How to Start a Fruit and Vegetable Garden
"How to Start a Fruit and Vegetable Garden"
Vegetable gardening can be a very rewarding experience. But if you've never had a vegetable garden before, the task can seem overwhelming. Here are several easy ways to start your first fruit or vegetable garden.
First, some vegetable gardening basics. Most vegetables need full sun, well-tilled soil, and the right fertilizers to bear fruit (or vegetables). Using the wrong soil enhancements will cause your plants to produce leaves and flowers, but little fruit. Most vegetables need long and deep water - water the roots, not the leaves. Pick your harvest regularly to encourage more fruit or vegetables. Finally, know when to plant, and when to harvest. This information will be found on the seed packet or the plant container. As you gain more experience, you will be able to rotate crops based on how early they mature.
One of the easiest ways to begin to grow vegetables is in a container. Buy your plant from a good nursery - don't try and start with seeds. Select a planter large enough to hold the full grown plant, and fill with potting soil made for vegetables. Follow the directions on the plant container for watering and sunlight needs. Plants that do well in containers include tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, and peppers.
Seeds are usually more difficult to start a vegetable garden with than plants. But, there are some seeds that are easier to germinate than others. Carrots, lettuce, and peas are all easy seeds to plant and harvest in your vegetable garden. You can plant the seeds directly in the ground, and keep them well-watered until they sprout. Thin according to the package directions, and harvest at the proper time.
Another easy way to start a vegetable garden is to pick a few easy vegetables to grow, and start with plants, not seeds. You will need to choose an area of your yard that receives at least six to eight hours of sun light.
Prepare your vegetable garden by breaking up the soil with a rototiller or a cultivator hand tool depending on the size of your garden. Add organic material such as compost if your soil has a lot of clay, mix in some sand and peatmoss.
Now, decide which plants you will start your vegetable garden with. Once you know how big the mature plants will be, then you can figure out how many vegetable plants you can grow in your vegetable garden according to the space you have prepared. Vegetable and fruit plants that are easy to grow include tomatoes, squash, peppers, herbs, cucumbers, and strawberries.
So you are interested in growing a fruit garden. Start by choosing the type of fruit you know you will enjoy for years to come, read up on these variety of fruit and make sure they will grow in your environment were you live. For instance: Apple trees, Peach trees, blueberry bushes, black raspberry bushes, raspberry bushes and strawberries grow well in the North East. Trees and shrubs can also be an easy way to start fruit gardening. Keep in mind these varieties require different soil conditions and proper spacing to allow for proper air flow and healthy growth.
Blueberries require a very acid soil for healthy growth, especially high bush blueberries. Raspberries require large amount of space and once established will spread very quickly.
Start with one fruit tree or if you prefer, start with a couple of raspberry bushes or blueberry bushes, help them get established then see how these plants produce for you. If your fruit trees or fruit shrubs do well then move on to another variety. Plan ahead of time knowing that in the long run you plan on adding more fruit trees and fruit shrubs to your fruit garden leaving ample space for future fruit plants.
The benefits of growing your own fruit plants, once they have become established, is you won't have to worry about planting new ones every year. Your plants will continue to produce fruit for you time after time provided you maintain your fruit garden on a regular basis. Be sure to prune, water and fertilize when necessary.
The time you spend correctly planting these plants in your fruit garden and maintaining them will more then pay off for you in the years to come.
There's nothing better than fresh from the garden produce, and hopefully these ideas will help you start an easy vegetable (and fruit!) garden.