As you’ve probably figured out, my newest passion is gardening. I love the satisfaction of making a meal out of food I’ve grown myself. And nothing tastes better than a tomato, pea or cucumber right off the vine.
So how can you plant some veggies of your own?
You’ll need:
- 3′x3′ or larger piece of land
- Shovel
- Trowel
- Enough compost or fertilizer to cover the land at a 1″ thickness**
- Seeds of whatever you want to plant
- Gardening gloves (optional)
Remove any grass or weeds, then dig into the soil about 1′ deep to loosen it. Spread the compost/fertilizer evenly over the space and use the shovel to mix it with the soil.
Use the trowel to trace an even line across the plot, close to the edge. The depth will need to be between 1/4″ and 2″, depending on what you are planting. Plant the seeds as directed on the package, and loosely cover them with soil so that they are at the appropriate depth.
Edited to note: Make sure you water the area lightly right after planting!
Create and plant as many rows as you can fit in your space. You can use the spacing suggested on the seed package, but I’ve been experimenting with planting them closer. My research has told me that
If you are using a small space (and therefore don’t need to be able to walk between the rows in order to harvest), you can plant them at about half the distance called for on the package.
If you alternate a row of one plant (say, spinach) with a row of another (say, peas or beans), you can plant the rows even closer. Just make you check that the plants are compatible with each other…you don’t want them killing each other off!
Staggering the rows means you can put them closer together!
**Savvy Tip: Contact a local farm to see if they have any compost or fertilizer that you could take off their hands. That’s how we got our gardening compost for free!
I wish I could give more specifics, but it really depends on what you are planting. I can show you what I’ve done with some of mine, though, using my high-end, super-fancy Powerpoint pictures!
Plot 1:
- Green circles = peppers, staggered rows 8″ apart
- Green triangles = basil
- Red circles = tomatoes, staggered rows 1′ apart
Plot 2:
- Green circles = cucumbers, staggered rows 8″ apart, but I think this is too close
- Purple triangles = Thai basil, 6″ from cucumbers
- Green triangles = Genovese basil, 8″ from Thai basil
- Red diamond = cilantro
- Blue lines = spinach, rows 10″ apart, but I think they could be closer
Have you tried your hand at gardening? Do you have a ‘green thumb’ or ‘black thumb’?
Oh my thumb is oh so black. Mostly due to the horrible heat and groundhogs…or at least that’s what I’d like to think…my garden failed miserably this year!
I have gardened with my mom as a kid but I haven’t had a space of my own. I really want to do so next year. And I have those hanging plant things to grow on our porch.
You know, I work on an organic farm… but if faced with a patch of unbroken ground I’m not sure I could coax vegetables from it on my own. It’s actually kind of embarassing. So thank you for this! I know about harvesting, weeding, and seeding, but the in-betweens (as well as the very first steps) are sort of a mystery to me because they’re not part of my daily farm responsibilities. I very much do want to have my own vegetable garden some day when I have a house of my own.
I swear, you have the best job!
Yay!! Thank you! I’m bookmarking this as we speak. Do you think that it is too late to plant this season?
For some things, yes, but I did some more planting this past weekend! ‘Cold season’ crops should still be okay, like kale, Swiss chard, some lettuces, radishes, peas, etc.
Great tips Julie! My fiance and I planted a garden in March and we had little direction. We definitely planted too many seeds! But we got some beautiful sunflowers and some huge cucumbers.
I’ve had so much fun keeping up with you and your garden. I’m saving this post for next year, thanks for the hard work. My little balcony garden is doing well, but needs improvements before the next planting season.
Glad it will be helpful! I’ve been pretty much ‘winging it’ and sharing what I learn here this year, so even my garden could use some improvements next year!
i can’t wait to find an ithaca husband so that i can come be a farm hand at your garden
Check out Basil Downy Mildew Threatens at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128061773. I read that gardeners should space plants farther apart in sunnier areas to avoid this. And home gardeners are more affected because they don’t use the fungicides available to large growers. And darker leaf varieties appear more resistant. Good Luck with your wonderful garden!
I live in an apt. complex, so I can’t start my own garden. Jeff and I have definitely dreamed, though. We’ve even toyed with the idea of joining a community garden. Jeff has a green thumb. My grandfather used to plant tomatoes. They were wonderful.
In other news, your dessert pesto was AMAZING. I want a pound of it. Thanks.
No green thumb here :/ But I know who to go to when I finally take the plunge and make my own garden! Your garden skills are seriously impressive
Currently, I’m trying to grow herbs indoors in pots! Once we get our backyard fixed up, a lot of it will move outdoors. We’re picking up these old wine barrels to use as planters.
We’re also buying some worms to put into our compost contraption, and we’ll have plenty of black gold to share soon enough!
I love the look of wine barrels as planters! Now if I could only get my hands on some…
Square foot gardening is the best. I have two boxes I purchased at Square Food Gardening.They are really easy to make yourself. You can even make them higher so you do not have to bend over much. I have electrical conduit bent with mesh hanging for the cucumbers and peas to grow up. So much easier than trying to dig up my clay ground. You are right, nothing tastes better than a meal made picked fresh from your garden. Even apartment dwellers can have a garden.