Putting some extra effort into preparing your vegetable beds before planting will save you a lot of time and effort in the future. Dig the bed up to break up compacted soil (this will help with drainage) and removing rocks and weeds as you go. Try to pull out as much of the weed roots as possible so that they will not come back to haunt your vegetables later. This is also a good time to amend your soil.

PREPARING THE SOIL

Vegetables need a bit of extra care when it comes to watering. Consistent watering will produce successful results. If you have a large garden, you may want to consider a soaker hose. This will ensure that your plants get an even watering without getting the leaves wet and all you have to do is remember to turn on the house.

WATERING

Assuming that you plan to grow vegetables more than one year, it is important that you rotate your crops. Crop rotation prevents building diseases up in the soil and preserves micro-nutrients. Rotating is not very difficult, but does take a little advance planning as well as a basic knowledge of the vegetable families. Vegetables are broken down into basic family groups. These groups should be rotated together as they use soil in similar ways and share similar pests.

CROP ROTATION

The traditional method of vegetable garden design was to plant long, orderly rows. Most home gardeners now opt for planting in beds rather than rows. This allows you to concentrate your compost on the area where the plants are growing rather than wasting it on paths between the rows. Walking between the rows also ruins the soil structure, so beds are really a better way to go. The vegetable beds do need to be small enough so that you can easily reach in to weed and harvest all the plants without stepping on the bed itself.

Level ground is best for growing vegetables. It is easier to prepare, plant, and irrigate than sloping ground. If you must plant on sloping ground, run rows across the slope, not up and down, to keep the soil from washing away during irrigation.

PLANTING VEGETABLES

Nothing tastes better than vegetables picked fresh from your own garden. There’s a certain satisfaction to serving and eating food that you yourself have grown and harvested. Everyone, can experience the many joys of the kitchen garden. Growing instructions for the most common vegetables in the home garden can be found on the menu bar to the right on this page.

Also, if you raise your beds about 8 to 12 inches, you will have improved drainage and the soil will stay warmer in colder weather, such as early spring.