It’s almost time to plant your vegetable garden! I do love vegetables! Growing your own food does take more work, especially during mosquito season. However, growing your own vegetables also saves you money, increases you physical activity, and allows you more control over your food.
Over the past 2 years I have been able to save about 40% of my annual grocery budget by growing my own vegetables, compared to 3 years ago, when I did not grow my own food. Gardening also adds to your exercise routine. A day in the garden will burn lots of calories. I usually set aside one day a week for gardening. Of course, spring requires more time in the garden, especially when I haven’t had time for fall bed preparation. Fortunately, this extra work load corresponds with the time when we all need to come out of our winter slump! And of course, growing your own food gives you more control over what you eat. You can choose to plant only what you love! With a little careful planning, you can provide for yourself through the winter months as well.
Ideally, you should start planning your garden in the fall and winter prior to planting. List every vegetable you like to eat and divide them into plant families. You will need a good reference book or go online for the information. I love Eliot Coleman’s book The New Organic Grower. You can read up on crop rotation, cultural needs of specific plants, green manures, and so much more. He also offers numerous great tips and guidelines. Lay out the beds on paper and create at least 8 plots so you can rotate your vegetables yearly by plant family. I recommend choosing a wide variety of veggies planted in smaller 30” by 10’ plots. Some staples like onions, carrots and potatoes should be grown in plots of about 10’ x 15’ and planted in rows for easier maintenance. Keep a few plots open to plant greens, radishes, peas, and beans in two weeks successions. This way you will have food throughout the season and into winter.
Consider planting as many perennial plants as possible, such as asparagus, chives, thyme, and strawberries. I love to plant berries and currants to make jams, jellies, and wonderful fruit sauces for ice cream and desserts. Raspberries and grapes tend to attract Japanese beetles so keep them in a separate area. Flowers for cutting are also fun when planted intermittently through the garden. Zinnias are my favorite, and Larkspurs are really snazzy, and many sunflower varieties add drama. To add color and interest, I like to pick veggies with interesting foliage color and texture like artichokes, Rouge D’Hiver Romaine lettuce, Ruby Perfection Red Cabbage, Redbor or Toscano Kale to name just a few. I also recommend a trip to your local garden center, or try Johnnyseeds.com. It is well worth the effort; you will find more than you bargained for.
As soon as you can, start a compost pile near your garden, and start amassing some tools. A garden fork, spade, diamond hoe, and rake can be purchased second hand, at local hardware stores, or online. Depending on the size of your garden, a small rototiller can be invaluable. Consider sharing the cost of purchase amongst friends or neighbors, or rent one from your local hardware store.
To feed a family of four, pick a spot about 40’ x 30’. If that already sounds like too much work, start with a smaller plot. A few raised beds might be all you need for a couple or a single person household. Cover the area with black plastic or rubber roofing to kill off the weeds and old grass. This takes about 2 months, so very early spring or the prior fall is best. You could also use a sod cutter or a sharp flat shovel to remove the grass if you missed the window for smothering the grass. Once your weeds and grass are gone, add a 3” layer of well rotted compost to your beds before tilling. You can till once the soil has warmed and is workable, usually April in the Madison area. After tilling up the garden, take three soil samples to your local County Extension office for analysis. Follow their recommendations for soil amendments, and try to use organic soil amendments when possible.
Start planting your garden following the directions on the plant label or seed packets. Save yourself lots of trouble later by mulching between the rows. I like to use strips of recycled rubber roofing material for the paths. I can move it around the garden easily and it kills off vigorous weeds without using herbicide. Clean straw also works well and can be tilled into the soil to add organic matter at the end of the season. Do not use hay, as you will bring in a plethora of weed seeds. Old leaves are great as well, provided you do not use oak or black walnut.
Maintaining your garden is important, especially if you start with a lot of weed seeds. Weeds can greatly diminish productivity, but you do not have to be obsessive about them. As long as you can get rid of the worst of them, such as Quack Grass and Canada thistle, prior to planting the rest should diminish over the years with regular cultivating or hoeing. The main goal is to prevent the weeds from flowering and producing seeds. If you plant densely enough, the weeds will have a hard time germinating. After the initial tilling, I try to till no deeper than 3 inches each subsequent year, so as not to disturb dormant weed seeds in deeper soil. Airborne seeds will become your biggest battle down the road. Seeding cover crops in open beds and between rows is another way to control weeds. Cover crops also add humus and are an excellent way to build soil health.
Beyond weeding, summer maintenance in the vegetable garden is minimal. Don’t forget to stake your tomatoes early, before they need it. Remove spent plants such as radishes and spinach that has bolted. If you have an outbreak of Japanese beetles, an organic treatment option is spraying Neem Oil onto the plants. You can also use beneficial nematode to eradicate Japanese beetles in the larval stage earlier in the season. After that, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Harvest regularly, water, and eat!
Of course, you can always join a CSA ( Community Supported Agriculture program) via the www.macsac.org website and get a wonderful box of seasonal organically grown veggies each week!
Watch for our fall article on storing vegetables for the winter
