Tips on starting a veggie garden

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  • DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo
    DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo Posts: 296
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    my garden is over 1200 sq feet.... this is my biggest one yet.. Im so excited...

    anyway, here are a few of my favorite gardening sites:



    http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/zipcode/90201

    http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/cornucop/

    http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/bean.htm

    http://www.growveg.com/demo.aspx

    http://forums.seedsavers.org/index.php?s=cb886dcd729bcae5fb4be3376231df40



    and this is where I buy MOST of my seeds:

    http://www.territorialseed.com/
  • MarciMoorehead
    MarciMoorehead Posts: 8
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    We plant a garden every year. Tomatoes are the best crop. We grow several varieties but my favorite are the cherry and grape tomatoes. I snack on those while I'm gardening. But we also plant okra, cucumbers, and assorted peppers. We also have an herb garden with rosemary, sage, lemon balm, oregano, couple of types of basil, cilantro (don't really care for that), chives, garlic, parsley, and thyme. In the summer I walk out pick a couple of tomatoes and some basil leaves and make a caprese salad. We also compost. I have a small compost pail in the kitches to throw all out veggie waste, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. Then we have a larger compost bin that we made out of a big trash can. We drilled holes in the bottom and sides for aeration and to allow worms to get in. It's one of those big plastic trash cans with a locking top. Every couple of days, I put it on its side and roll in the around. I just checked it yesterday to see our winter efforts. When I opened the cover I smelled the richest soil I have ever smelled. It really makes a difference in a successful garden. I do plan to do some things different this year. I am going to incorporate veggies into my flower gardens. Okra has the most beautiful blooms that look similar to a hibiscus plant. I saw below that someone had trouble with birds eating the peppers. We also plant bird seed plants. We use the bird seed that we buy to fill out feeders. It keeps them satisfied and they don't go after our real crops as bad. clem7444 is right. You have to make sure that you plant your vegetables according to growing needs. That's one of the reasons I've decided to integrate our veggies with our flower beds.
  • DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo
    DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo Posts: 296
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    not being more aggressive in composting is one of my regrets for this year.... I did purchase some from our local landfill and have my own going but it wont be ready for yet a while....

    I made my own bin as well.... drilled holes in RubberMaid bin... added shredded paper and I purchased redworms ( against my husband's advice to use the worms that are already in our backyard)
  • becka63
    becka63 Posts: 712 Member
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    Plant veg that you like, because you will usually end up with a glut! Also, plant that are hard to find/ expensive in shops. You haven't got a lot of space, so consider that when choosing (I would avoid potatoes in smaller spaces!) catch cropping is good, but not suitable for all veg, but salad crops make excellent catch crops. If you've got raised beds & they're over 2foot high and you want to grow carrots, you won't need marigolds to deter carrot fly, as they can't get higher than 2foot! Just a thought.

    Maximise your space- lots of tomatoes do well in tubs...as do cucumbers, peppers & chillis.

    Courgettes are good in the ground, squash etc are, but you can train them to grow up a trellis as their foliage takes up a lot of space- you might get better fruit from them up a trellis, as they're not sitting in the soil...

    Good luck!!
  • chancie72
    chancie72 Posts: 270 Member
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    I can tell you it takes alot to kill tomatoes and peppers. Last year we moved mid summer, we uprooted our plants and transfered them and all varieties of peppers and our regular size tomatoes all survived fine.
  • ShannonWinger
    ShannonWinger Posts: 309 Member
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    My mother-in-law loaned me an awesome gardening book to teach me how to get started. It has some great tips in there. If your plaining peppers it says to put half a book of matches under eat plant when you are planting. They love the sulfer. Last year my sister had gorgeous pepper plants but no peppers. You have to be careful not to over fertilize.

    We are starting a garden for the first time this year. We've already plowed up a big spot but still need to till. I've started most of my plants indoors. I can't wait to get them planted. I've been saving cardboard and newspaper to put down for the walk areas to control weeds. We have horses so I've been saving manure and composting that to add to the garden as well.

    Does anyone have any tips on dill? I've been trying to start dill in the house and it will not come up. I've tried twice already and nothing. Trying for a 3rd time now.
  • fitkitty1
    fitkitty1 Posts: 56
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    I have an herb garden and will be starting a veggie garden this summer :-). I have never had a green thumb but my herbs have done really well for the past year. Problem is I don't know what to plant? Can anyone suggest three or four simple veggies to grow?

    :-)
  • DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo
    DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo Posts: 296
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    I have an herb garden and will be starting a veggie garden this summer :-). I have never had a green thumb but my herbs have done really well for the past year. Problem is I don't know what to plant? Can anyone suggest three or four simple veggies to grow?

    :-)

    onions, tomatoes and spinach are hard to kill and all do well before the summer heat arrives... I posted some links above....go thru those, especially garden web. and you will get a lot of answers & help
  • mitchet
    mitchet Posts: 23 Member
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    great thread! hubby and i are definitely interested in doing this. most of the veggies at our grocery store are almost tasteless :(
  • tn2010
    tn2010 Posts: 228 Member
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    For raised beds we've had a lot of success with The Square Foot Gardening book as well as this link that allows you to plot your garden and then gives you tips:

    http://www.gardeners.com/Kitchen-Garden-Planner/kgp_home,default,pg.html?SC=RMPG2128
  • innocenceportrayed
    innocenceportrayed Posts: 569 Member
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    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
    EliseMarie24 Posts: 49 Member
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  • ravenclawseekergirl
    ravenclawseekergirl Posts: 342 Member
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    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
    frostiegurl Posts: 708 Member
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    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
    codyyde Posts: 36
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    Lettuce, cucumbers, radishes... all very easy to grow
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
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    I planted lettuce (several different types), cabbage, brocolli, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. All of these are my favorite veggies.
  • Stephanie08
    Stephanie08 Posts: 1,023 Member
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    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
    frostiegurl Posts: 708 Member
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    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
    cng1117 Posts: 225 Member
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    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
    cparker10 Posts: 10
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    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!

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