| Vegetable Garden Basics |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-402 |
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Q: Can you give me some tips on planting vegetables? I also want to know how to keep away rabbits and other pests. A: A vegetable garden is a great way to grow your own ingredients for the perfect salad. Here are some suggestions. - Tomatoes are a great choice for beginning or experienced gardeners. Like most vegetables, for good growth plant tomatoes in a location where they'll receive a lot of sunlight.
- When preparing holes for planting tomatoes, add some organic compost before placing the plant. This will help the plant get a good, healthy head start on growth.
- Purchase healthy tomato plants from your garden center. Make certain to select plants in which the root-ball is healthy, loose and not root-bound (figure A).
- Carefully place tomato plants in your pre-dug holes, and fill in around the root ball with loose dirt. Use your hands or a shovel to tamp the dirt down to secure the plant upright (figure B).
- Use wire tomato-plant cages (figure C) to support the plant as it grows throughout the season. If you wish, you can secure branches of the plant to portions of the cage using twist-ties.
- To protect the base of the plant from rabbits and other four-legged pests, wrap the base of the cage with chicken wire.
- Peppers are another great addition for your garden. They're easy to grow, and thrive well in good soil and with plenty of sunlight.
- Lettuce can be grown from seeds (figure D). Loose-leaf varieties can be grown in about four to five weeks. Tighter-leaf varieties take a while longer to reach maturity.
- Break up and till your soil, and plant lettuce in rows. Sprinkle and spread the seeds thinly along the row, spreading them on top of the soil (figure E). If your lettuce is planted to thickly, you may need to come back and thin it out later in the season. Once the seeds are spread on the soil, sprinkle them lightly with water to initiate germination.
- Carrots can be grown from seed using similar planting methods. They reach maturity in about two months. Sprinkle the seeds thinly on tilled ground, then water them. Follow the directions that come with the seeds you purchase since there may be variations in requirements among plant species.
- Use plastic mesh -- available from your garden center -- to protect new growth from rabbit damage.
- Planting marigolds (figure F) among the vegetables in your garden is another way to help deter pests.
Q: How can I weed out unwanted ground cover? My front yard is covered entirely in clover. What do I have to do to get grass? A: For small patches of clover, you can use broad-leaf herbicide. If your entire yard is covered, you'll probably need to start with a chemical burn to kill of the clover. Then start from scratch, planting a cool-season or warm-season grass.
Q: I have a huge oak tree that covers my backyard in shade. How do I treat the grass to make sure it grows? A: Keep the leaves around the tree raked up. A buildup of fallen leaves can choke out the grass. You may want to consider re-seeding your lawn with a cool-season or warm-season grass such as rye grass or fescue.
Q: How do I keep birds from picking at the sphagnum in my hanging baskets? A: Birds can be persistent in this behavior, and there's not much that can be done to deter it. You might try using a coconut liner to help protect the contents of the planter.
RESOURCES :
The Big Book of Kitchen Gardens: A Guide to Growing Vegetables and Herbs
Time-Life Books Inc.
Website: www.timelife.com
Kitchen Gardens: Beyond the Vegetable Patch
Book By Carole Turner
Out of Print
(Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, 1998)
ASIN: 1889538051
How to Cook Garden Vegetables
Model: 0936184345
Author: Editors of Cooks Illustrated
(1999)
Boston Common Press
Boston, MA 02445
Phone: 617-232-1000
Email: webmaster@bcpress.com
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