Getting started with a vegetable garden
Lots of people sheltering at home are thinking about planting a vegetable garden. It offers more than food: Growing vegetables is a family activity, gives everyone a reason to get out in the fresh air, provides exercise and saves money.
Homegrown vegetables are delicious not only for their freshness, but also because you can choose what to grow based on flavor rather than commercial qualities.
Plus, growing vegetables is easy to do organically, without pesticides or even chemical fertilizers.
Here are some basics for getting started.
For the paths, all you need is any weed-free, organic material, such as wood chips, wood shavings, sawdust, straw or pine needles. Lay down just enough to hide the paper.
The advantage of this nontraditional method of preparing the soil is that it’s quicker, less disruptive to soil life and results in fewer weeds in the weeks to come.
Vegetables can be divided into those that thrive in cooler weather and those that thrive in warmer weather. Coolweather vegetables can be planted outdoors a few weeks before the average date of the last killing frost. Warm-weather vegetables can be planted outdoors about a week after that last frost date.
Within each of these categories are vegetables whose seeds you plant directly in the garden, and those that require so long a growing season that you need to purchase transplants (seedlings) for planting. Putting all this together for some common vegetables breaks down this way:
■ Cool-weather vegetables for seeding directly in the garden: lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula and peas;
■ Cool-weather vegetables planted as transplants: broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts;
■ Warm-weather vegetables for seeding directly in the garden: beans, corn, cucumber, okra and squash; and
■ Warm-weather vegetables planted as transplants: eggplant, pepper and tomato.
Now you’re on your way to great-tasting vegetables, plus the other benefits afforded by a backyard vegetable garden.
EDITOR’S NOTE: