I want a small vegetable garden in my backyard. How large of a bed should I need and should I put it in a full-sun spot or a shadier area?
Keeping in mind that this is a small garden, what would be the best way to dig it? I'm not afraid to do some manual labor -- in fact, I like it. What tools will I need to till the ground? There's only grass there and the soil may be clayey.
I'd like to grow some herbs like rosemary, mint and basil. I'd also like to have strawberries, tomatoes, garlic and a few other easy crops. What others would be good for beginners?
Also, if there are any decorative flowers or plants that would make the garden look nice as well as functional, let me know.
I live in USDA hardiness zone 6b, meaning the average temperature 0 to -5 degrees F.
I want to dig a veggie garden. Any tips and tricks?
I always recommend a raised bed garden, regardless of size (assuming that one doesn't have a half-acre to till).
Our last garden area was small - about 8x20. We dug/leveled and surrounded it with two rows of landscape blocks. Filling that with a combination of black dirt and compost (some sand and peat) gave us a good total of about 10-12 of tillable soil; deep enough for root crops.
We just used a garden fork and shovel to turn over the ground, although I had occasionally rented a small tiller to turn in some rough compost at the end of the season.
Always go for an area with the most sun you can get; you can always erect sun shade material if need be.
For small gardens (which includes our 8x20) I discourage people from growing things that need a lot of space, such as sweet corn, squash, melons, etc. It's just not worth it for what you'll get in yield.
Most common things we'd plant would be:
- one or two cherry tomato plants
- a couple sweet pepper and/or hot pepper plants
- a trellised Asian cuke plant or two.
- Multiplying onions (similar to green onions)
- herbs like oregano, thyme, basils, chives and garlic chives.
- lettuce greens.
As far as decorative flowers go, you can have them in separate pots around the garden, atop the landscape blocks, or hanging from iron plant hangers, and use the garden space for mostly veggies.
Strawberries are often more trouble than they're worth, as they are prone to a lot of pest problems.
Hope that helps you a bit.
Reply:You sound like you know what you're doing. Find a garden site on the web. I'm no gardner so I can't give advice. Good Luck!!
Reply:first off, buy a 3 or 4 pronged digging fork with a long handle...it's the best for working small (or large) areas of soil. Then amend the soil with a good organic matter such as compost, mushroom, or other. If you are going to plant strawberries, keep them in a raised bed away from your other plants, or they will take over. Tomatoes are easy and require little care if planted in the right place (lots of sun). I have amazing tomatoes grown in pots and move them frequently to the most sunny parts of the garden in the summer for the most light. If you have a small space, dont forget about crops that you can plant in the spring, and then again in the fall, ie...beans, peas, beets, lettuce, carrots, cabbages. You can get two harvests in one year...good luck. I would recommend growing your herbs in pots so you have more room to grow vegetables. Herbs can be invasive. As far as flowers are concerned, again stick to pots. I live in zone 5 and fill pots with colourful flowers and then place them in the vegetable garden to add depth and colour....the cool thing is you can move them around
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Reply:Start with Roundup and then the other answers are great it will save many hours of weeding
Reply:You need a good spading fork and shovel. You also may wish to incorporate some compost and manure into the garden when you dig it. Depending upon your soil, it is best to blend this in at the time of digging, then wait a couple of weeks before you plant to let the weather break the soil down and the rains make it pliable and to water the nutrients from the compost in. Heavy, clay soil benefits from this greatly. Most vegetables need full sun.
Depending upon how much room you have, you could mark your gardens off to workable sizes such as 6 or 8 feet by 3 or 4 feet, so that you can easily harvest when your vegetables become ripe; much like raised bed gardening. Or you can plant traditionally in rows and harvest as you go along.
A good source for information is Garden Web, which answers many questions and is very helpful to both experienced and new gardeners. Just type it into your browser, you will find lots of info on just about any plants or types of gardens you could wish. There are also informational articles on areas of gardening according to region.
Reply:go to www.vegatablegardens.com
Reply:I started this way as well. I dug it with spade and claw shovel. U can test the soil or just mix in fertilizer and planting soil , mulch some regular nutrients exist if it hasnt been cultivated before. I suggest for small spaces plant in squares instead of the traditional rows for higher yeild, and do some homework for what u chose to plant some grow well alongside each other and provide what the other lacks. Full sun is best for veggies, especially somewhere that gets early sun to dry off overnight dew to prevent disease and mildew as well as water spot burns
Reply:Potatos and corn are really easy. Both require direct sunlight and they dont have to be very big. I stock of corn will yield about 3 to 4 ears of corn. 1 potato plant will yield between 4 to 8 potatos. So, you dont need to plant many. As a child it was very fun for my father, brother and I to go out to the garden and dig potatos out. My dad would use a spade and get the roots open, and then my brother and I would dig the potatos out. It was very fun. I plan to start a garden this year for my children as well.
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