Master Gardener Vegetable Specialist Training Prepared by: Thomas LeRoy
1. Location of the garden. 2. Space available for planting the garden. 3. Your local planting zone, to determine planting times, vegetable varieties suitable to your area and first and last frost dates.
Desired items may include: Pathways Raised Beds Greenhouse Compost Bins Benches Water Features
Consider the amount of time that gardening will demand before you decide how large to make your vegetable garden. As a rough guide, figure on spending about 40 minutes to spade/till a 10 x 10 foot area. Allow 15 minutes per week to plant and 30 minutes per week to weed/cultivate an area this size. You'll also need to consider time needed for pest control, watering, harvesting, etc. Multiply these times by nine for a 30 x 30 foot garden. A well-planned and cared for 30 x 30 foot garden will yield enough produce for a family of four. If you also plan to can, or freeze your vegetables, you'll need a garden twice this size.
The tall crops such as peas, pole beans, tomatoes and corn, should be planted on the north end of the vegetable garden. This way they will not shade the rest of the vegetable crops. The center of the vegetable garden area, plant the medium sized crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, pumpkins and other mediums sized crops. At the very southern end of the garden, plant the low growing crops like radishes, carrots, beets, lettuce, onions and other low growing ones are planted.
Size Most gardeners are happier and more successful with a small garden than a large one. You can grow a lot of vegetables in a 10ft x 20ft or 20ft x 40ft garden. As the size of the garden gets much larger so does the time required to keep it cultivated and well cared for.
6 hrs sun Light 6 hours Garden Orientation Soil Access Drainage Proximity to Trees & Shrubs
Require bright sunlight Bean Eggplant Broccoli Okra Cantaloupe Onion Cauliflower Pea Cucumber Pepper Watermelon Squash Potato Pumpkin Tomato
As a general rule, vegetables that fruit (a flower forms, drops off and is replaced by a developing edible), like tomatoes, melons, squash and peppers, need at least eight to 10 hours of light a day in order to produce their crop; so reserve your brightest sites for them.
S The tall crops such as peas, pole beans, tomatoes and corn, should be planted on the north end of the vegetable garden. This way they will not shade the rest of the vegetable crops. The center of the vegetable garden area, plant the medium sized crops such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, and pumpkins. At the very southern end of the garden, plant the low growing crops like radishes, carrots, beets, lettuce, and onions.
S
Near the house. Easy to get to when harvesting. Accessible for weeding, cultivating, & staking plants. Close to water. May deter vermin.
Avoid locating the garden on a site where buildings with lead paint have stood; lead may be present in the soil in toxic amounts. Gardening where turf has been established, whether converted pastures or lawns, sometimes requires a great deal of preparation to eliminate grass, weeds, and soil insects.
Unwanted shade. Competition for water and nutrients. Site the garden at least 10 feet from any tree or shrub.
May indicate problems that need to be addressed Existing features sometimes have to be incorporated into the design
Wind protection is desirable in rural gardens. Prevents physical damage to plants. Reduces water loss. Preserves heat that may be lost through transpiration.
Make a list of all the vegetables you plan to grow. List them by plant family. Knowing the vegetable families will help in planning rotations. Sketch your garden site to scale if possible. Consider trellising to allow for more space and get fruit off the ground. Realize that trellising shades other plants so place them so that all plants capture as much sunlight as possible. Divide your garden into sections by plant family. Label the sections by family and by specific crop.
Mark the crops with an "S" or "T" to designate which plants will be seeded or transplanted. Figure out the days to maturity for each crop. Count off the days on your calendar from planting to harvest. Sometimes working backwards from harvest date makes planning easier. Mark the estimated planting and harvest dates on your garden plan. Some gardeners want certain crops to "come in" all at once for easy processing. For a continuous supply of vegetables all season, you may want to stagger some plantings.