, this is because it adheres closely to natures natural growth process. Always try to avoid introducing any chemicals in to your soil, this is so that your plants will get used to growing and maximizing there potential via natural means. Going organic has many added health benefits for you and your family and by growing green you are doing your bit to help the environment. So why not go ahead now and grow organic?

Dave Truman asked:


For anyone accustomed to the notion that a vegetable garden must be a fairly large affair – its rows stretching fifteen or twenty feet at a minimum, the concept of crops pushing up from a small container or appearing to burst the bonds of a tiny patch of ground only a few feet square – it is almost unsettling. Yet growing vegetables in cramped spaces is not only possible but highly rewarding. One can grow tomatoes in tubs at the edge of a patio, strawberries in empty milk cartons on a windowsill, lettuce in a modest window box, watermelons along a strip beside a driveway or beans on a trellis on a small apartment balcony.

A year-long harvest of several kinds of vegetables can be gained from a single area no wider than a card table. To achieve this kind of bounty in lap-sized spaces it is necessary merely to provide the right growing conditions and to purchase seed varieties that are appropriate for small-scale circumstances. Luckily a number of seed companies have responded to the newly recognized demand for miniature or compact plants, and more new strains are being offered to the public every year, often grouped together under such headings as “space savers,” “space misers” or “midgets.”

Producing vegetables on a reduced scale, however, is basically a different proposition from other kinds of gardening. Small gardens devoted to woody ornamentals like dwarf conifers, rhododendrons or heathers or to miniature bulbs or alpines are arranged and managed largely for appearance: they exist to be decorative, to please the eye. Vegetables are most often grown to reward not the eye but the palate. So while corn stalks and bean bushes can make the mouth water they rarely make the eye pop, and they are not likely to be found gracing a well designed border, although creative horticulturists have combined a few of the handsomest vegetables with flowering plants to good effect.

The greatest difficulties are practical ones. Although the leafy greens, like lettuce, can do fairly well on only four hours of direct sunlight a day, any vegetable that produces a fruit (tomatoes, beans, corn and so on) must have a solid eight hours of warming sun or its yields will be disappointing or virtually nonexistent; but that bright light does not benefit dwarf azaleas. Similarly, a friable soil mix, amply fertilized, is desirable in vegetable growing but too heady for many dwarf plants that are expected to stay small. The major problem, however, is presented by the need to turn over the vegetable garden’s soil every year, in effect reconstituting it; such heavy tilling cannot be done in a bed of rock garden plants and perennials. In most cases, a vegetable patch must be sited differently and separated from the conventional small-scale garden.

This said, there is no doubting the fact that the smaller vegetables are worth trying, especially if space for the larger kind is at a premium. It is important to choose, however, the kind of smallness desired, whether it is the fruit or produce itself that will be miniature, or the plant that yields it. Miniature vegetables as such are amusing and eye-catching, a novelty that many restaurants and imaginative cooks offer with great success. Some miniatures, for example, cherry tomatoes, are accepted for their own sake, while a number of vegetables are of course just naturally small – radishes, for example.