Vegetable Gardening -Planning (and tips)

As you're planning your vegetable garden, here's a few tips for success.

1.    What do you want to plant?

2.    How much room do you have? Where will it be?

3.   Avoid choosing your garden space near buildings or trees, due to shade, and root competition.
4.  Raised beds have benefits. see ‘Raised Garden Beds- the Advantages’

5.   All plants need sunlight and water and nutrients.

6.   Plant types can be divided into two divisions: stems and roots.

          - Stem length determines how tall a plant grows, or how much of a spread it needs

        -Root types distinguish how much root room and root depth is needed and which nutrients are taken from the soil.

7.   Shallow rooted vegetables, such as lettuce, spinach, or corn can be placed near deep rooted vegetables such as carrot, or parsnip.

8.  Veggies such as tomatoes are heavy feeders and need lots of room, as do potatoes that need ‘hilling’.

9.   Plant your rows north to south, to get the most of the sunshine.

10.  Sow rows of same vegetable fairly close together, such as carrots or beans, so there will be leaf coverage to deter weeds.

11.  Plants that become tall need to be placed at the north side of the garden. Eg. Corn. (These can also be used as a wind break.)

12.  Plants that spread out, such as zucchini or pumpkins should be placed near the outer edges, so they do not smother other plants.

      13.  Try to plant up, using trellises or fences. Eg. Cucumbers, sugar peas, pole beans,       staked tomatoes. This gives you more ground space, and can also can be used for some shading for plants that cannot tolerate a lot of heat. Eg. Peas, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce.

     14.  It helps to start some plants from seed early, to get a head start, and you can purchase seedlings

By keeping a record of your garden plan, you make sure that you are rotating your crops. Wait 3 years before planting the same vegetables in the same spot. That way you can ensure that you do not deplete nutrients and reduce the possibilities of diseases. Legumes such as peas and beans improve the soil.