Home vegetable gardening basics
As I prepare this article, winter has reminded us all that it is still here with a cold, cloudy and windy day. With that said, in about three months the majority of spring and summer gardeners will be busy at work planting seed and transplants in their garden spot. This is a great time to announce that on February 21st, UGA Extension Horticulturist, Bob Westerfield, will be at the Gordon County Agricultural Service Center for our annual vegetable gardening workshop.
Details will come out very soon, but if you wish to receive a flyer, contact our office by phone at 706629-8685, or email me at gbowman@uga.edu in order to receive more information. Today, I will be sharing information on vegetable gardening basics by way of a UGA publication by Bob Westerfield and by David Linvill, UGA county extension agent.
Why do we vegetable garden in the first place? There are many grocery stores in the area where you can buy basically any vegetable you choose. Well, for starters, vegetable gardening can be a healthy activity that can get you outdoors. Plus, it is very rewarding when you are able to produce your own food for personal use or sharing with family and friends. At my home, I have a few raised beds.
I find it rewarding myself to be able to harvest a vine ripen tomato to make a freshly slices tomato sandwich. I actually grew an eggplant this year. My youngest daughter, Lindsay, did a pretty awesome job preparing eggplant parmesan from the harvest. I will admit that vegetable gardening can be a fun hobby if you keep gardens small and manageable, but can take a lot of effort if the garden square footage is large.
The first vegetable gardening basic to consider is garden site selection. This can be tougher than it sounds if you are limited on space. You should find an area that provides eight to 10 hours of sunlight per day. Ideally, the garden should be near a house and a clean water supply. My raised beds are at the edge of my lawn, but close to a water spigot. There is some shade, but I do meet the sunlight amount recommendation. The spot needs to be welldraining of excess moisture with limited pre-existing weed issues such as nutsedge.
You should plan before purchasing seed and transplants. For small gardens, select those crops that you prefer the most and even consider using dwarf compact varieties that will produce your needed supply of vegetables on a few plants. You can even plan to use the garden space continuously per our information by planting another in season crop soon after the last harvest is completed.
When planting, your tall growing plants should be on the north or west side of the garden so they will not shade the lower growing plants. Keep records of where you plant items annually in the garden and use that information in make rotation decisions in the future. Crop rotation in the garden can help you manage disease pathogens. What garden varieties should you plant? When you purchase seed make sure you are buying from a reputable company.
The rule-of-thumb in saving seed is to not save your own seed unless it is from a unique and unavailable variety per Westerfield and Linvill. You should plant only recommended varieties for the bulk of your planting. There are new varieties on the market often. You may can try a few of any newer varieties to see how they work in your garden spot, but keep the bulk of the planting to those tried and true options. Many times, what you plant is based on personal preference and even generational history. When you purchase transplants, only select ones that appear healthy and free of disease and insects.
Do not forget to soil test. Now is a great time to soil test vegetable gardens. Soil testing is economical at $9 per sampling procedure. The goal of soil testing is to take out the guesswork in your liming and fertilization needs. Many soils in NW Georgia are more acidic or lower in pH. Fertilizing a low pH soil can result in less efficiently in the use of that fertilizer. If you soil test now and the pH is low, you can go ahead and lime at the recommended rate which will allow the lime to interact with the soil profile before planting season.
Mulch can be beneficial in a garden area. Mulch can help conserve moisture, reduce weeds and limit the number of times you need to cultivate. Straw, leaves, compost and pine straw can be good options. You just to make sure the mulch is herbicide free. Apply enough mulch so you have 2 to 4 inches of mulch after settling. Newspaper can also be used as mulch two to three layers thick around plants. You should apply 3 inches of straw or compost on top of the newspaper.