#48. Vegetable Growing Guide for Novices
You may have been meaning to kick-off your „grow your own vegetables' project, but it just never seems to happen. Why not take inspiration from this article and get started today? Nothing beats the flavor of fresh vegetables right out of your garden. The food you produce will be healthy and flavorful.
Planning is the key to a successful vegetable garden, so invest the time needed in doing so. Study about companion planting to figure which plants go well together and what needs to be avoided. You also need to learn about the seasonal vegetables and staggered planting to give you extended crops. No rocket science involved here – just plain old fashioned common sense.
Choose the sunniest place in your garden. To do this, you are actually going to need to time how long the sun hits the spot each day. Reason being, vegetables need a good eight hours of full sun each day. This is really essential to their healthy growth. Regardless of how much or little space you have, you can grow any type of vegetables you want.
Decide on the type of gardening method you will use. For example container gardening refers to growing your vegetables in, well containers. This is a useful method because you can locate the containers just about any place that gets the most sunlight. Containers can also be moved around to catch the sun wherever it hits.
Raised bed gardening is an effective way of keeping the pests at bay. Another advantage is the beds warm up pretty quickly when compared with in-ground gardening. It is quite simple to use whatever is handy like planks of wood to make frames for your raised bed. You can use concrete blocks or bricks or simply put together kits from the garden store. Make the beds a good 10 to 12 inches above ground level and no more that 3 to 4 feet wide.
Whatever you choose, you need to focus on the sunlight first.
Soil has got to be right to grow that healthy crop of vegetables. If you are a beginner and know nothing about soil, you may want to have a sample tested. Having the test done outside when you have a small garden can be quite an expensive proposition. You can buy a soil testing kit and do the job yourself. A soil test will tell you the existing pH level, which refers to the nutrient and fertility levels of the soil. You don't want to end up over-fertilizing and wasting good money.
Mix well rotted manure, peat moss and compost into the soil thoroughly, turn it up really well and get it ready for planting.
Lay on a good water supply, choose the plants you plan to grow and where you will locate each plant and you are good to go.