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Anyone do a veggie garden??

lily225lily225 member
in Eco-Friendly Family

For a lot of reasons, our first attempt at a veggie garden last year was a big fat flop. We are hoping to be a bit more successful this year.

Does anyone have any great blogs or websites that help you plan out a layout for your garden?? Does it really matter what is next to what as long as the spacing is correct?? 

We don't have the money to make raised beds this year (so sad about that) but I think I am still going to try to do a couple separate smaller beds (4x4 or 4x6 or something like that) since that's what I keep seeing recommended on different sites. 

Any other tips to get things going?? We are going to till up our plot and we finally have some fresh compost that is ready to be used that we will till in. We'll see how far that goes and maybe get some peat moss (right?). 

Thanks for anything you can think of!! :)

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Re: Anyone do a veggie garden??

  • humynonehumynone

    I've been veggie gardening for years. I actually do better with tilled earth, rather then in raised beds (less drying out). If you have the room to space things out, that's really the best way...and then you don't have to worry about what is next to what (unless you have light limitations due to nearby structures or trees shading the garden?). Smaller gardens sometime have to maximize space, where companion plantings come into play more.

    Soil can be really important. If you can, have a farmer or master gardener look at a handful of yours. Clay soils are some of the best to grow in, and with proper sand (for drainage) and compost (for nutrients)...it can be VERY good (think fertile crescent). Personally, I would go more with matured manure or compost for soil amendment (more nutrients then peat moss)...and if you have too much clay or no drainage you could also amend with sand (but if your soil is already fairly sandy, just stick to compost/manure).

     

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  • Nic&SusieNic&Susie

    It does not matter what you put next to what!  Just pay attention to vine plants like cucumbers as they can quickly take over (there are also bush varieties of cukes which do not take as much room).  

    As far as soil amendments go I would stick with composts.    I also have my garden in the ground as opposed to a raised bed.  It is far less expensive (dirt is not cheap) and takes a lot less water.  My parents put in raised beds because of their age and not being able to get down to the ground and they have to water almost daily.  A real pain when you have children and other responsibilities to take care of!

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  • Mystery2BMystery2B member

    What amendments (sand, peat, etc) you put in is based on the soil in the area you live. Where I grew up you absolutely did not put in sand - compost or manure are good things to stick to if you're not sure.

    When you're planning it out a good thing to consider is the height of the mature plants and direction of the sun, so you're not shading your whole veggie bed with the tall tomato plants on the east side shading the short herbs on the west for example.

    When we lived in Chicago (not too far from MI) plants that I remember doing really well include:

    tomatos, pumpkins (take a lot of space though), green beans, okra, swiss chard, summer squash, and herbs like basil

    Things that didn't do as well for us: cucumbers, onions (although other people had great luck with leeks so maybe it was just the variety we had)

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