The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starting a vegetable garden
Some patience and smart tactics are required to get the most out of your garden space.
From getting fertile soil to timing your crops carefully.
One hundred pounds of tomatoes from just 100 square feet. Twenty pounds of carrots from 24 square feet. Delicious vegetables from a 15-by20-foot plot. Believe it or not, it’s not impossible to grow your own vegetable garden with yields of this nature. All that’s required is some patience and smart tactics to get the most out of your garden space. Follow these tips and tricks to plan the vegetable gardening of your dreams. Develop a practical plan. The first step to growing a healthy garden is marking off exactly where you want the beds to go. Consider the size, shape and location of your garden to figure out the best setup for you. Keep in mind that it can always be changed over time if necessary.
Plant in raised beds with rich soil.
Expert gardeners agree that building up the soil is the single most important factor in pumping up yields. A deep, organically rich soil encourages the growth of healthy, extensive roots able to reach more nutrients and water. The result: extra-lush, extra- productive growth above ground.
The fastest way to get that deep layer of fertile soil is to make raised beds. Raised beds yield up to four times more than the same amount of space planted in rows. That’s due not only to their loose, fertile soil but also to efficient spacing. By using less space for paths, you have more room to grow plants.
Round out the soil in your beds. The shape of your beds can make a difference, too. Raised beds become more space-effi- cient by gently rounding the soil to form an arc. A rounded bed that is 5 feet wide across its base, for instance, could give you a 6-foot-wide arc above it. That foot might not seem like much, but multiply it by the length of your bed and you’ll see that it can make a big difference in total planting area. Aim to plant crops in triangles rather than rows. To get the maximum yields from each bed, pay attention to how you arrange your plants. Avoid planting in square patterns or rows. Instead, stagger the plants by planting in triangles. By doing so, you can fit 10% to 14% more plants in each bed. Just be careful not to space your plants too tightly. Some plants won’t reach their full size — or yield — when crowded. Overly tight spacing can also stress plants, making them more susceptible to diseases and insect attack. Try climbing plants to make the most of space. No matter how small your garden, you can grow more by going vertical. Grow spacehungry vining crops-such as tomatoes, pole beans, peas, squash, melons, cukes and so on — straight up, supported by trellises, fences, cages or stakes. Growing vegetables vertically also saves time. Harvest and maintenance go faster because you can see exactly where the fruits are. Fungal diseases are also less likely to affect upward-bound plants, thanks to the improved air circulation around the foliage. Choose the right pairings. Interplanting compatible crops saves space, too. Consider the classic Native American combination, the “three sisters”: corn, beans and squash. Sturdy cornstalks support the pole beans, while squash grows freely on the ground below, shading out competing weeds.
Other compatible combinations include tomatoes, basil and onions; leaf lettuce and peas or brassicas; carrots, onions and radishes; and beets and celery.
Covering the beds to extend your season.
Adding a few weeks to each end of the growing season can buy you enough time to grow yet another succession crop — say a planting of leaf lettuce, kale or turnips — or to harvest more end-of-theseason tomatoes.
To get those extra weeks of production, you need to keep the air around your plants warm (even when the weather is cold) by using mulches, cloches, row covers or cold frames.