The arrival of spring brings rising temperatures and longer daylight hours, perfect conditions for starting a backyard vegetable garden.
Growing your own vegetables is a great way to eat local, organic products. Home gardens also benefit the planet as they are less taxing on the soil and the food doesn’t need to be transported. Vegetable gardens add diverse plant life to surrounding ecosystems, providing flowering plants for pollinators and promoting healthy soil by preventing compaction, according to SoilAssociation.org.
The first step to planning a vegetable garden is picking the right location. Sunlight is the biggest factor in this decision. Most produce benefit from having at least six hours of sunlight per day. However, if sunny spots are scarce, save them for fruiting plants, like olives. Leafy greens, like kale, can tolerate more shade and can survive with less sunlight.
Before planting, make sure to run a soil test to determine your soil’s acidity and nutrient makeup. You can bag or box soil samples from your yard and send them to a cooperative extension office to give you an idea of what to grow and whether you need fertilizer. A list of extension offices can be found on the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
After you have picked a location for your garden and ensured the soil is of sufficient quality, you need to figure out how much money you are willing to spend. Larger gardens will be more costly to set up and maintain, so it is important to make sure you have the available funds for your desired garden size. Your budget will determine whether you should sow seeds or buy baby plants known as starts.
Once you have determined your budget and garden size, you may want to invest in pest prevention. You can prevent burrowing animals, like groundhogs, from digging into your garden by staking fences deep into the soil. You can keep out deer and other nibblers by making the fences high enough to deter them or by installing netting, according to AP News.
Now it’s time to figure out what vegetables to plant in your garden. Start by determining which plants can grow efficiently in your area by researching your region’s plant hardiness zone. Plant hardiness zones are defined by the USDA based on average annual extreme minimum temperatures, and they help gardeners select plants, particularly perennials, according to USDA.
Narrow down your growable plant options by determining which vegetables appeal to you the most. You can choose plants that grow easily and quickly, or you can go for vegetables that taste better. It is wise to incorporate a few flowering plants into your garden to attract pollinators and create a healthy garden environment.
Starting a backyard vegetable garden is a great way to support local ecosystems and improve your own diet.
