You need to choose a spot in your yard that receives full sun. If you do not have the space for a dedicated garden you can add garden plants to your existing flower or shrub bed. You can also build a raised bed –you’ll be surprised how much a 4x10 bed can produce. You can also grow vegetables in containers on your deck or patio. If you decide on a vegetable plot, a good starting point is to lean about your soil. One surefire way to improve any soil is to add organic material, and your own compost pile is the most convenient source of organic matter. I use a garden fertilizer of 15-15-15 and spread lime on my soil. If you plan to plant potatoes, do not spread the lime (powered –from a farm store-not the fruit!) in the rows where the potatoes will be planted. Potatoes do not like lime! The fertilizer and lime can be a bit difficult to find but a farm and feed store in your area will probably carry both. After the fertilizer and the lime are spread (I use a garden/lawn spreader –but I have a very large garden). I have many wild animals who like to snake on my garden vegetables so if you think this might be a problem for you also – then you should consider enclosing your garden with a fence.
The next step is deciding what to grow. Plan your garden with grouping crops together. Growing vegetables can be unpredictable –you will find yourself adapting and improvising throughout the process even if you are organized at the beginning.
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When you grow your potatoes how many times do you hill them throughout the summer? This is the first year we are growing them and aren't really sure what to do.
ReplyDeleteI hill mine a couple of time - With pototes it is very important to have a large hill as the more soil you have the more pototes you will harvest. Some gardens start to harvest in july for small potoes but I usually wait until late August.
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