Vegetable gardenFrom Gardening Wiki
Location of the Vegetable GardenSeemingly "impossible" places often make good vegetable gardens. In Switzerland, where tillable soil is very valuable, one may observe gardens nestling on mountain sides, made by carrying fertile soil from the valley and depositing it in rock depressions within easy distance of the alpine huts. The vegetable garden should be in close proximity to the home. It may be one's backyard or the lot adjoining, but it should be handy so spare time can be devoted to its cultivation. Any garden is better than no garden and any piece of ground will make a garden of some kind. Where a choice may be had, select a level piece of ground, free from stones, and one that has been cultivated before. Newly broken sod makes good gardens if properly fertilized. Most any soil grows some crops, and the following pages tell what will grow best on soils of different character.
Drainage of Vegetable GardenThe most important phase of vegetable garden preparation is all too often disregarded to the detriment of satisfactory results. In order to thrive, a garden must have proper drainage. Proper drainage keeps the soil in "fit" condition to bear the biggest crops which its fertility enables it to yield. Drainage means proper carrying off of surplus moisture. In loose, sandy soils, too much drainage must often be stopped, as far as possible, by the liberal use of coarse manure. Stiff, heavy clay soils should be mixed with cinders or underlaid with drain tile to allow surplus moisture quickly to seep through. Correct drainage makes cold, heavy clay soil warmer and puts all soils in better physical condition to bear the desired crops. Where poor drainage and a lack of facilities to create it threaten to handicap the gardener, a liberal use of lime will frequently correct evils due to lack of drainage. Digging and Plowing a Vegetable GardenWhere the garden is larger than 30 x 50 ft. it saves time to have it plowed. But plowing never does the work as thoroughly and as well as digging, since few plows go deeper than six inches, whereas spading generally turns over ten or twelve inches. Since the top-layer fertility of any soil is apt to be impaired by crops it may have supported previously, deep spading or plowing generally brings to the surface virgin soil of greater fertility. Deeply dug or plowed soil retains the moisture longest. In western states, where dry weather rules during the greater part of the summer, they use sub-soil plows that go beyond the six-inch limit, stir up the soil to its full depth, and serve as a crop insurance against dry spells. Dig deeply! It will bring to the surface hitherto un-touched plant food. It will break up tenacious clay soils and improve sandy loams by giving the air free access. It will guarantee bigger crops of better vegetables, no matter where you live or what your soil.
Making a PlanThe best vegetable gardens generally are those started on A paper, with a pencil. Just like the builder of a house goes by a blue print, so should the maker of a garden follow a carefully thought-out plan. Draw your garden plan to a scale, say one-eighth of an inch for every foot of ground. Lay out the garden in fifteen-foot beds, running the rows across the bed. Put a two-foot path in both front and back, where you can turn with the wheelhoe or deposit weeds, stones, etc., prior to their removal. Run the rows any way you like east and west or north and south it makes no difference. Place them as tar apart as is suggested under the various chapters. A good general rule to follow is to allow as much space between the rows as equals the height of the plants when fully grown. For instance, bush beans grow about eighteen inches tall. Then allow from eighteen inches to two feet between the rows of bush beans.
Tools and Implements for the Vegetable GardenTo execute your planned vegetable garden, you should have certain tools. The number and variety of tool's are needed depends entirely on the size of the garden and the variety of crops grown. But a number of simple tools are required to make even the smallest garden, and these are shown above. A spade to dig the soil; a rake to level it and get out stones; a line to get the furrows and paths straight; a hoe with which to make the furrows and cultivate the plants; a trowel for transplanting purposes, and an Excelsior hand weeder for stirring the soil between the plants in the row these are the principal tools needed to make a garden of modest dimensions. With a garden, size 20 x 50 or larger, it pays to have that greatest of all garden labor savers, the wheelhoe. There are several types of them, all equally practical and inexpensive.
Soil CareVegetable Growing
Special VegetablesVegetable Gardening Growing InstructionsAlphabetic vegetable growing information. Vegetable Garden Forum DiscussionCheck out the latest Vegetable Gardening and Growing forum topics and discussions on the forum! Join now and become part of this great garden community!!
Copy & Paste the code below onto your blog, a forum, or any website to link to us. We appreciate it! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gardening Forum
