If you’re trying to figure out how to make the best preparations for a vegetable garden to grow clean vegetables, then this post is for you.
A well planed green vegetable garden brings freshness and eye-catching attractions to the living space. It is a way to cater to the needs of the family and the neighboring community.
Having a passion for gardening can be considered an extremely worthwhile investment when you plan everything ahead of time.
So, if you want some ideas on how to make preparations for a vegetable garden, here are some helpful ways to get ahead.
How To Make Preparations For A Vegetable Garden
1. Document and make a list of all your favorite vegetables.
2. Rank the list of vegetables according to their preference and seasonality with a letter or numbers. for example, 1) the vegetables you couldn’t live without; 2) Vegetables you really enjoy, and 3) the vegetables you can easily buy at the grocery store if necessary.
Also make sure to check with the spouse if applicable, ideally if the spouse is the one who does all the cooking.
3. Get the vegetables that rank number one the best planting spot and give the most space or the best location.
4. Find the spot in your yard garden that gets the best sunlight and has the best soil. Vegetables that produce fruits (cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, peppers, squashes, and eggplants, etc) need to get sunlight. However, vegetables such as (Lettuces, Kale, and Onions can be planted where there is little to no sunlight.
See our blog post on vegetables that can grow in shade.
5. Plant your crops no wider than 3 feet apart so that you have easy access to the center when watering or weeding. This is ideal as long as you have space. Also, remember that the beds or planting space should be close enough to a water source so you can attach a hose to it easily.
6. If you considering using raised beds, chart out a walkway path at least 4 feet wide to each bed space. The narrower the paths, the harder it is to carry and wheelbarrow compost to the beds and make other activities difficult as the season progresses.
7. Select an ideal spot in your garden of 4 feet square, specifically out of direct sunlight, for your composting heap or better yet bin. Replenishing the soil in your garden bed with compost is essential for soil health and vitality overtime to produce the best vegetables.
8. On your documented paper, figure out where your number 1 list of vegetables will go in the garden. Give each ideal the space recommended in the garden books.
Also remember that indeterminate vegetables (i.e., vining) such as Squashes, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Melons can take up 2 – 4 times as much space as non-vining vegetables.
So, make sure to look for compact varieties in order to save space. However, even some compact varieties get pretty big. Most gardeners usually train their vining vegetables up trellises or better yet plant them with wire cylinders around them to grow upwards.
8 Practical Ways to Prepare A Vegetable Garden
1. Identify an area where the most sunlight is located and use tools such as a tape measure to know how much space you have in your garden. My vegetable garden is 75 x 25 (feet).
2. Spray the area where your new vegetable garden will be with a herbicide that will kill the grass straight down to its roots.
This process will save you a lot of trouble of having to dig out the grass with a shovel. An alternative way to get rid of wanted weeds other than using herbicide would be to cover your new vegetable garden area with a tarpaulin for two weeks or longer to kill the grass naturally.
3. If you decided to use chemicals such as herbicides, wait at least three days to a week after spraying the herbicide before you till the soil. This is to make sure that the herbicide has reached the roots.
If you till the soil too soon, the grass won’t be dead yet and will continue to grow in your vegetable garden even after you have tilled it.
However, the good thing about using chemicals such as herbicide is that you can till the dead grass right in with the soil. There is no need to remove the dead grass/weeds with a shovel saving you a lot of time and energy.
4. Keep tilling the soil and till, and till again. Personally, I tilled the soil of my new vegetable garden about 5 – 6 different times, each time going deeper into the earth.
However, if you don’t have access to a tiller, you’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way by using your hands. You can use tools such as a claw-cultivator, mattock, or a pickaxe to get the job done as well.
5. Apply fertilizer to your new vegetable garden area. In cases such as this, I would use old-fashioned cow manure goat, or chicken if available.
I live in a goat and chicken farm area, so it is easy to get one of the local farmer’s manure for free but you can tip if you like. They are most likely glad to get rid of the (waste).
Animal fertilizer acts as food for the soil; then the vegetables will get their food from the ground that absorbs the manure.
Super well-fed soil will produce beautiful healthy and colorful plants/corps. Over time, you should add more fertilizer at the beginning of each growing season.
6. Once again till, till, and till again. Till the manure into the soil of your new vegetable garden about five different times before planting.
7. Make a barrier or fence to keep unwanted critters out of your vegetable garden before planting.
Don’t waste money buying the cheap plastic vinyl fences, why? well, because the rabbits will chew right through it like butter and trespass in your garden.
Another thing you could do is to build a custom wooden fence if you like, however, this may prevent you from extending your garden in the future.
8. Carve out some rows to sow your seeds in. Rows are a way of mounding up the earth so that when it rains the water flow between the plants and not saturate them.
Nevertheless, you can place landscaping items such as fabric, straw, or even newspaper in between your vegetable rows to keep weeds from showing up.
How to Speed Up Your Vegetable Garden Growth
Spwwding up your garden vegetable growth is a no-brainer. It is ideal to use popsicle sticks to label each row of vegetables in your garden in case you forget what seeds were planted where
However, if you are not into planting seeds or have a late start in the season, you can purchase vegetable seedlings plants that have already matured at your local nursery and plant them directly in your garden or raised beds.
The cost for plant seeds will not break your bank, the cost per pack is only $1-$3 per pack, and they will produce all season long. Always follow and the instruction on the seed pack because every seed type has unique directions and instructions for sowing and soil pH.
Pros And Cons of Growing your Own Vegetable Garden
Pros
Fresh Crops
Growing your own crops breathes a fresh and pleasant atmosphere in your garden. If you grow a large number of vegetables, you will save a lot of time shopping at the supermarket.
The pro thing about growing your own veggies ensure the quality and origin of green vegetables on your plate.
Good for health
Growing your own vegetables in your garden gives you the opportunity to be more active with the project and ensure a daily or weekly food source.
Easy On The Pockets
If your garden project is successful, you will save quite a lot of money. Vegetable plant seeds are much cheaper with a shopping trip at the supermarket than buying them at the supermarket.
Harvesting more germplasm after each planting season will ensure that you don’t have to pay the extra cost to buy more seeds.
Save Food
Sometimes it can be a pain when shopping for the things you want and in the end, you can not preserve it all.
However, when growing your own vegetable garden with your own efforts, you will also know how to save and make more sense of “resources” around you.
Cons
Pest and Insect Issues
if you don’t the determination and spirit to tolerate uninvited guests in your vegetable garden. you will feel demotivated and depress.
Where green vegetables grow, there will be many pests, insects, and reptiles to deal with. It’s quite a headache to find ways to protect your beloved garden insect and pest.
Time Investment
designing and maintaining your own vegetable garden requires a lot of patience and time. During your gardening project, you will have to take care of your garden each and every day, even for a few weeks to reap the rewards later.
On the other hand, you also have to actively learn much different basic knowledge to make sure your vegetable garden is successful.
Reach and Learning New Skills
Gardening just as technology is not as simple as a walk in the park. To become a successful gardener, you should always have to equip even the most basic skills and knowledge as a gardener.
Nevertheless, for some fastidious plants and crops, growing them healthy is not a certainty of the day.
In addition, to design a home vegetable garden, you need to learn the basic steps to be able to grow vegetables at home. Learn more
So, these are only a few ways in which you can make preparations for a vegetable garden if you are planning to start your own backyard garden.
