The first year you grow a vegetable garden, it's easy to have far too much of a good thing. There'll suddenly be an enormous amount of one crop, and soon your family will be complaining about the endless carrots they're forced to eat in every meal.
But there is a way to plan things out so you can enjoy a vegetable harvest all summer-long, and into the fall.
• Variety Look for varieties that produce crops at different points of the year. In one garden, you might plant both early, middle, and late tomatoes.You'll spend more on seeds, but this also ensures that if one variety doesn't do well in your soil or climate, you'll still have juicy tomatoes.
• Planting Rather than planting a whole seed packet at once, try planting successive batches. Every two weeks, sow another row. This way, their harvests will be similarly spaced out.
• Picking Crops like lettuces will last longer if you pick them at the right time and from the right place. Though you can start to harvest as soon as young leaves appear, you'll be better off waiting until the plant has developed a little more, and then just picking 3-4 leaves from the outside of the plant.
What are your tricks for planting a successful vegetable garden?
(Image: Carnwrite via Flickr licensed under Creative Commons.)
Related: Garden Month: The Weekend Gardener
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I staked my tomatoes last year with those spiral stakes shown in the photo. (although, mine were plain green not those great colors) I couldn't have been happier. I just pinched out the side shoots and made sure the stake spiraled around the main stem. Easy and good support.
view burrda2000's profile
Where can you find those spiral stakes?
view ADonuts's profile
ADonuts - I saw them at Lowes last night, but in the green, not the multicolored.
view cakekick's profile
Thanks!
view ADonuts's profile
It's important to know what your goal is before you start planting things. Do you want just enough to eat for supper a few days a week, or are you planning to put by the bounty of your garden? Also, choosing the appropriate varieties for what you plan to do with your veg will help you be more successful.
view Ether Maiden's profile
I'm starting my first garden next weekend. We've compiled a list of all the vegetables we'd like to grow, but I'm scared that it will be too much.
Anyone have any advice on editing?
We have about a 50'x25' plot of land, and we don't plan on using it all (not even close), but I"m worried that we'll go overboard and end up with too much of everything to split between 4 people.
view revolution9's profile
You can get colorful tomato spirals here.
view jarobinson1's profile
You can never have "too much" of things that freeze well. Corn, peas, carrots. Or things that keep in cold storage - onions, potatoes. The only things I plant with restraint are things that are meant for fresh summer eating only - zucchini, lettuce, and other things that don't keep well.
view spossberg's profile
If you grow too much you can donate the produce to a food pantry. Good luck.
view twosavoie's profile