Planning Your Vegetable Gardens

Vegetables from your own gardens are not only healthier, but can be a great way to save money on your family’s produce.

Reaping the benefits

By planning your own garden, you can end your harvesting season with enough produce left over to prepare for autumn and winter months with freezing and canning, while having enjoyed fresh produce all throughout the spring and summer months.

You first need to decide on a location for your garden. This should be in an area where it will receive approximately 6 hours of sunlight a day. Being close to a water source helps as well, so you don’t have to carry your watering can too far.

Included in your plans should be the types of vegetables you intend to plant, and how many of them you want to grow. This will help you to determine the size of garden you need. This decision can’t be completely random, especially since what you yield is what your family will be eating over the next several months.

Choose vegetables you and your family use most often. Make sure to keep in mind not only those vegetables which are delicious freshly picked, but also those which freeze or can well. This will ensure your family benefits from having a garden of their very own.

Plan for the arrangement of the vegetable plants in the garden. Those plants who yield vegetables constantly are best placed at the back of the garden. Plants such as radishes, spinach, beets and carrots are among those to be planted in this location.

Leave some space for replanting successively. Once these crops have seen the end of their yield, you can plant other vegetables which produce later in the season.

There is a reality that some plants just don’t do well beside others. For instance, there are those plants which can boost the growth of another when planted together. But the opposite is also true. For instance, potatoes can hamper the growth of both squash and tomato plants. Broccoli can cause problems with tomato growth too. Beans, on the other hand, hamper the growth of onions. Carrots and dill plants shouldn’t be placed near one another.

This doesn’t stop you from planting these in the garden. It’s just a reminder to be careful when planning what you will be planting in each area of your vegetable gardens.

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