How to Grow Self-Sufficient Vegetables

A self-sufficient garden will provide your family with plenty of vegetables.

Self-sufficient vegetable gardening means growing all your own vegetables without any outside help or intervention. Many gardeners are jumping on the self-sufficient bandwagon after seeing the price of retail produce continue to rise. One benefit to growing a self-sufficient garden is knowing exactly what you are eating. Since you grew the vegetables yourself, the threat of disease contamination reduces to an almost non-existent level. Novice gardeners will delight in knowing that starting a self-sufficient garden will take a few supplies and a short amount of startup time.

Things You'll Need

• Black plastic sheeting
• Vegetable seeds
• Rotary tiller
• Bags of organic soil enriched with compost
• Garden rake
• Popsicle sticks
• Hay

Instructions

1. Select your self-sufficient vegetable garden in an area that receives full sun--at least six hours per day. For ease of maintenance, choose a location close to water.

2. Place black plastic sheeting on top of the future garden site two weeks before the last frost date to warm the soil. Warmed soil will help the vegetable seeds germinate more quickly.

3. Make a list of the vegetables you and your family consume on a regular basis. Don't waste garden space by planting a vegetable only because you find it attractive. When making your vegetable list, keep in mind your area's climate and the needs of your chosen vegetables.

4. Study companion planting techniques to get the most out of your self-sufficient vegetable garden. Companion planting uses various vegetable, herb and flower plants that benefit one another. Examples include planting marigolds to deter rabbits and other pests from invading your garden, or planting basil near tomato plants to enhance the tomato's flavor.

5. Till the ground with a rotary tiller. Loosen the soil 6 inches deep to ensure vegetable roots can penetrate deeply. Add two to three bags of organic soil enriched with compost to the vegetable bed. Use a garden rake to incorporate the organic soil into the tilled earth. The number of organic soil bags used will depend on what size your vegetable bed will be.

6. Bury your seeds into the top inch or more of soil, then cover. Work on one type of vegetable at a time, referring to the seed packets for depth and spacing requirements. Create separate rows for each vegetable for easier maintenance. Label the rows of seeds with the seed packet taped to a popsicle stick.

7. Cover the vegetable garden bed with a 2-inch layer of mulch such as hay. The vegetable seedlings can easily push themselves through the light texture of hay.

8. Water the vegetable garden bed until the soil is moist, but not so soaked that puddles form. Keep the garden bed's soil moist, watering one to two times per week. During hot weather, you may need to water each day.

9. Weed the garden regularly and harvest the vegetables as they come to fruition.

Tips & Warnings

• Wait until the last frost to begin planting your seeds.

References

• Mother Earth News: Vegetable Self-Sufficiency