How to start a vegetable garden

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.

 Garden  Tools.

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