Successfully Planting Your First Garden

If you are interested in becoming healthier and stronger, eating fresh vegetables is a good first step. However, you do not have to buy expensive organic vegetables from the grocery store-you can plant your own vegetable garden!

Planting your own garden can be fun and exciting, and reaping the fruits of your labor is very rewarding. If you have never had experience gardening before, do not be afraid-with the right tips, you can have a garden that will serve you well.

Your first time around, you will want to plant some of the most popular, easy to grow vegetables, such as beans, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, and cucumbers. Starting with the easy ones is good practice, and will help you to feel more confident as you begin.

Before you get started, check with your local nursery to find the last frost date for your area. Some hardy vegetables, such as peas, potatoes, beets, and lettuce can be planted before this date.

However, most of the vegetables that you are likely to include in your first garden should not be placed outside in the garden until after the last frost date passes and the ground is thoroughly warm. Try reading the back of the seed packets to know exactly when they will thrive during the year.

You can always research each one online, to make sure that you are planting at the right time. This is the key to your success, so the more research you do the better.

Next, plan where in your yard to dig your first garden. It should be a rectangular area that gets a lot of sun, on the south or west side of your yard.

Make sure it is in an area that will get plenty of water from your sprinklers, or however you plan on watering the area. Start in an area about ten by fifteen feet.

If you own a rototiller, you can use it to break up and prepare the soil. This is a good way to bring the nutrients up to the surface, and get the healthiest soil possible.

However, if you decide to work with a traditional shovel, be sure to dig down about eight inches-do this twice, and turn over the soil as you go.

After you have dug the whole plot once, pull out any stones. Then turn it over once more, and break up all of the large clumps that you come across.

Next, you are ready to begin your planting. Try planting one tomato plant in the ground every two feet.

Put a tomato cage over each plant, to keep them protected from rodents, and worms. Cover the soil between the tomato plants with a layer of straw to prevent the spread of weeds.

Continue planting whatever vegetables you choose, making sure that they have plenty of room to grow. If you plant them too close together, they will compete for water and nutrients, and end up killing each other off.

If you are going to work with bush beans, plant one bush bean seed every six inches. These will produce sturdy plants that support themselves, in contrast to pole beans, which need to be staked so that they do not fall over and die.

Make sure that you tend the area regularly, and keep it consistently free from weeds and other parasites. If your plants are beginning to wither or turn yellow, you need to make sure that they are getting enough water.

However, you always want to be sure that you are not over-watering them, as this can be just as harmful as the opposite. Creating a drip system is sometimes a good idea, as it gives them steady water in very small increments.

Keep supplementing your soil regularly, so that it has everything that it needs for your plants grow and thrive. When the vegetables look like they are ready to pick, make sure that you pick them off gently, without hurting the existing stalks.

Always wash them carefully, so that they are free from bugs and bacteria in the dirt. If they are not fantastic the first time around, do not give up.

Simply tend your soil and start over again-sometimes the second harvest is much better than the first. Gardening can be a very fun and interesting hobby, and often it is quite addicting-enjoy your fresh produce today.

Tommy Greene has been a landscaper for 20 years and is well respected in his field. He recommends (www.sprinklersystemstore.com) as a good full service sprinkler system store.