Small Simple Garden

I found this article on Sunset. Great little Starter Garden

You don't need lots of space to grow herbs and vegetables. At Sunset's headquarters, test-garden coordinator Bud Stuckey planted this organic vegetable garden in four raised beds, each 4 feet square and made of 2-by-6 composite lumber called Trex.

Before planting, he double-dug all beds, turning the soil to a depth of about 22 inches, then amended it with compost. Here's what we grew and liked.

QUADRANT 1: 'Blue Lake' bush beans, lettuce (dark red leaf, 'Red Grand Rapids', and dark 'Lollo Rosso' ― located in the shade of the beans' obelisk to prevent bolting), 'Bolero Nantes' carrots (between the lettuce plants), and peppers ('Golden Summer', 'Ariane', and 'Purple Beauty').

QUADRANT 2: 'Celebrity' and 'Early Girl' tomatoes, 'Dark Opal' basil, 'Long Red Cayenne' peppers, 'Sun Gold' cherry tomato, and sweet basil.

QUADRANT 3: 'Ambassador' zucchini, Japanese eggplant, 'Orange Bell' peppers, and sweet basil.

QUADRANT 4: Mostly herbs. Chives, English thyme, golden lemon thyme, parsley (triple curled and Italian), nonbolting rau ram (Vietnamese cilantro), savory, and a few 'Inferno' peppers. 'Blue Horizon' ageratum and white sweet alyssum surround the bed.

Seeds and seedlings

You can buy seedlings of many vegetables at nurseries. Or order seeds by mail; the following companies sell seeds of healthful fruit and vegetable varieties.

A Beginner's Vegetable Garden

If you're a beginner vegetable gardener, remember this: It's better to be proud of a small garden than to be frustrated by a big one!

One of the common errors for beginners is planting too much too soon and way more than anybody could eat or want. Unless you want to have zucchini taking up residence in your attic, plan carefully. Start small.

The Very Basics

Here are some very basic concepts on topics you'll want to explore further as you become a vegetable gardener extraordinaire:

• Vegetables love the sun. They require six hours (continuous, if possible) of sunlight each day, at least.
• Vegetables must have good, loamy, well-drained soil. Most backyard soil is not perfect and needs a helping hand. Check with your local nursery or county extension office about soil testing, soil types, and soil enrichment.
• Placement is everything. Like humans, vegetables need proper nutrition. A vegetable garden too near a tree will lose its nutrients to the tree's greedy root system. On the other hand, a garden close to the house will help to discourage wild animals from nibbling away your potential harvest.
• Vegetables need lots of water, at least one inch of water a week. In the early spring, walk around your property to see where the snow melts first, when the sun catches in warm pockets. This will make a difference in how well your vegetables grow.
• Study those seed catalogs and order early.

Deciding How Big

A good-size beginner vegetable garden is 10x16 feet and features crops that are easy to grow. A plot this size, planted as suggested below, can feed a family of four for one summer, with a little extra for canning and freezing (or giving away).

Vegetables that may yield more than one crop per season are beans, beets, carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce, radishes, rutabagas, spinach and turnips. For the plan below, your rows should run north and south to take full advantage of the sun.

Make your garden 11 rows of 10 feet each of the following veggies:

• Tomatoes — 5 plants staked
• Zucchini squash — 4 plants
• Peppers — 6 plants
• Cabbage
• Bush beans
• Lettuce, leaf and/or Bibb
• Beets
• Carrots
• Chard
• Radish
• Marigolds to discourage rabbits!

Leave 2 feet between bush beans, 1/2 foot between bush beans and lettuce, and 1 foot between all of the rest.

(Note: If this garden is too large for your needs, you do not have to plant all 11 rows, and you can also make the rows shorter. You can choose the veggies that you'd like to grow!)

If you're interested in planting potatoes, just remember that tomatoes and potatoes are not ideal companions and need "distance."

http://www.almanac.com/content/beginners-vegetable-garden

2011 Garden Prep

2011 is here. February is close and that means Garden Cleanup - Prep - Bareroot plants and early starts!