Vegetable Garden Advice
Working in your vegetable garden can be quite healthy in two ways: first of all it is relaxing and at the same time you get some decent fysical exercise. And secondly: on a certain moment you and your family are going to harvest your delicious vegetables, and you know for sure that they are not treated with chemical hocus pocus… It’s very satisfying to work a vegetable plot. It’s good exercise and the home grown food tastes better than anything bought in a store. You also know exactly what’s gone into the food. A vegetable garden requires various tasks for which you’ll need the correct equipment. The basics will suffice and they are a fork, spade, hoe, trowel and a rake. It’s best to get good brand names. Other makes will be cheaper but they’re not as likely to last as long. A wheelbarrow is also useful and a watering can. Sometimes, there are drought orders and it’s good to have one or two rain butts. If you’re starting your vegetable garden from scratch and it’s a large area, you may want to use a rotary cultivator to do the digging for you. It will save you a lot of time and a sore back. They can be hired if you don’t want to buy one.
Firstly, you need to locate and plan out your plot. Crops should be rotated to keep the soil healthy. Use a soil tester to see what type of soil you have. This is important because different types of soil demand different ways of treating it. Your soil may be heavy clay, light and sandy or chalk or alkaline. It also has a bearing on what sort of vegetables you should grow in the vegetable garden, as crops respond differently to soil types.
The soil will need breaking up so the seeds can settle in and so air and water can get thru. Unless the soil is particularly hard, use a spade instead of a fork. Take the weeds out and add fertilizer or organic manure. It’s a good idea to start a compost near the vegetable garden. This will be a cheap source of nutritious food for the soil.
When you’ve prepared the site and fed the soil, you are ready to start sowing and planting. Divide the vegetable garden into root crops, brassica and crops not in the first two groups. Root crops can include potatoes, carrots, swede, beetroot and onions. Brassica is sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale. That leaves vegetables such as peas, beans, sweet corn, squash and salad crops like tomatoes and cucumbers.
You could start some crops growing under a cloche or in a greenhouse, especially if you’re in an area where there is a lot of cold or windy weather. Keep up to the watering and weeding. Some gardeners put up a wall chart and plan their jobs in the vegetable garden, month by month.
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Posted: October 6th, 2006 under Garden Design.
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