Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Starting a Vegetable Garden

This will be our second year with a vegetable garden. Last year, I tried to research and prepare, and I finally read somewhere, "Stop thinking about it, dig a bunch of holes, and see what grows."  So we did.  We wanted to start small, but were surprised when the garden center would not sell us one zucchini plant, but required that we take three.  The same with the cucumbers.  We were able to unload one of each on my in-laws.  Then we planted one of each in their alotted spots, and the remaining two in a shadier spot, with no soil prep, no compost.  It'll be an experiment, we said.  And, wouldn't you know, they grew!  Not as well as those in the sunnier spot with nice compost and soil, but they grew.  We had plenty of cucumbers and zucchini all summer.

This is what our 2010 garden looked like:
cucumber
tomatoes
peppers
basil
zucchini
zucchini
parsley
thyme
cucumber
oregano
sage

Crowded.  We are going in a little bit more prepared for 2011.  We have the experience of knowing that we can grow things, and that we could probably do a better job, but if we don't, we're still likely to get some reward.  I've purchased the Vegetable Gardener's Bible, which has already lived up to its name.  Edward C. Smith (I hope he doesn't mind if I call him Ed, because I do) is our fearless leader.  We do what he says.
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible [Book]

Ed is a big proponent of raised beds.  He says we don't necessarily need to build frames around them.  We should dig about a foot deep, and then mound more dirt on top, about 8 inches, so the roots will have a plenty of room to grow down.  With mounds (or raised beds), you can supposedly grow more in a smaller amount of space, with narrow spaces for walking between wide rows of plants.   This is our plan, using that advice: 




Butternut squash


Leeks

Cucumber

Zucchini
Spinach

Garlic

Tomatoes
Arugula


Peppers
Beets

Shallots

Eggplant?


Basil
Potatoes

Carrots

Parsley


Dill

We are doubling our garden in size, which means we have to start digging soon.  We are in zone 6a in coastal Massachusetts, and our last frost date is around May 15. Ed says we could start planting seeds for things like beets, arugula and spinach as early as this weekend, which is 3-4 weeks before last frost.  That's not going to happen, though, because we've got to paint one of the bedrooms this weekend before the floor guy comes next week.  More on that later.

1 comment:

elainesharrard@tampabay.rr.com said...

I have an above ground vegetable garden and being in Florida I have tomatoes all ready like crazy and my winter lettuces are finishing and now the summer lettuce is growing, carrots too and cucumbers are on the way. I have two rosemary plants that are about 3 years old and they are great. The basil has taken hold. I am going to put in melons now.