Before rushing ahead and starting a new vegetable garden, there are a couple of factors to consider. You should first decide what you are going to plant, how big a patch for each type of vegetable, whether you will just plant once, or whether you will make staggered plantings, for a longer duration of crops. Then you need to work out how big this vegetable garden needs to be, where you will put it, whether it gets enough sun and rain, whether it needs to be fenced off, to keep animals out, whether you are going to use fertilizer and chemicals, or if you want to stay away from the chemicals and try organic gardening, with natural substances.

If you plan your vegetable garden carefully, plant properly and care for as best you can, you will reap huge benefits from it. It can actually be made into a beautiful and harmonious feature, of the general garden scheme and lend a touch of “homeliness,” that no shrubs, borders, or beds can ever produce.

Realizing that the vegetable plot can be incorporated into the garden, there is no need to feel restricted, to some part of the yard, merely because it is out of sight, behind the barn, or garage. It need not be an eyesore. In the average, moderate sized yard, there might not be much choice, as to whereto situate your vegetable garden, but there may well be enough choice, as to where to position it, taking in to account factors such as exposure, protection and convenience. Obviously the vegetable garden is better close to the kitchen, than at the furthest end of the yard. It may seem, that a difference of only a few hundred yards, will mean nothing, but if you are depending on having a few spare moments, in between other chores, for working in your patch and for watching the growing of many vegetables, then the matter of convenient access, will be of much greater importance. When you have had to make a dozen time wasting trips, for forgotten seeds or tools, or if your feet have ended up soaking wet, by going
out through the dew drenched grass, will you realize fully, how important the correct location is.

When considering your vegetable garden, the thing of first importance, is to consider selecting a spot, that will yield you happiness and delicious vegetables, all summer, or even for future years, is the exposure. Try to select a spot, in your yard, that gets early sun and holds it for most of the day, that slopes a little, to the south, or east, and that is out of the direct path, of the chilling north and northeast winds. If a building, or even an old fence, protects it, from this direction, your garden will be very grateful and yield better crops. If it is not already protected, then use a board, a fence, or a hedge of some low-growing shrubs, or young evergreens, to afford some sort of screening. The importance of having such a means of protection, or shelter is usually underestimated by the amateur.

It is highly unlikely, that you will not find a perfect spot, with ideal soil, all ready for planting. All except the very worst of soils, can be prepared, nourished and improved, to a very high quality, especially as it is only a relatively small area, that needs to be worked. Large tracts of soil that are almost pure sand, and others so heavy and mucky, that for centuries they lay uncultivated, have frequently been brought, in the course of only a few years, to where they yield, annually, tremendous crops, on a commercial basis. So do not be discouraged, if you have poor soils. Correct treatment of the existing soil, is much more important, and will still produce healthy vegetables. In fact, poor soils, properly worked, will yield better results, than better soils, that are neglected. 

The ideal soil for a vegetable garden, is a rich, sandy loam and the fact cannot be stressed too often, that such soils usually are made, not found. There are four all-important factors, concerning your garden’s food requirements. They are soil, cultivation, moisture and temperature.

To explain the word “Rich,” the dictionary explains it as full of plant food, nourishing, fertile. Hardly any soils, in long inhabited communities, remain naturally rich enough, to produce big crops. They are made rich, or kept rich, in two ways. First, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food, stored in the soil, into available forms and second, by adding plant food, such as compost, fertilizer, or manure to the soil, from outside sources.

“Sandy” means a soil containing enough particles of sand, so that water will pass through it, without leaving it pasty and sticky, a few days after a rain. Loose and aerated, in other words, or light enough, so that a handful, under ordinary conditions, will crumble and fall apart readily, after being squeezed in the hand. It is not necessary that the soil be sandy in appearance, but it should be friable, in it’s properties.

“Loam” is a rich, friable soil, according to the dictionary. That hardly covers it, but it does describe it. It is a soil, in which the sand and clay are in proper proportions, so that neither greatly predominate, and is usually dark in colour, from repeated cultivation and enrichment. Such a soil, even to the untrained eye, even seems to look, as if it would make things grow. It looks healthy. It is remarkable how quickly the whole physical appearance, of a piece of well cultivated ground, can change. It can lose it’s good qualities very easily, but can be restored back to pristine condition, with a little work.

Now that you have all the facts, select the best spot, mark out the beds, work the soil, plant the seeds, care well for the crops and you will soon be eating your own fresh vegetables, out of your garden, which will be your pride and joy. Remember to plant taller vegetables and those that need support, along the perimeters, or up against the fence.

If you are one of those who dislike chemicals and prefer natural remedies in your garden and if you love the country living, then get this book “Home And Garden, Country and Rural Life”. It covers garden topics, as well as wildlife, nature and other pastimes. If you are interested in being eco friendly and protecting the environment and if you are sick of the rat race and dream of relaxing in the rural country environment, then you should read this book on the good life. Titled Home And Garden - Country And Rural Life, it will show you how to best enjoy your garden, the birds and bees, how to raise chickens and goats and even how to bake your own bread. Change your lifestyle, by reading this book. Take a look here http://dersalsites.com/hag/  

Sally Robson is an up and coming, South African internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success on the internet. She and her husband Derek, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. She also has a passion for gardening.

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For more articles and advice on gardening topics, visit Sally’s website at http://www.dersalsites.com/gardening/  and her blog at http://dersalsites.com/sallysgardeningtips

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