Vegetable Garden Planning: A Little Goes a Long Way
The air is frigid and the ground is dusted with a coating of snow. Your trowels and garden gloves are collecting dust in the shed and you aren't even thinking of the frozen patch of ground out back that used to be your garden. However, now is a great time to relax with a mug of cocoa and plan out next year's prizewinning crop of vegetables. Okay, maybe not a prizewinning crop, but at least a few squash for a savory summer supper!
Why should you plan out your garden? If you're like me, just one thought of last year's haphazard crop of shrunken offerings should be enough to send you running for a pen and paper. I had so many tomatoes that I spent hours buried in cookbooks trying to find an innovative use for them all; how many of you have ever heard of tomato wine? However, all of the other vegetables never seemed to make an appearance.
So, this year I am attempting to be a bit more organized about my garden. As a vegetarian, it is important to utilize your garden space to produce high quality and high yield crops. With a reliable food source right in your backyard, you can save money, eliminate pesticides, and contribute to the health of your family.
The first thing to consider is where to put the garden site. The best sites have full sun exposure, which is eight hours of direct sunshine a day. Check the southern or western sides of your house as they often get the brightest sunlight for the longest part of the day.
The second thing to think about is physically getting water to the garden site that you have chosen. After the unexpected drought in my area last year, we learned that you cannot have any plants in areas where you cannot run a hose. It is far too labor-intensive to bring pails full of water back and forth to dry plants. While we're on the subject of hoses, remember not to locate the garden over utility cables or septic lines.
Now that you have a site in mind, you need to decide how to arrange the plants in your space. There are a few different layouts to choose from. You should consider how the space in your garden plot is arranged before committing to a layout.
If you have plenty of space, you can have the luxury of planting in rows. It will take up a larger area, but even, straight rows are very eye-catching. Rows are also great for large crops like corn. It will be easier to get between the rows to harvest and weed when the plants are full size.
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