 |
VEGETABLES |
|
Exceptional flavor, freshness, economy, cultivar selection and personal satisfaction are some reasons people grow vegetables. Vegetable gardening is also a great educational experience for children and can provide opportunities in experimentation for adults. The serious vegetable gardener doesn't need to be a student of horticulture. However, learning about gardening techniques, drawing a garden plan, and keeping notes on each year's performance can improve results.
Vegetable gardening can be as
simple as growing vegetable plants in pots on a balcony or
patio. Small backyard gardens do not need to be the straight
rows of vegetables seen on farms. Vegetables can be grown
among herbs, flowers and shrubs, adding color and interest
to the landscape.
KEY CONCEPTS
I. Site
Return to Introduction
SITE
Selecting a location for a vegetable garden is critical to good vegetable production. The vegetable garden site should have the following qualities:
- 8 to 10 hours of full sun per day;
- a source of water;
- deep, well-drained, uncontaminated soil (safe levels of lead, arsenic, zinc and cadmium);
- close access to the house (particularly the kitchen);
- a level location.
Vegetables need sunlight, proper temperatures, fertile soil and water for best growth. Trees and shrubs may need to be trimmed or removed to increase sunlight and air flow and to reduce competition for nutrients and water. A hedgerow or fence will help protect the garden from winds, animals and contaminated dust.
[illus. of hedge screen]
A garden located close to the house will be convenient to maintain. Most houses provide an outdoor source of water. Vegetables and herbs grown near the kitchen will be used more readily in daily meals.
Most garden sites will not meet all the recommendations. Vegetable gardens are tucked away in all kinds of places. A gardener will eventually find some crops that produce well on most sites.
Consider the following factors when deciding on the size of the vegetable garden:
- limitations of the physical site. A yard that has many trees will limit the location and size of the vegetable garden unless major landscape alterations are possible. CONTAINER GARDENS are an option for apartment dwellers or where the back porch or patio is the only sunny area.
- limitations of time. A busy person who is taking up this hobby should start small. A small success is much more satisfying than a large, weedy failure. A 10' x 10' or 10' x 20' plot may be all the new gardener will be able to handle considering the time needed for planning, soil preparation, planting, weeding, watering and harvesting.
- A 400-square-foot garden (20' x 20') requires a minimum of a half hour per day early in the season. In late spring and summer, this garden plot will require at least a half hour every 2 or 3 days.
- Is the home grower interested in freezing and canning or fresh produce? People interested in "putting up" produce for the winter will want to plan for at least a 20' x 40' site. They also will want to choose cultivars that preserve well.
Although soil building has been discussed at length in Chapter 2, it is especially important to emphasize soil conditions for success in growing vegetables. A loose soil texture is especially important for root and tuber crops like beets, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and turnips.
Many gardening problems can be minimized by maintaining a medium-textured, fertile soil. Quality soil promotes vigorous growth and minimizes stress. Regular additions of humus, composted manures, leaf humus and cover crops increase activity of beneficial microorganisms and earthworms, increase air space and improve nutrient reserves.
RAISED BEDS may be constructed over poorly drained clay soil.
TERRACES may be constructed to hold garden soil in place on steep slopes.
[illus. of raised bed]
[illus. of terraced bed, rows around a hill]
Gardeners should avoid placing a vegetable garden near an older painted building or on a site where a building once stood. If this cannot be avoided, have the soil tested for lead and other heavy metals and contaminants. Soil also may be contaminated with heavy metals from automobile and equipment exhaust and pesticide use in old orchards.
Vegetables growing on contaminated, but otherwise fertile soil, are contaminated mainly by dust on the leaves. Washing vegetables before consuming them negates this potential problem. Some vegetables absorb some of the heavy metals and become contaminated, posing a threat to the health of children, the elderly and ill people who eat them.
New site preparation can be a large physical task if existing plants, sod, rocks or brush must be removed. It is best to begin preparations one season in advance to reduce weed populations, but time and patience usually don't allow this. Here are the steps for converting a turf area to a garden:
- Test soil to determine nutrient levels.
- Kill existing foliage with an herbicide containing glyphosate (such as Roundup and Kleenup).
- After the plants and sod die, mow the area, cut up the sod with a spade and till thoroughly.
- Add lime, if needed, and till again.
- Remove rocks, roots and other foreign objects.
- Add fertilizer, based on a soil test, rake the surface smooth and plant.
Removing and discarding the sod before tilling will make working the soil much easier, but may require adding organic matter.
If coarse organic matter is used to improve the soil, remember that decomposition occurs fastest when the organic matter is close to the soil surface. Burying coarse organic matter results in slower decomposition.
For gardeners who have the time, there is a method of clearing sod on a new site that does not require herbicides. Cover the selected garden area with black plastic in early summer. This will cause the plants under the plastic to die. Dead vegetation can be tilled under in the fall or following spring.
Perennial grass pieces may reroot and become a weed problem any time sod is turned directly back into the soil. However, cultivating or mulching will control the problem. The benefit of turning the nutrient-rich sod back into the soil overrides the potential weed problem.
When preparing a new site, consider DOUBLE-DIGGING the area to provide optimal soil conditioning.
Most vegetables prosper in a pH range of 6.2 to 6.8 (slightly acid soil). A soil test will determine the existing pH of the soil and provide guidelines for adding amendments, such as lime, fertilizer and organic matter, to the soil.
Lime and organic matter are best added in the fall because these materials take time to react with the soil. Manures should be thoroughly composted before adding to the soil. If you must use fresh manure, add it sparingly and only in the fall. Have the soil tested every three years.
Work soil when it is neither too wet nor too dry. To test the soil moisture level, take a handful of soil and squeeze it. If it remains in a tight ball when you release your grip, it is too wet. If it crumbles, it is ready to till. Dry soil is difficult to cultivate and valuable topsoil can be blown away by tilling on a windy day.
There are 2 customary times to till: fall and spring. Fall tilling presents many advantages over spring tilling. It eliminates the need to till in the spring and allows earlier planting. Soil moisture and temperature conditions are favorable for decomposition of organic matter that is turned under in the fall. Disease organisms, insects and perennial weeds can be reduced by tilling in the fall.
Tight soil aggregates found in heavy clay soils will be broken up by winter's alternating freezing and thawing conditions. More snow is trapped by roughly tilled soil, so the soil moisture level is improved. And, finally, lime has more time to react with the soil and is best added in the fall.
If your garden is on a slope, do not till in the fall. Plant a cover crop to reduce erosion.
Although rototillers can reduce the physical effort in soil preparation and cultivation, they also can ruin good soil structure. A compacted layer can form just below where tines bite into the soil. To avoid problems, till only for an intended task, such as preparation for planting or preparing a new bed.
Turning soil over completely each season may upset the microorganism balance. Also, it can bury coarse organic materials that need insects and microbes living near the soil surface to breakdown it down. Gardens arranged into beds do not need to be deeply tilled every spring or fall.
Introduction | Botany | Soils and Fertilizers | Entomology and Pest Management | Plant Pathology | Plant Propagation | Houseplants | Lawns | Herbaceous Ornamentals | Woody Ornamentals | Vegetables | Herbs | Fruit | Glossary