Vegetable gardening : a beginner's guide

Vegetable Gardening: A Beginner's Guide NC STATE EXTENSION Vegetable gardening is becoming more popular — both as a pastime and a food source. We experience satisfaction in planting a seed or transplant, watching it grow to maturity, and harvesting the fruits of our labors. In addition, vegetable gardening offers a good source of exercise, with the added benefits of healthy snacks and food for the table. Vegetable gardening consists of selecting a site, planning the garden, preparing the soil, choosing the seeds and plants, planting a crop, and nurturing the plants until they are ready for harvest. The end result is fresh produce to eat, share, or sell. Anyone who is willing to invest some time every day or two to nurture the plants can grow a vegetable garden. It doesn't take a lot of money, time, or talent, although some of each would be helpful. With patience and practice, your skills will improve every year. Don't be discouraged if the first attempt isn't a huge success. Growing vegetables takes some space, but not necessarily acres. A vegetable garden can be in the ground or in a planting bed, but it doesn't have to be. Many vegetables can be grown in containers. For example, enough lettuce for a salad can be grown in a 12-inch pot on the back deck. Add a few radishes and carrots, also grown in 12-inch containers, for Growing a salad in pots ©Anne Moyer. CC-BY-NC-ND spice and sweetness, and you have a good start on a delicious salad. Success, however, takes more than just a place to grow the vegetables. They need sunlight, water, air, soil, fertilizer, and care. Site Selection Choose a convenient site in full sun with easy access to water and fertile, well-drained soil. Avoid areas near trees and large shrubs that will compete with the garden for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Sunlight Most vegetables need at least eight hours of direct sunlight. Plants that we grow for their leaves — including leafy greens such as lettuce, kale, chard, and spinach — and plants that we grow for their storage roots (such as radishes, turnips, and beets) can be grown in as little as six hours of sunlight but do much better with eight hours or more. Plants that we grow for their fruit, including tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers, need at least eight and do better with 10 hours of sunlight. Water One of the most important aspects of gardening is water, which makes up 90 percent of a plant's weight. Water is heavy and difficult to move, so locate the garden near a potable water supply, making it easy to water the garden properly. Dragging a hose hundreds of feet or carrying buckets of water across the yard every few days makes having a garden a lot more work. On average, vegetables need one inch of water per week, and you need to provide only what is not supplied by rain. Water the soil, not the plant. Many diseases are spread by water splashing on the leaves. Overwatering can also lead to insect and disease problems as well as washing nutrients away, converting a valuable garden resource into pollution in nearby streams.