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"While I stood here, in the open, lost in myself, I must have looked a long time Down the corn rows, beyond grass, The small house, White walls, animals lumbering towards the barn. I look down now. It is all changed. Whatever it was I lost, whatever I wept for Was a wild, gentle thing, the small dark eyes Loving me in secret. It is here. At a touch of my hand, The air fills with delicate creatures From the other world." — James Wright, "Milkweed" 1) Choose a garden area that receives at least six hours of sun per day. Determine the plot size by imagining how many individual plants you want, then calculate that each one needs more than a foot in space to grow — more for tomatoes, less for carrots and herbs. (Cucumbers, melons, and squash need three feet.) 2) Using your digging fork, turn over the existing dirt to remove the grass. If you're going to build raised beds, install your boundary now, before adding any compost, by pressing the stone or wood pieces down firmly into the loose soil. Make sure the boundary is at least six inches high. Add four inches of compost and mix it thoroughly into the soil with your soil rake. Your bed should be moist, crumbly, and no deeper than about ten inches. If planting on ground-level, follow the same dirt preparation instructions as above, only separate your bed into raised rows about two feet wide, with a foot in between of low ground. This will allow you to walk in between, and will provide good drainage. Remember that good drainage means raised rows and beds dry out quicker, so watch the plants to make sure they're not wilting in the sun. 3) Water your empty garden before planting. Sprinkling lightly is too little, soaking it into a mud pie is too much. 4) Now choose your vegetables — ones that are right for this season and your climate. Nursery transplants will cost around $1.50-$2 each, so pick healthy ones. Here's a short list for planting in May and June for a medium climate past the last freeze: Tomatoes (celebrity or Roma), broccoli, lettuce, spinach, peppers, all kinds of summer squash, and any kind of herb. 5) A garden must have tomatoes — they're hardy, come in several varieties, and are big producers. A tomato crop for one household means at least four plants. Get some stakes or fencing to put around them; tomatoes are heavy feeders, tall growers, and need lots of support once the fruit gets heavy. 6) Using your hand trowel, dig out holes big enough to fit the little plants in the ground, even a little above the ground, so that there's a small mound around the stem. Pay attention to how big the plant will grow (read the label!) so as not to overcrowd it. If you're planting in rows, plant in clumps across rows, rather than putting all tomatoes in one row. 7) Spread mulch on all bare soil after planting — alfalfa hay is best for vegetable gardens, but if you don't like the rustic look, use large pine wood chips. 8) Water again. You'll notice after a while that the plants have settled a bit — it's a good thing you didn't dig too deep a hole! 9) Wait with salad spinner in hand for about six weeks to two months, weeding, checking for pests and disease, and watering all the while. Water when you think the dirt feels dry... and especially if the plants are wilting! Water every other day when the plants are very young so the roots don't dry out, and then later in the season, after they are stronger, water deeply every three to four days or less. Also, water in the early evening or early morning — if you do it at noon, the water will evaporate in the sun before it reaches the roots of your plants. Weed whenever you get the chance, but if you mulch, you shouldn't need to do it so often. Speaking of mulch, if you spread mulch over the soil, you won't need to add compost to your soil again until you retill and replant. 10) As your herbs grow taller and seem ready to use in your kitchen, snip off the tops first, making sure to trim off any flowers growing there — herbs go to seed pretty soon, but you can extend their production time if you nip that in the bud. [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
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