How to start a Kitchen garden?
Have
you ever considered growing your own vegetable garden? Perhaps you may not know
how to grow one, you may think there is no time, you may think there is no
space to plant. The reasons may be too long. But look at the expression of
vegetable garden owners. “ there is an intense flavor in my home grown
vegetables” “They are fresh and delicious” “No pesticides”” Organic”
“Self-reliant” “satisfaction of eating your own produce is immense” “I love
peace and solitude in my garden” “Look at the miracle of a tiny seed growing to
big plant” “It revitalize the energy, be with nature, what a privilege!”
“Bye-bye to frequent illness, and avoid diabetes, and cancer” "I am
happier and healthier now" Do you want to be happy and healthy as these gardeners?
 |
Michelle Obama.
She learned first how to garden and then started teaching
gardening to students in White house garden |
You
don’t require rocket science to become a good gardener. A little thirst for
knowledge, patience, and love of nature will make you master gardener.
Start small
One
of the common errors beginners do is planting too much too soon without
knowing how, when and what to grow. It is
better to be a proud small gardener than a frustrated big one. So start small.
Tips
to start
1. Location. Select a sunny
location. Vegetables require 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. The more the sunlight they receive, the
greater they grow well.
2. Soil. Plant in good soil.
Read the detailed portion.
3. Space your crops
properly.
Plant them in in required distance. Follow and planting
space guide on seed packets. Plants too close
may not grow well due to lack of
sunlight, water air and nutrition.
4. Use good quality
seeds
 |
| Swiss Chard |
The life of any garden is in the soil. Rich soil
consists of humus or organic matter which will provide pockets or “pore space”
for air and water.
When new homes
are built or during construction the rich organic top soil is removed by
machine and bottom soil from the hard pan are exposed. The first step is to
remove the hardpan soil and add 2 ft of top soil or add some organic matter on
top.
Take care of soil, soil will take care of the
plant.
The most important resource in any garden is the soil,
in which the plants grow. Any soil may
support plant, but good soil increase the health, strength and beauty of the
plant. Fertile soil is well-drained, aerated and rich in organic matter rich in
micro-organisms and bacteria. It should help water retention, nutrient
retention; provide plant food, support
and thermal insulation. Digging
will improve drainage, and adding organic matter will improve the soil texture
and beneficial bacteria.
There are different soil types.
There are sandy, clay, loam, peat and silty soil
Type
of soil
|
Problems
|
How to improve
|
Clay
|
Very
slow to drain water, heavy and difficult to work. Surface cracks in dry
weather
|
Improve
drainage, Dig and add organic matter, add lime,
|
Sandy
|
Light
and very free. Drains very fast and nutrients are drained fast.
|
Add
organic matter and fertilizer
|
Loam
|
None
|
Add
organic matter and fertilizer if/ as
required
|
Peat
|
Very
acidic, slow to drain. Lacks nutrients. Add lime as required to control PH
|
Improve
drainage. Add lime
|
Silty
|
Soil
is slow to drain, heavy and difficult to work like clay. Surface cracks in
dry weather
|
Dig
to add organic matter. Fertilize as required.
|
The soil pH
 |
| Kale |
The degree of acidity and alkalinity (the pH) of the
soil determines the nutrients absorption by the plant. The soil acidity and
alkalinity are measured on a scale of pH ranging from 0 to 14. A pH below
indicates acid soil and above 7 is alkaline. A pH of 7 is neutral. Most plants
grow in between 5.5 and 7.5 pH.
How to improve the soil
Humus or organic matters are essential to improve soil
and sustain plant growth. It is the life
of the soil By adding organic matter regularly will improve drainage,
fertility, and increase water retention of the soil. The decomposing of the
organic matters will improve bacteria and microorganism of the soil. To keep the soil fertility apply organic
matters regularly like composts, dry
leaves, wood mulch, and coir pit, leaf cuttings, grass clippings etc. to soil.
Producing your own compost from household waste will give you manure as
well as solve the problem of waste. To
maintain the same level of fertility, it should be remembered, “Whatever comes
out of soil should go back to the soil”. Or else it will lead to depletion.
1) Garden hand fork
 |
| GARDEN TOOLS |
2) Trowel
3) Garden fork
4) gloves
5) Homi digger ( A very good Korean garden tool)
6 ) Pruning scissors
7) Water can
Plants.
Decide
what you want to grow. Categorize your requirements.
1. Herbs- Mint,
Parsley, celery, coriander, oregano, rosemary
2. Leaves- Kale, Swiss
chard, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, spinach
3. Roots- Potatoes,
beet root, carrot, radishes.
4. Beans- bush beans,
pole beans, broad beans.
5. Onions, garlic,
shallots, chives
6. Tomatoes- Cherry
tomato, Roma, medium, big.
7. Squash and pumpkin,
zucchini,cucumber
8. Others: Chilly, capsicum,
red spinach, bitter gourd
9. Fruit trees. Plum,
apple, blueberry, strawberry, grapes, raspberry.
Designing
a vegetable bed
Making a raised veg garden.
 |
| Raised bed structure |
Raised bed veg garden
solves a lot of problems. It warms up even quicker in winter, reduce
weeds and stops roots from other trees . It keeps well drained soil rich of
oxygen for the roots.
Don’t make your bed more than 4
feet wide. You can easily reach the
garden from outside without stepping inside the wee drained soil.
How to make a raised bed? See
the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--i7Cv8ffA
Container garden. Please see separate chapter.
Watering plants
Watering is crucial to the plants for their growth,
health and prevention of disease. Air temperature, soil type, cloud cover,
wind, natural precipitation, and plant maturity all determines the amount of
water and how often you will need to water.
It is better to water in the morning before day warms
up. If watering in the evening the water or humidity remains on the foliage and
if temperature drops down below 12 Deg C it will damage the leaves, and
promotes fungus and other diseases.
Saturate the roots
Water the soil. Soak fully the roots not the leaves.
Soaking will promote the roots to go deeper and save the plant from draught.
Over watering may result in draining the nitrogen from the soil.
Insulate soil with mulch or organic matter like straw,
hay etc. to hold the moisture and prevent weeds.
Foliar feeding
It is better to be done in the morning.
You can do wonders. Gardening improves your happiness, health and wealth as well as your family and community. Your contribution can change the world. Wish you happy gardening.
For further Reading. See karshakan school
https://www.facebook.com/groups/603613809690378/
Click "Discussions" to see the videos.
 |
Frozen home grown fruits ( grapes and gold plum)
for winter smoothies and juice
|
Use a hoe to form 3 inch deep furrows spaced 8 inch apart.
Space cloves 5 inches apart, and cover with 2 inches soil on top. 
Avoid too much watering after the flower bulb is formed. The
deep roots will collect water. Clear any humus that can create fungus especially close to the bulb. If the
bulb is planted too deep that may cause fungus on the bulb. 
Cut the scapes ( flower)
when they emerge from the from
the topmost leaves just as they
begin to curl. Removing scapes
encourages the bulbs to grow bigger.
