THE VEGETABLE GARDEN PLANS
You really need to know WHERE the vegetables are going to be put. Once you know that, THEN you can get the soil sample! The reason you should deal with this now is that once the plot is situated you can begin to prepare it so it's ready next spring when you are ready to plant things there. You'll have spent a fair amount of time during those winter months planning what seeds to buy; now you need to know where to put them! Go to this veggie link for a more complete "walk through" for the what, where and hows, etc. of vegetable gardening.
So, PICK YOUR SPOT! Then, IF you can, rent a roto-tiller. Maybe you're lucky and you already have one of those in the tool shed, garage, or barn. Roto-till that plot, first one way, and then the other until it's soft and about 6-8 inches deep. You can take out the grass or weed "clumps" and toss them into the compost, or you can leave them right were they fall. However, if you leave them, they will start to grow once again. This is another reason to begin to plan this garden now.
One of the things that I have found works VERY well killing all that green stuff you dug up, is PLASTIC. Depending on the size of the garden, you can cover it wih black plastic, weigh it down and just leave it for the rest of the season. In fact, right up to next spring if that's possible. The plastic will cook the grass with it's seed and turn it into compost right there in your garden! How much easier (and better) could it be???
In the spring, after the plastic is removed, you can amend the soil with the goodies the Extension Service suggested as a result of the soil test. Dig that in, Rake it out. Plant the seeds!
posted by North Country Maturing Gardener @ 7/21/2006
3 comments
3 Comments:
i came across your page while looking at pruning roses info. i'm glad to see there are more "lazy" gardeners than just me. i used the "let it die" method for some time. But i feel it takes 5 seasons to kill everything that was there before. We are in upstate NY so glad to see you are up north also. i am male and wasnt much intersested in veggies until i got married last year and my wife wanted veggies. QUESTION...our lettuce grew very very fast and headed up in 5 weeks after planting. It was prestarted. however dark coloed worms were infested in each headso we dumped it all even tho it was quite large. What is the best way to keep the bugs out in the future?
also myself I like flower gardening and prefer large flowers,,, bulb lillies, bearded irises, coneflowers etc. suggest companions.
I am a vegetarian and it's a shame I do not have a garden to grow my veggies.
Don't know why, but I enjoy reading about gardening.
To read all about the things I missed so long ;(
Kind regards from The Netherlands and thanks for giving me the opportunity to read your blog.
Lettuce: Do plant lettuce VERY early to take advantage of the cool weather and temperatures as it will withstand a light frost.
It's also good to plant them in succession so they don't all ripen (or bolt) at once.
Usually the insects that bother lettuce are aphids and root aphids. However, your worms are probably cutworms which are brown, and pretty destructive. They are tough to control.
The best thing to do is prevent them! You can try to do that by cultivating the soil before planting the lettuce to expose the eggs, larvae and pupae that are in the soil. Also be sure to clean off any debris in the fall as these critters will overwinter.
Then in the spring when you plant, you'll need to put collars around the stems of each plant. You can make them from stiff paper, aluminum foil, or toilet paper rolls, etc. These should be at least two inches tall, and set pretty firmly into the soil!
Good luck!
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