subject: Six Vegetable Gardening Tips To Get Your Garden Going! [print this page] Here are 6 simple tips designed to get you started in the right direction. What you plant is up to you, but how you go about preparing and protecting your plants will have your garden producing large, healthy vegetables year after year.
RAISED BED
A simple 2x12 frame filled with a good quality soil keeps the earth warmer, helps keep bad insects out and makes it more comfortable to work and plant. Build it sturdy enough to sit on and you'll be paid back many times over for years and years. Search "raised bed gardening" or "build raised vegetable garden."
GOOD SOIL
Dirt gathered from your property or what you have in your yard needs the texture test. Grab a handful of moist soil and squeeze hard. Release and watch what happens. It should slightly crumble. If it doesn't ball up at all it's too sandy and if it stays in a ball it has too much clay. Either of these conditions can be helped by adding compost and manure tilled into the soil.
If you don't have a compost bin or area, you should start one. Or you can buy topsoil, mulch and manure from the big box retailers if you don't have the time or space. Also, there may be a Cooperative Extension office near you who can help with soil and garden questions for free. Search "extension office your town" (ie. extension office dallas tx).
GOOD AND BAD INSECTS
Insects are either good or bad for your garden. So, you should know the difference. Buy a few packages of Lady Bugs and sprinkle them around. If aphids, mites or mealybugs (yuck!) stroll in, they'll become lunch for the Lady Bugs! There are several other beneficial bugs you can buy or attract as well.
The bad guys are caterpillars, maggots, fleas, ants, any tiny white bug, snail or slug. If you see evidence of bad bugs (leaves or stalks with holes) bag the damaged plant part in a plastic bag and go talk to someone at the garden department or retailer. Search "beneficial garden insects" and "destructive garden insects."
LOVE 'EM OR LOSE 'EM
To attract the good bugs, plant carrots, spearmint, parsley, caraway, dill, dandelions, marigolds and many types of veggies. The best way to repel bad bugs is to plant onion, garlic, chrysanthemums, basil or several other plants these bugs hate. For slugs and snails, a jar cap full of beer at the garden edges attracts and kills 'em. Party down, dudes. Also, every few times you water, place a few drops of dish soap in a water sprayer and coat the leaves. Search "natural insect repellents."
LOCAL SEEDS
Here's the best vegetable gardening tip; purchase seeds made for your locale. Buy quality seeds from local dealers, and if you buy online make sure they're made with your area in mind. The plants that attract good bugs and repel bad ones are always ones you should consider no matter what other veggies you grow, but you should experiment every year. Gardening is, after all, a little science, a lot art. Search "vegetable seeds your area" (ie. vegetable seeds pacific nw)
GOOD TILTH
You want to create a harmonious combination of microbes, organic material and earthworm friendly environment. That's called a good tilth, an old English term, from the word till, referring to the proper condition of your soil. Keep these 6 tips in mind when gardening and you'll have a good tilth, along with nice, robust vegetables and plants year after year! Search "good tilth."
For more vegetable gardening tips, along with other free tips and ideas for your home and garden, go to RemodelQuickTips.com and click on GARDENING TIPS in the navigator column on the left or anything else that catches your eye. You'll find lots of free information to help you find smart, inexpensive ways to improve your property!
