Basic Gardening

It's that time of year again...time to break out the shovels and tillers and get the garden in. Well, it's not quite time in my area but it's getting closer. Our average last frost is May 27th; and, as the bishop put it so well last night, to make up for the growing season starting late, it ends early too! Here's a list of gardening basics for what ever area you may be in.

1. Location

• Pick a spot that is the right size for you to tend. Something that will grow what you need, but no so big that you get discouraged. This could be a flower pot, container, flower bed, side lawn, or backyard.
• Pick a spot with plenty of sun. Most vegetables need about six hours of sun to grow and mature.
• Pick a spot with "good soil" or plan to improve it.
• Pick a place that has good access to water, and somewhere that you can watch and see your garden grow. Two reasons for this are: first, you will enjoy watching everything grow; and second, when you are looking at it, you will be fore likely to tend and take care of it.

2. Prepare the Soil

• Feed the soil with compost, old sawdust, dry leaves, or grass clippings. Add mineral fertilizer - 2 pints of 21-0-0 or 1 1/2 pints of 34-0-0 in a garden 10x10 feet. If you use organic matter, use 1/2 fertilizer.
• Cultivate the soil with a tiller or shovel. If you chose a spot where grass has been, be sure to get all the old grass out.

3. Plan Your Garden

• Consider spacing. Think about the vegetables you plan to plant and the space that they will need.
• Decide how much you need and can take care of. In other words, 10 zucchinin plants might be nine too many! it is always nice to share with others, but basically plant what you need and can take care of.
• Plan the planting time.
• Some veggies are cooler weather plants and can be planted before the last frost. These include peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes, etc...
• Other plants need warmer soil temperature in order to do well. Potatoes, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, etc. need to be planted later.
• If you want to try to plant these tender plants earlier to get a jump on the season, be prepared to protect them during the last few frosts. This can be done with empty milk jugs, "wall of water," plastic tunnels, etc...

4. Caring for the Garden

• Weeding. You might be lucky enough to never have to weed - but probably not. you can hand weed plants once they are big enough. Hoeing is a good method of weed elimination. You can use a rotor tiller if your rows are spaced wide enough. You can also use black plastic or ground cloth in some areas. "Round-Up" weed killer and "Amaze" granules also work, but you need to be very careful how you use them.
• Watering. Sprinkling can work when watering the garden. It doesn't soak deeply so you might need to water more often. If plants get too tall it might be hard to reach all areas of the garden. Soaking with a soaker hose or using the furrow method is preferred. Be sure to put plants that have similar watering heeds by each other.

5. Pest Control

• some plants are relatively safe from pests and others suffer with multiple plagues.
• Squash bugs can kill a plant over night. You can try to pick them off and smash them or use "Seven Dust" to protect the plants. This is a season long problem.
• Tomatoes can have tomato worms that need to be picked off and smashed when ever you see one. they can do major damage to a tomato crop.
• Beans struggle right from the start. As soon as they peek through the ground, they are chewed by bugs. Dusting the tiny plants with "Seven" dust will allow them to get growing.