Planning our 2010 Vegetable Garden

This is the first year we'll be planting a vegetable garden. Our garden is growing larger every day. We don't expect everything we grow to be successful, but it would be a bonus if it is! We're dreaming of a great summer and fall harvest, where we'll be able to eat most of the food we eat directly from our garden. 

As we read more about gardening, we realize there are more steps than we originally thought. Every time we figure something out, it leads to new questions.

Things we have to think about and plan so far:

1. Starting seeds indoors

   - Just a few of the questions we've had to ask ourselves are: Where are we going to do this? How much space do we need? How much do we plant? What is the cost of the supplies? How do we stay organized? How do we make sure the plants get enough light?

2. Placement of garden outdoors

   - When we bought our house, there was already a vegetable garden in place. It was fenced in and approximately 25 feet by 20 feet. We thought we'd just use that space for our garden. But we realized we need more space for the size of the garden we are planning. So far we've had to think about how much sunlight the area receives, if any trees will be blocking that sunlight, how to keep animals out, the cost of making the garden bigger and how we will arrange the garden beds in this space. 

3. Cost of gardening supplies

   - Our plan is to build garden beds because it will help us get a better harvest. We also like how organized everything looks in raised beds. But this also an additional cost. We have to buy lumber for 9 beds and soil to put in the beds. Thankfully, we're not building this garden as a way to save money. We do think the costs will balance out someday but not the first year. 

4. Placement of plants in the beds

   - We're having to ask ourselves how much food we're wanting to yield from our plants. How many rows of each vegetable/fruit do we want to plant? Every plant has good and bad companions to consider. Does the plant grow tall and will it block the light if there are plants behind it? How much spacing is required between each seed? It the plant okay with some partial shade? Does the plant tend to "takeover" the bed, so should it just have it's own bed?

5. Transfer of plants indoors to the garden beds

    - What is the last frost date for our area? How do we transfer the plants to the outdoors? When do the plants need to be transferred?

6. Pests and diseases
   - What are common pests and diseases in our area? What do we look for to know if our plants are  infected? What natural remedies are there to prevent or get rid of the pests or disease?

One conclusion we've come to is that organization is key! A special gardening calendar and spreadsheets will be our friends while we figure everything out.

Author: Cheryl