How to Choose Fruits & Vegetables for Your Garden
Raising fruits and vegetables in a backyard garden is a hobby that pays off at the dinner table with fresh, good-tasting and healthy meals. When you have an interest in sustainability and growing foods locally, there is no closer location for your garden than the backyard. While the first consideration as to what plants to grow in your garden is what you like to eat, there are other reasons as to why certain fruits and vegetables should be included or excluded from the garden. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Survey the space to see what you have much room you have to work with. Some plants like to expand into the available space and can soon overwhelm a small garden. For instance, vining tomatoes can easily grow up to 12 feet long if left uncontrolled. A bush tomato, though, only grows about 3 feet and then stops. Squash, zucchini, watermelon and other vining plants also take up a great deal of horizontal space, although they can be directed upward onto a trellis.
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Note the position of the sun in relation to the garden, especially if considering trellised plants. Tall plants, such as okra, or those grown on a trellis, need to be located in the rear of the garden when oriented to the sun. Shorter plants, such as greens, need to be in the front. Pole beans need a support to climb on; if there is nowhere in the garden to provide a trellis behind other plants, then you should plant bush beans instead. The same consideration applies to peas.
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Understand what plants do well in your particular climate. Although late-blooming tomato or okra plants will not produce well in climates with shorter summers, an early tomato may fit perfectly into the available time to grow and ripen. Peppers, tomatoes and eggplants quit producing fruit when the temperatures are too hot, and may prove a disappointment in a warm climate. While cooler weather plants, such as leafy vegetables, carrots and radishes, do very well in extended springs and long fall weather, they grow poorly in mid-summer.
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Test your soil with the simple squeeze test to determine what kind you have. Scoop up a trowelful of damp soil from 2 inches under the surface and squeeze it into a ball with your hand. If the ball falls apart easily, you should have no problem growing root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, radishes and potatoes. The soil has a good amount of sand in it, and the roots can easily push it out of the way as they grow. However, if the sold holds together as a ball, it has a heavy concentration of clay; root vegetables will struggle to create enough growing room. You can amend the soil by laying down 5 to 6 inches of compost and rototilling it under. Although this will help loosen the soil, it will have to be done each year.
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Consult with the county extension offices as to what plants grow best in your area. Most extension offices have a Master Gardener's program designed to work with residents and give advice about raising plants. Master Gardeners know what fruits and vegetables are growing best for the other people in town, which can help you narrow down your choices.
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Tips & Warnings
To receive the most sun, your plants should be "stairstepped" in the direction of the sun. Small plants, such as lettuce and carrots, should be planted closest to the sun so that they are not hidden behind the shade of larger plants. Medium-height plants, such as peppers and bush beans, need to be in the middle rows to ensure that smaller plants are not behind them, and that they themselves are not behind a taller plant that will shade them out. Locate the tallest plants away from the sun so that they can avoid shading any plant behind them.
References
Resources
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