Vegetable Garden?

Does anyone here have a simple veggie garden? I'd love to start one this summer but I'm clueless as to where to start! Any tips? When do you begin?

My mom and MIL have amazing gardens in their backyard and they always have a wonderful fresh supply of vegetables! (I probably should just ask them for help too, lol!)

Re: Vegetable Garden?

My veggie garden is a little more than simple but maybe this info can help you. I usually start my seeds in the house in Spring (except corn and beans). If you start them in the house you will need to harden the seedlings by getting them used to the outside temps (when it warms up to 50s at night) a little at a time. If you try to plant the seeds directly outside, you will need to start them later when it is consistently warm.

I have two great books that have helped my garden a lot Square Foot Gardening and Great Garden Companions.
I have raised garden beds that I filled with a mixture of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 organic compost. By doing this you can plant your veggies very close together and yield a large crop. Companion gardening is planting certain veggies together that work together. For instance, corn, pole beans and squash should be planted together (pole bean vines winding up the corn) because one plant puts into the ground nutrients that the others need. By using the guidelines in companion gardening you will get a great crop. You can probably google this info if you don't want to get the books.

Sorry, I am making this sound complicated but it's really not. If you have any questions like what to plant with what, let me know and I can try to help you. I have several gardening books that I have read and my mom and aunt both have green thumbs Good luck!

ETA: Also, spread out the planting of your seeds. Plant some seeds then some more the following week and so on so they will reach maturity in stages and produce veggies over a longer period of time.

Message edited 2/24/2010 10:11:10 PM.