Planning a Vegetable Garden

Why should you plant a vegetable garden? While growing your own vegetables may seem like a lot of work, there’s nothing like biting into a nice ripe tomato and thinking, “I grew this myself!” Gardening provides a great workout with proven stress relief, along with beautiful and tasty vegetables. So the real question is, “Why haven’t you started your vegetable garden already?”

The first thing you need to do when planning a vegetable garden is to find a spot and prepare it. Most veggies need lots of sun to grow; so pick a spot that gets sun most of the day. You should then tear up the soil to make it loose. This way you will be able to plant your vegetables and their roots will be able to grow. It’s almost impossible for little plants to break through compact soil. You can then put organic material in your soil by adding compost or manure. If you don’t have this on hand, you can go pick something up at your local gardening store.

The next thing you need to do is to pick out what plants you want to grow. Of course choose your family’s favorite vegetables first; it’s probably not a good idea to plant hot peppers if nobody in the family likes hot peppers. Just make sure that the vegetables you want will grow properly where you live. You also want to pick varieties you have the time and space to take care of. Those pumpkin plants do take up a lot of space as they grow.

Once you have your garden area prepared and you know what you want to grow, plan the actual layout of your vegetable garden. The best way to do this is to get out a sheet of graph paper and draw your garden to scale. Some plants can grow pretty close together, while others need to be spread out so they won’t have competition. Check seed packets or instructions that come with seedlings to determine how much space each plant will require. Draw where you want to put each crop so you know you have enough room for everything.

Now that you have your spot picked out and you know exactly what to get, it’s time to go to the store and buy your plants or seeds. If you’re starting plants from seeds, remember that some will not germinate so you’ll want to buy extra. Keep in mind, too, that once these tiny seedlings begin growing and producing, you may have more tomatoes than you know what to do with, so plan accordingly.

Good luck and happy planting!

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