Growing a Vegetable Garden

Spring is finally here...at least here in Kansas! I have decided to try growing my own vegetable garden here in the next few weeks so I have scoured the web in search of tips on how to proceed successfully. This will be a series of posts about the basics of gardening. So first things being first, lets start with location and sunlight.

1. The most important aspect of garden location is going to be sunlight. It is recommended that the spot get at least 6 hrs of sunlight (more is recommended). The type of sunlight also varies. There is a difference between morning sunlight and noon sunlight. You want to make sure that your veggies will be able to soak up as much of that noon sunlight as possible.

If you are putting a garden at your home, the south to south west side of the house is the best areas. Be aware of the shade from trees when you start to plant a garden. If you start in the fall when the leaves have withered, remember that in spring, they will be in full bloom and in the sun's way. There are some plants such as swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, Brussels spouts, and most plants from the brassicaceae family that do well without as much light.

2. The area where your garden is going to be placed should ideally be where water doesn't pool up and there is some protection from the wind. Wind protection will keep the soil from drying out and protect plants from the damage wind can cause. You don't want to place it in an area that gets no wind at all however. Fungi and bacteria thrive in areas that stay moist all the time.

You will want to make sure that your garden is not on a slope since rain will cause soil run off. If you must place the garden on a slope, make sure it is properly terraced. You may want to consider a raised bed if your soil is poor or if you want to place it in your front yard and not have it look funny.

Once you have picked out your location, you can pick out what you want to grow. Also, since I will be building a raised bed, that will be covered as well in the next post.