How to Gardening Tips for Vegetable Gardens
Vegetable gardens produce bushy foliage, riotous blooms and large fruit and vegetable harvests, but never grow on their own. They require the right planning, timing and preparation, and then need ongoing maintenance. Even harvesting comes with specific guidelines. Prepare soil, plant the right vegetables at the right seasons and harvest on a given calendar for the best gardening experience. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Plant the first vegetables in early spring, two to three weeks before the last frost in your area. Vegetables like lettuce, peas, beets, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach and cabbage do best with these cool, moist starts, and withstand the light spring frosts.
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Set out and amend the garden. Choose a level, quick-draining site with full sunshine and good air movement. Allot 25 to 30 square feet of space for the garden to give yourself plenty of planting and gardening space. Dig into the top 12 inches of soil throughout the garden, and turn 5 to 6 inches of organic compost into the natural soil. The compost adds nutrition to the soil, loosens it for planting and root growth and retains moisture between waterings. Mix 13-13-13 granular fertilizer into the top 6 inches of soil, and add starter 6-24-24 or 8-32-16 fertilizer to the top 2 inches of soil.
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Plant warm-weather vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, beans, pepppers, corn, cucumbers, squash and okra after the last frost. Plant melons and strawberries at this time as well. These are sensitive plants, and fail in cold soil or frost. Check maturity dates before planting, and plant vegetables with short or long seasons depending on your growing region. These plants must grow to maturity and bear their fruit before first frost in fall.
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Water the garden with 2 inches of water every week. Vegetable plants require adequate moisture to bloom and bear their fruit. Use 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch on the soil to keep it warm and moist during the season. Stake or trellis plants like tomatoes and cucumbers, which require support during their growth.
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Fertilize vegetable plants in mid-season to encourage fruit production. Vegetables require different levels and mixtures of fertilizer, so always fertilize to a plant's specifications, per the plant's growing season. Water vegetables immediately after feedings to dissolve the fertilizer.
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Harvest vegetables according to the plant's maturity date, and individual vegetable coloration and size. Vegetables harvest at different times through the season.
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Plant winter vegetables in fall just before the first frost. Include lettuce, spinach, cabbage, rutabagas and turnips in this planting, for a winter harvest.
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References
- University of Illinois Extension; Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide: Step 6 -- Plant Your Vegetables Right; J.S. Vandemark, et al.
- University of Illinois Extension; Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide: Step 2 -- Plan Your Garden Layout; J.S. Vandemark, et al.
- University of Illinois Extension; Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide; Step 5 -- Prepare and Care for Soil Properly; J.S. Vandemark, et al.
- North Carolina State University; Home Vegetable Gardening; Larry Bass
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
