KIDS’ TABLE

Add chopped leaves to the soil in fall when the harvest season is done, or in spring a week or two before planting vegetables or herbs. During the summer, mulch vegetable plants with untreated lawn clippings.

Adding compost, chopped leaves or other organic matter is the best way to improve the structure, drainage and overall health of the soil.

Plant some flowers around vegetable gardens to attract pollinating insects and other good bugs. Mulch pathways or line them with boards to keep foot traffic out of planting beds.

A tried-and-true method of bed preparation is doubledigging:

Remove grass and weeds from the soil surface. Dig a trench 12 inches deep and wide. Put the soil from the trench on a tarp or in a wheelbarrow for use later. Next to the first trench, dig the second, moving the soil into the first. Break up clumps as you dig. Continue digging trenches as needed to achieve the size bed you want. Fill the last trench with the soil saved from the first trench. Apply two or three inches of compost, rotted manure or chopped leaves to the freshly dug bed and work it in. If you do this in fall, do not work in the organic matter. Allow it to break down naturally over the winter.

Whichever method you select, make sure your vegetable garden is in full sun, with at least six hours of direct sunlight. Also, locate it close to a water source. Vegetables need about one inch of water a week to produce well. Be sure to water the soil and not the plant. Overhead watering is wasteful because of evaporation and it can contribute to fungus diseases. Soaker hoses or a drip irrigation system work well.

Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp manages to grow vegetables in raised beds and containers on her urban plot in spite of two dogs, squirrels, raccoons and opossum. She blogs at HoosierGardener.com.