Tips on starting a veggie garden

innocenceportrayed

I have a 35 foot by 60 foot garden full of veggies. =D I was just working in it actually...

I'm not sure where you live but in FL we can grow pretty much everything at the right time of year. Right now, I have corn, beans, tomatos, peppers, radishes, watermelon & carrots along with some flowers on the other end. Let me know if you need any help. Fresh veggies are so much better than store bought and you feel good about being able to eat something you grew

EliseMarie24

Bump

ravenclawseekergirl

Well i've been gardening veggies and stuff since i was very little. Mint is a good herb to grow because you dont have to look after it very much, it's pretty indestructable.
If your growing carrots, lettuces, parsnips, rocket, peas, radishes and other quickgrowing veggies try to plant them in intervals of two weeks instead of the whole packet at once as it means that you have them for longer and you don't get a glut ie.all your carrots at once.
Hope this helped, will think of some more later

frostiegurl

Just got back from the local garden center with loads of veggie plants. Working on the raised bed this weekend and hopefully will be harvesting a bountiful crop of bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, winter squash, beets, radishes, and cucumber this year. Growing my strawberries in containers and hoping they do well. May end up transplanting them into a patch in our side yard and let them go crazy there.

Also have a container herb garden with thyme, sage, basil, lavender, mint, garlic and chives. (all in separate containers)

codyyde

Lettuce, cucumbers, radishes... all very easy to grow

Grokette

I planted lettuce (several different types), cabbage, brocolli, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. All of these are my favorite veggies.

Stephanie08

Wow there's a lot of good avice here. I have one question. How much sun does the garden need? I have a spot in my yard that gets sun in the morning, but by about 1-2pm it's all shade for the rest of the day. Would a morning sun to 1pm be enough sunlight for a garden? I'm also in Mass, so I'd be planting tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and herbs.

frostiegurl

Wow there's a lot of good avice here. I have one question. How much sun does the garden need? I have a spot in my yard that gets sun in the morning, but by about 1-2pm it's all shade for the rest of the day. Would a morning sun to 1pm be enough sunlight for a garden? I'm also in Mass, so I'd be planting tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and herbs.

Most vegetables LOVE the sun and need at least 6-8 hours of full sun every day.

cng1117

Squash, tomatoes,and onions have always been my friends. It can be tempting to try planting all kinds of diff veggies you would normally not buy but to keep i'd suggest against doing this since your just starting out. Just stick to veg you KNOW you'll use otherwise you'll be swarmed with things you dont have room to store or time to use. Herbs are also great and easy to grow, basil and parsley being personal faves of mine. Make sure to take time with your dirt. There is a saying, put a 50 cent plant in a 5 dollar hole. Take the time to till up the ground well (don't pulverise it, just loosen it well) and remove rocks and weeds, as well as weed roots. This will save you tons of time in weeding later. I also would suggest amending the soil with compost or adding a bag or two of gardening soil to the existing soil, this will add extra nutrients that the little guys will need to grow big and strong. Also, depending on where you live, you may have acidic soil or alkaline, you might want to check to see what kind of soil you have before planting. There are certain things that thrive well in certain kinds of soil and fail in others. Blueberries for instance, is something I'd love to be able to grow in my garden, but my soil is way up on the alkaline side of the ph bar and blueberries, unfortunately, enjoy acidic soils. I've wasted at least 50 bucks trying to work with the buggers before giving it up. I think generally the further north you are, the more acidic the soil, and the further south you are the more alkaline. But thats a generalization, you can pick up a soil tester for just a couple bucks at a garden center such as at Home Depot. Oh, and if you choose to use a fertilizer, make sure that your plants are well watered BEFORE fertilizing otherwise you can burn/kill your plants. I killed quite a few before figuring that one out. :sad:

Chives are super easy to grow. Just throw some seeds in a pot and they will grow and keep coming back every year. I would only plant them in a pot because they will take over your entire yard.

Oops. Looks like i'll be digging up some chives Sunday lol....

cparker10

Thank you for sharing all of your great tips and advice. My husband built the container garden yesterday and the soil is ready. It's pouring cats and dogs in Maryland today so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to go to the local Wavery Farm to pick out our starter plants. I hear it's easier to start with these plants versus from seeds --- we shall see!

DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo

Thank you for sharing all of your great tips and advice. My husband built the container garden yesterday and the soil is ready. It's pouring cats and dogs in Maryland today so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to go to the local Wavery Farm to pick out our starter plants. I hear it's easier to start with these plants versus from seeds --- we shall see!

I am in Maryland too... and thought today Id get to direct seed outdoors but its too cold & rainy... Ive sowed about 130 plants indoors in a mini-greenhouse.... the last frost is yet 2 weeks away so though Im late with some of these, I think I will be OK... I cant wait til 1st of June to plant my corn & melons ( directly outdoors)


Did you mean the farmer's Market @ Waverly?? I have never been there but it has a good rep....

frostiegurl

Just thought I'd share a picture of a zucchini that I picked from my veggie garden this morning. I've never seen one this big before, hopefully it still tastes good.

Took the picture with the dog for size reference.
The thing measures 13"L and 8" around, weighing in at 1lb 6oz



I plan on picking the other zucchini well before they get this large. This one was a bit of a freak it would seem.