Food gardening is still the biggest trend in gardening as more and more people, especially young families, try their hand at growing vegetables and fruit in their backyards.
Those who don't have backyards are growing food in tubs and containers -- call them "crops in pots" -- on a deck, balcony or patio, or renting a plot at a nearby community garden.
Where there's a will, there's a way. But if you are a newcomer to the world of food gardening, here are a few helpful tips, plus some recommendations about the best varieties to try growing, either from seed or from seedlings.
- You need sunshine and good soil.
To get a bumper crop, you need to grow your veggies and fruit in a spot that gets at least six hours of sunshine a day. You need healthy, crumbly, loamy, well-drained soil. Vegetables grow best in soil that is "sweet" or slightly more alkaline than acidic. Adding lime will help raise your soil's pH, the measure of acidity or alkalinity.
- Don't start too soon.
This is the most common mistake vegetable gardeners make. They sow seed into ground that is still too cold and wet. Find out when the soil in your area is workable. A simple test is to squeeze a handful of soil: if water runs out of it or it feels excessively moist and squishes into a hard ball, it is still too early to be in the garden.
- Start by growing easy crops.
Broad beans, pole beans, bush beans, peas, green onions, potatoes, spinach, radishes, beets, chard, kohlrabi and lettuce are all pretty much foolproof. Leeks, parsnips, garlic, zucchini and carrots take a little longer, but are also easy to grow. You can sow the seed for these or plant seedlings in the garden through May and June. Think twice about cabbage because it can be prone to pests and diseases. Broccoli and cauliflower take a little more skill.
- Start warm-season crops indoors.
Peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants can be started from seed indoors, then moved into the garden in June. You'll find seedlings for all these at garden centres in May if you don't want to nurse plants indoors. These do best grown in containers or raised beds or greenhouses.
- Always rotate crops.
This is no folksy theory; it's an important rule of vegetable gardening to reduce pests and diseases. Don't grow a crop in the same location two years running.
For instance, beans pump nitrogen into the soil and broccoli thrives on nitrogen-rich soil, so it's smart to grow broccoli where beans were grown the previous year. Onions like weed-free soil, so it's good to grow them after potatoes because the foliage of potatoes suppresses weeds.
The British have a way of remembering how to rotate crops every three years by using the mnemonic British Rail Late: B for brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi), followed by R for root vegetables (beets, carrots, parsnips), followed by L for legumes (peas, broad and runner beans.) Leeks, onions, chives and garlic go with legumes, which are followed by brassicas to complete the cycle.
- Put in the effort.
Food gardening requires time, commitment and effort. This may be a reality that eventually causes some time-starved gardeners to reconsider their initial enthusiasm.
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GARDENING LEGWORK
The following practices will lead to greater success:
- -Grow a range of plants. This creates a healthier, more balanced environment where pests and diseases are less likely to get out of control.
- -Monitor your crops regularly. Hand-pick greenfly and blackfly, slugs and cutworms. This is also the way to stay on top of weeds.
- -When you thin rows of radishes and carrots, always clear away your thinnings. Leaving them to rot on the ground next to healthy plants opens the door to disease.
