The Essentials in Planning a Vegetable Garden Layout
Vegetable Garden Designs
Vegetable Garden Designs
Having your own vegetable garden is a great way to save time and money in going to and fro the grocery store to buy produce. It’s also an excellent way of ensuring that what goes on your table are organically grown and carefully handpicked. If you want to save money but still have fresh, succulent produce on your table, create a vegetable garden layout today. The following will help you in making that dream vegetable garden become a reality.
What to Grow
It’s always best to start small when working with your own vegetable garden. This way, you don’t need to spend a lot of time tending to your garden as you would with a larger one. Also, this prevents wastage of vegetables. The unspoken rule here is plant only what you would use in your kitchen. If you find yourself having a lot more produce than you expected, you can also sell the extra at the farmer’s market or give them to friends as gifts.
Deciding on Space and Location
A vegetable garden doesn’t need much space, but you need to know the growing habits of your vegetables so that you can prepare your lot or containing according to each vegetable’s needs. A square foot-type of garden can give you a lot come harvest time.
When it comes to the appropriate area, a sunny spot is always best. Most vegetables must have at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun to thrive. This helps them bear more produce and become less prone to having pests and diseases. You can plant your vegetables directly to the soil or have them in raised beds or containers.
Designing the Garden
Sketch out your plan on a piece of paper to see what will go into your garden. If you have a big garden lot, you can always do row cropping wherein you set wide rows in between as walking paths. This is beneficial if you plan to use mechanical weeding tools to remove weeds in your garden. But if your garden is a small one, you can always plant vegetables close to each other. You won’t be able to use any mechanical equipment to remove weeds, but you’ll get more out of the space by planting more vegetables.
The Perfect Soil
Any soil that’s too soft or too hard won’t ideal for your crops. Your soil must have good drainage and you test this by putting soil on the palm of your hands and squeezing it. If the soil is too soft or too hard, just add organic matter to balance it out.
Before planting your crops, loosen the soil first and add organic fertilizer. Water the soil thoroughly and leave it for a few days to fully absorb the fertilizer before you plant your vegetables.
Having your own vegetable garden is not as hard as it seems. With a little bit of planning, you can have the vegetable garden that you’ve always wanted.
By Simon Adderton
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