How to Garden | The Vegetable Garden
Why a Vegetable Garden?
The vegetable garden has become more and more popular and people are discovering how satisfying growing your own vegetables can be.
To begin with there is freshness and flavour rarely found in shop bought produce unless sourced from a local farmers market. The farmers markets quite rightly have become a very popular place to buy vegetables but even so they may not for commercial reasons grow the more unusual and, some would say, exotic crops.
At least buying from the growers you can ask whether chemical controls have been used or whether the vegetables are organically grown.
For many years the number of flower seeds purchased has exceeded those of vegetable but now the tables have been turned. My first garden was probably two thirds flowers to one third vegetables and the two were kept very separate. The late Geoff Hamilton was the first one I saw and heard preaching that the two could be mixed producing an attractive border and at the same time help to keep pests off the vegetables.
Many of today's vegetable cultivars have outstanding vigour and resistance to disease to help new vegetable gardeners succeed and have the desire to continue producing crops each year.
Garden Size
Do you need to have a large garden to produce sufficient vegetables to feed your family? Once again the breeders have helped in producing varieties that may be grown in containers on a patio or that mature small enough to provide one meal. Another delicious innovation is salad leaves and many more variations are now available to add to the cut and come again varieties.
What has not changed is that to produce quality vegetables good growing conditions are essential. The ideal situation for a vegetable garden provides warmth, sunlight, shelter and fertile, well-drained, loamy soil with an adequate water supply. The chosen site should be open but not exposed and not overshadowed. Trees shade and drip on plants and remove nutrients and moisture from the soil, while buildings may create shade and funnel damaging winds across the plot.
Take the necessary steps to improve soil fertility and drainage and do not expect overnight miracles, it may take a year or two of good management but the wait will be worth it and so will the resultant crops.
Friable Loam
A friable loam is ideal for growing vegetables but what is a friable loam? A friable loam is soil that:
- Is rich in plant nutrients
- Supports a population of earthworms and micro-organisms to break down organic matter
- Has a good structure and remains workable
- Does not become sticky during wet weather or dusty in dry periods
- Always retains a crumbly texture so that the soil is well aerated which is important for both the living organisms in the soil and the roots of the vegetables themselves
- Is both well drained and moisture retentive
- Is slightly acid, being technical for a moment that means about pH6 to 6.5
Soil Type
Vegetables may be grown successfully on a range of different soil types. Sandy soils warm up quickly in spring and are ideal for early crops and roots such as carrots. However nutrients are washed out quickly and feeding will probably be necessary to produce good crops.
Heavy clays are sticky and cold and in the extreme can become waterlogged). They warm up slowly in spring but are rich in nutrients but once their structure has been improved by incorporating organic matter this type of soil is an excellent growing medium.
My first garden was clay and indeed once I had worked it and incorporated organic matter it proved to be an excellent growing medium. My current garden is a very light sandy soil and I can testify to the fact that water and nutrients soon leach away. The upside is that that the ground can be worked on a lot quicker than the clay structure.
For more information see the hints and tips for growing vegetables each month of the year.
