Starting a Garden 101
Lately, I have come across a lot of people that have expressed a desire to start a garden. They have attempted in the past but given up for one reason or another. It often seems that one of the biggest culprits as to why is because they feel overwhelmed with where to start. With that in mind I put together a few thoughts of what I feel are the most important things to consider when starting a garden.
The first thing is where to place the garden. Most vegetables need 8 hours or more of full sunlight. If you are unsure how the sun tracks across your yard during the summer there are apps that can help or you can simply watch what spots receive the most sun. One way to achieve maximum sunlight is to have the bed run north to south, with the tall vegetables on the northern side to avoid shading the shorter ones. Sometimes you are limited to where the garden can be due to how the yard is already set up. As long as your vegetables receive at least 8 hours of sun each day the garden should still be able to produce plenty of vegetables.
Once you've picked a spot to grow plants, deciding how to grow them is important. The two most common ways are traditional row gardening or a raised bed. Traditional gardening is a lot easier and cost effective to get started. The ground simply needs to be tilled up and rows made for the seeds to be planted in. Because you are using soil that has had something already growing in it there may be more weeds to fight.
If you choose to go the route of a raised bed it is a more expensive cost up front. You will need to purchase wood to build the frame and soil to fill it. To fill a raised bed without to much cost you can use a mix of 50/50 top soil and compost. Depending on how deep your bed is you can also help fill it with sticks, leaves, or bark. As long as you have at least 12 inches of soil the plants will do well. With a raised bed you are bringing in new dirt that is relatively weed free. This can save time and energy with weeding.
No matter which route you choose for creating a garden it is beneficial to add 3-4 inches of compost to the garden each year. The compost will help add nutrients to the soil and keep it from becoming compact.
Now that you have a garden space picked out it is a good idea to pick what you want to grow. If you're like me, you'll want to grow a bit of everything. It is so hard to narrow down the grow list when there are a lot of interesting plants out there. When first starting a garden think about what vegetables you would normally purchase at the grocery store. These are the ones you will look most forward to. While it is always exciting to try a new vegetable, if you haven't eaten it or know how to cook it the effort put into creating a harvest might be frustrating in the end. I suggest starting with five vegetables that are already in your diet for the first year of growing. If you must try a new plant try to limit yourself to one new variety.
The garden spot it is picked and you have the plants you want to grow. The next big decision is to start the seeds indoors or buy seedlings. If you decided to grow from seed there are a few things to be aware of. You will need to have a space big enough to keep the seedlings for about six weeks. Growing seedlings need between 12-14 hours of light to produce strong and bushy plants. When a seedling does not receive enough light the plant will stretch towards the light, resulting in thin, weak stems. To achieve optimum light you will need a grow light set up to supplement the extra light. While this can be an expensive set up the nice thing about growing from seeds is that you can grow anything you can find seeds for. Buying seeds early in the season will give you a better selection of options then waiting for April or May to purchase your seeds.
The second option for plants is to buy seedlings from a greenhouse or nursery. With this route you don't have to spend the money on a light set up, or find a space for the plants to grow for six weeks. Someone else has done the work for you in raising the seedlings. The biggest downside is that you are limited to what is avaible at the nursery.
While picking your seeds or seedlings be aware of when they grow best. There are two seasons of vegetables, cool season and warm season. If you want your vegetables to preform well it is important to know at what temperature they do best. Cool season vegetables include asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chives, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard, kale, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips. These vegetables preform better in the cooler weather of spring and early summer. A light frost will not damage the plant. Once the temperature starts to rise consistently above 70F these plants will bolt and go to seed.
Warm season vegetables include beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, melons, peppers, zucchini and summer squash, pumpkin and winter squash, sweet potato, tomato, watermelon. The soil temperature for these plants needs to be at least 60F. The plants won't grow well until the soil is warm enough. For optimum growing the vegetables should be planted when the soil is around 70F, this usually happens around one or two weeks after your last frost date. The nice thing about this is that just as your cool season vegetables are finishing up the warm season vegetables are ready to take off.
When it comes to planting keep in mind a few things. Plant the tall things on the North side of the garden to prevent shading. Each seed packet or plant card should state how tall they will grow.
If you are planting a lot of one type of vegetable try placing them in groups through out the garden. Doing this will help prevent sending up a beacon to incoming pests.
The most important thing after you have done everything above is to continue maintaining your garden. Weeding needs to be done within the first week of planting. To help lessen the weeding that grow a 2-3 inch layer of mulch can be placed down around the plants. Not only does this help suppress the weeds it also helps retain moisture in the soil.
The last thing to discuss is watering your garden. Without water your garden won't survive long. I prefer watering with drip tape or drip line. Using this method of watering uses less water and places the water right at the base of the plant. If you are unable to use drip tape you can use a sprinkler. I would suggest spending the money on a good fully metal fan sprinkler. The fan sprinklers can water a large area without causing a lot of damage to the plants. The water pressure from one is gentle enough to not weigh the plants down.
Now you are ready to go out and start planning your own garden this year! Happy Gardening.