Starting A Vegetable Garden
Spring is the time of year when we think about creating a vegetable garden,especially with all the emphasis on the damage that long transport distances doto the ecosystem, never mind the fact that we are eating vegetables that are notquite as fresh as they might be! When choosing e location for your vegetablegarden forget the old idea that the veg patch must be an ugly spot. If carefullydesigned, thoughtfully planted and well cared for, it will be feature of yourgarden, bringing a touch of homeliness that no formal bed could ever create.Bearing this in mind you should not restrict yourself to any area of the garden just because it is out of sight. In the average modern garden there won't be muchchoice as to land anyway. You will need to use what you have available and thendo the best that you can with it. There will probably be more choice as toexposure and convenience. All things being equal, try and choose a spotreasonably close to the house with easy access. It may seem that the differenceof only a few yards is hardly relevant, but if you are depending largely onsnatched spare moments for working in the vegetable garden easy access will bemuch more important than you might realise. Only when you have made a dozenunnecessary trips for forgotten bits and pieces, or ended up getting wet as youdash in and out will you realise that it would have been much easier to have theveg garden just that little bit closer!Alongside convenience you need to pick out a spot that has suitable exposure toSun and rain. You don't want to use a spot that is blasted by cold winds andlikely to catch a frost. Choose the "earliest" spot you can find, ideally sloping alittle to the south or east, that catches the sunshine early and holds it late. Chillwinds from the north and northeast can have dramatic effects on your yield so if you can pick a spot that gets some shelter be it from a garden building, fence orthe house itself, your plot will be protected and your vegetables will get an earlystart. If there is no protection available think about planting a low hedge orputting some other form of protection in place if you are intending to grow allyour own supplies.It is unlikely that you will be able to choose the type of soil as most gardens arenot big enough to have a variety of soils available. This is not really a problem asmost soils can be improved quite easily to give the ideal growing conditions. Thebest soil for growing vegetables is said to be a 'rich and sandy loam'. That is asoil type that is almost never found but always made! It needs to be full of nutrients that are easily available for the plants to grow well. This can beachieved by the addition of compost and plant feed, either organic or chemicaldepending on your preference. The 'sandyness' refers to drainage. If your soil istoo heavy the water will form a sticky mess that isn't good for your plants,equally if it is too sandy the water will pass through before the plants can takeadvantage of it. You can easily add sand or soil conditioners to get your drainageright.Before planting you should make sure that the plot is well dug and prepared foryour precious seedlings. In an ideal world we would plan our vegetable garden inthe autumn, digging it over and working in lots of organic material. The winterweather would help to break up the soil and work in the nutrients giving a perfectgrowing medium when the warmer Spring weather comes. However, it isn't theend of the world if you haven't done that. You might have to work a little bitharder at first to make sure the soil is clear of weeds, stones and other rubbish
Leave a Comment