The Easy Vegetable Garden Method

By: Tom Johnson..

Before you get too carried away planting your new vegetable garden, you need to draw a plan. This is how you maximize the space available. Do your plan as close to scale as you can and work out where you want your vegetables to go. Don't forget to leave space for access, such as paths.

Next, you need to decide which vegetables you wish to grow. Make a list of everything you'd like to grow, and then narrow the list down to those that you can easily get locally. For example, exotic lettuces may be expensive and hard to find, and tomatoes from grocery stores usually taste terrible.

Map out where you'd like all of your plants to go in your garden. Be sure to plan carefully, because improper planning can lead to disasters later. Once you develop your plan, it's very important to stick to it.

While you're still in the planning stage, study your vegetable choices to find out what each plant needs. Some prefer full sunlight, others will want part shade and then there are the ones that require full shade. Doing this will help you to decide on the positioning of your plants to give you the best possible harvest.

If space is a problem, here's one simple way to fully utilize the area you're able to use. This method is widely used in France. As an example, if you have carrots and spinach on your list you simply mix together a packet of each.

The thinking behind this method is that spinach grows a lot quicker than carrots, it also breaks up the soil and gives the carrots a better chance to grow. Just sow your mixed seeds into a 1/2 inch deep furrow and cover with soil.

In about four weeks you will be able to start harvesting your young spinach which in turn allows your carrots the space to grow. You'll have a good crop of juicy carrots by the time your spinach harvest is finished.

You can do the same thing with vegetables such as radishes, parsley and lettuce. All you have to do is select different vegetables that take separate times to reach harvest. The French have been known to plant lettuce, radishes and turnips together.

The radishes are harvested first and are finished by the time your lettuce are ready. In a similar manner, the turnips will only be starting to mature as the last of the lettuce are harvested. All your taller growing vegetables should be planted on the north side of your vegetable garden if your rows are in a east-west direction.You do this so that your shorter plants aren't in the shade from the shadows of the taller ones.

This is to ensure that the taller plants don't block the sunlight from reaching shorter plants. Corn is the tallest plant that is normally grown in vegetable gardens, so it should always be placed where it won't block sunlight from other plants.

You can also creatively use larger plants to shade shorter plants that don't do well in harsh sunlight. For example, you could grow delicate cool-weather spinach behind large, bushy beans or peas.

By being imaginative in where you place your plants, you can have vegetables you would otherwise think you can't grow. So don't think you're limited by the position of your vegetable garden, you can create the ideal growing conditions by being selective with your planting!