Vegetable Gardening 101: The Basics

NEWBERRY COUTY — People garden for many reasons: to exercise, connect with nature, to know where their food comes from, to name a few. There is a lot of satisfaction in watching plants grow. No matter the reason, if you are willing to invest some time, you can grow a garden.

The best way to learn is by doing. Mistakes will be made, try something different next time. A successful vegetable garden will need a few things: space, sunlight, water, air, soil, fertilizer, and care.

Site Selection: When choosing a space for your garden consider your access to

water, how well your soil drains, and existing vegetation. Vegetable gardens need full sun. You can get away with 6 hours of direct sunlight with crops such as leafy greens and root vegetables. Plants that are grown for their fruit such as watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumbers, need at least eight and do better with 10 hours of sunlight per day.

Existing vegetation and structures could take away resources from your plants. Large trees, shrubs, or buildings can block light and can take water and nutrients from the garden.

Plan to give your vegetable garden at least an inch of water per week. Relying on rain in the dry summer months is not a good strategy. To reduce the need for lugging watering cans, buckets, or hoses around, place your garden in an area so that it is easy to water.

Planning: Once you have a site selected, consider if you want to garden in containers, raised beds, or in-ground. If space is limited, raised beds or containers may be a good solution. Both need more frequent watering than an in-ground garden.

If using containers, make sure it is the correct size for what you are growing. The larger the mature plant, the larger the container needs to be. Vegetables that do well in containers include leafy greens, beets, carrots, and garlic. Choose smaller “bush” or “patio” varieties of cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, or tomatoes. Containers growing vegetables can easily add beauty to a porch, walkway, or patio. One of my favorite ways to use containers is to grow herbs. Remember, when grouping plants in the same container, choose plants with similar watering, fertilizing, and light requirements. For example, rosemary, thyme, and sage do well and look great together. Do not use regular soil in containers. Purchase premade potting soil or make your own by combining compost, pine bark, coconut coir, peat moss or vermiculite.

Raised beds are a great option for areas that cannot support an in-ground garden, and also can be beneficial for people with limited mobility. Raised beds can be constructed out of various materials, but avoid materials that may leach chemicals into the soil, such as railroad ties. To optimize space, utilize succession planting and other intensive gardening techniques.

In-ground gardens may be a traditional row garden or beds. You can also consider incorporating vegetables in your ornamental garden, mixing vegetables with flowers. Amend your soil with organic material and take a soil sample to determine the pH and nutrient content of your soil. Soil test kits can be picked up at your local Cooperative Extension Office.

Planting: Grow what you want to eat and what you have interest in. Are you planting a cool-season annual, warm-season annual, biennial, or perennial? Knowing this will help you determine when you need to plant your vegetables. Cool-season crops can be established in late summer or late winter/early spring. They will bolt in hot summer months. Warm-season crops are planted in late spring after the last frost and can be grown until the first killing frost in the fall.

Maintenance: Keep seeds and transplants moist until they are established and water

mature plants as needed. Watering frequency depends on several factors including light, temperature, rainfall, wind, and humidity. Fertilize based on the recommendations of a soil analysis. It is never good to under or over fertilize. Under fertilizing will lead to nutrient deficient plants that are weak and over fertilizing can cause nutrient imbalances and pollution. Mulch is a great way to manage moisture and weeds. When you are out in your garden train your eye to scout for pests. Often, we see damage to the plants before we see the actual pests. Many pests feed in the morning and evening and bury into the soil during the day. Learn to distinguish beneficial insects from plant pests. Removing dead and diseased plants will help mitigate insect and disease issues by eliminating the host.

Gardening can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. Start small and grow your garden size over time as you gain experience. You will be surprised at how much produce may be grown in a small space.