Vegetable Garden Encyclopedia

Any gardener will tell you that gardening is one of the most absorbing and rewarding occupations you can undertake. Any gardener will also tell you probably loudly and at length that gardening requires patience, resilience, hard work,and a lot of planning. Paperwork is probably the last thing you have in mind when you think about growing your own vegetables. More likely you see yourself leaning contently on your spade as all sorts of lush, healthy plants shoot up in front of your eyes. The fact of the matter, though, is that gardening begins not with seeds and a spade but with paper and a pencil. A successful vegetable garden begins with a wellorganized plan of your garden space. Drawing a plan may not sound as exciting as getting outdoors and planting things. But if you don't spend the necessary time planning what to grow in your garden and when and where to plant it, you may spend the rest of the growing season correcting the mistakes you made because you didn't have a plan. It's a lot easier to erase a bed when it's a few lines on a piece of paper than when it's an expanse of soil and plants. Your plan should include not only the types and quantities of vegetables you're going to grow and how they'll be positioned in your garden, but also planting dates and approximate dates of harvest. Making a plan may seem like a lot of work to get done before you even start gardening, but careful planning will help you make the best use of your time and available space and will result in bigger, higher-quality crops. This chapter discusses all the questions you need to take into account when you're planning your garden the hows, whats, whys, whens, and wherefores.