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Vegetable Growing For Beginners
If you have never grown vegetables before
the first thing that you need to decide
is where to plant them in your garden.
Most vegetables need 6-8 hours of
sunlight a day although greens can manage
with less. Choose a site in an area that
will not be shaded by buildings or trees
and one that is near to a water supply.
You will not want to have to cart water
any further than absolutely necessary.
Protect the site with a fence to keep out
dogs, rabbits and other animals which can
damage your crops.
To grow vegetables successfully the soil
needs to be fertile, deep, friable and
well drained. Unless you are very
fortunate your soil is unlikely to meet
these criteria, but over a period of time
you will be able to increase the
fertility of the soil by following good
cultivation practices.
The first task is to dig over the whole
of your site. Dig to a depth of 8-10
inches and continue working the soil
making it loose and friable. Do not dig
when the soil is too wet. How do you
know? Squeeze together a handful of soil.
If it sticks together in a ball and does
not readily crumble under slight pressure
by the thumb and finger, it is too wet.
The soil will be improved by the addition
of organic matter. It helps release
nitrogen, minerals, and other nutrients
for plant use when it decays. Well-rotted
compost or manure can be dug into the
soil. Alternatively a mulch of partially
rotted straw, compost or crop residue on
the soil helps keep the soil surface in
good condition, slows water evaporation
from the soil, and suppresses weeds.
Before you you start to plant your seeds
there is one futher consideration - the
layout of your beds. The standard
practice has been to plant your crops in
rows some eighteen inches apart or just
wide enough to allow you room to walk
between the rows. This means that every
time you walk on the land your soil is
being slightly compacted. The alternative
is to create a raised or wide bed. In
this method you divide your site into a
number of beds about four feet wide with
a narrow path in between. This allows you
to reach the center of the bed from
either side without treading on the soil.
If you grow the same crop year after year
in the same bed, there is an increased
risk of disease infecting your crops. To
minimise the risk you should avoid
planting crops of the same family in the
same soil for three seasons. You can
achieve this by having a four bed
rotation and moving the crops on to the
next bed each year.
When choosing seeds it makes sense to
choose disease resistant varieties where
these are available. Saving your own seed
is not always a good idea for at least
two reasons. Firstly because seed saved
from plants grown from hybrid seed will
not come true, and secondly your home
saved seed may have become
cross-pollinated from other crops grown
on your land.
In the warmer parts of the United States
most seeds can be sown directly into the
beds. You will have to cultivate the soil
to a fine tilth and then sow the seeds at
the depth recommended on the packet. In
cooler areas, or where you want early
crops, seeds will need to be sown in
trays or flats indoors. Overhead light,
either natural or artificial using
flourescent tubes, and warmth is needed
to ensure satisfactory germination and
growth. Before they can be planted out in
the beds, the seedlings have to be
hardened off by placing them outside for
longer periods each day so that they
become accustomed to the outdoor
temperature.
Once your crops are all planted out in
the beds they will require regular
watering, weeding and fertilizing. On
average your plants will need one inch of
water a week. If this is not provided by
rainfall, you will have to make up the
difference. It is better to give the
garden a good soaking once a week rather
than applying small amounts of water
every other day. The best time to water
is early in the morning. Hoe your beds
regularly to control the weeds and leave
the soil in a loose, friable condition to
absorb later rainfall.
If you follow this advice, you should be
rewarded with a fine crop of vegetables
which will be far fresher and tastier
than any that you buy from your local
supermarket.
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