Vegetable Gardening
If vegetable gardening sounds daunting, don’t worry. It is not all that difficult. Even if you do not have a yard and have only a patio or balcony, you can do some limited vegetable gardening. You can grow a variety of vegetables and even some fruits in any space with a little planning.
Order Your Seeds Now For Spring Vegetables.
Planting Space
  |
Look at the space you have for planting. Vegetable gardening can be done in large containers and even window boxes. If you want to grow a plant that is a vine, you can buy small trellises, or make your own, that will fit in containers. Vines can also dangle from window boxes. And if you want to grow a large variety but not a large quantity of each vegetable, a small yard can accommodate this type of vegetable gardening. |
What to Plant
| The vegetables you select to grow will be decided by your own personal likes and dislikes. But don’t go crazy selecting every vegetable out there. Outside vegetable gardening is limited to some extent by regional climate, but the growing season can be extended by the use of row covers, cold frames, and lean-to and free standing greenhouses. Inside vegetable gardening has no such restriction, but the trade off is space. Be realistic about what you will actually use as a result of your vegetable gardening effort. Don’t waste space on extra produce you will end up discarding. You will probably want to start small your first year. |
|
Success with Seed (book) Park Seed
Seeds or Plants
| |
Now you need to decide if you will use starter plants or seeds to start your vegetable gardening. Some vegetables require a growing time longer than the growing season where you live. So unless you have the capability to start seed early enough, pick starter plants for you vegetable gardening experience. If you have the desire to start your plants from seeds, there are many nurseries that have free seed catalogs. There are also many nurseries that sell a variety of starter plants for vegetable gardening and many catalog nurseries will ship starter plants.
|
EZ Start Seed Starting Kit 
Planning Your Garden
Plan your vegetable gardening wisely. Make a drawing of where your vegetables will be planted, and keep a copy of it for reference for the following year. Keeping a record of where vegetables are planted is important. If you plant in the ground, rotating your vegetables will not only provide better nutritional support for your plants, but it can help minimize pests and diseases from attacking your plants. There are plenty of resources for reference on how to rotate crops.
When Will You Plant
  |
Before you begin your vegetable gardening, check the specific planting conditions for each vegetable. Each vegetable has optimal growing conditions such as temperature, moisture, amount of sunlight, type of soil, and soil nutrient requirements. Depending on the climate zone you live in, you may be able to plant several gardens throughout the growing season. There are a number of resources available on growing fruits and vegetables, including reference books, internet, library, and your friendly county Department of Agriculture extension agent. |
Guidelines for Vegetable Gardening
• Planting space – Plant only what you can use.
• What and how much to plant – Determines what you can plant since some plants, such as corn, take up a lot of room.
• Seeds or plants – Certain plants are available as starter plants such as tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, etc.
• Planning your garden - Locate your space and select your vegetables.
• When to plant – Stick to the frost free date for your area to plant tender plants.
A well thought out vegetable gardening plan will maximize your vegetable yield.
