Tips for a Healthy Vegetable Garden

Whether you’re new to vegetable growing or a seasoned expert, these tips will save you time, money, and help create an abundance of farm to table treats for the whole family.

E Companion planting is an excellent way to improve your garden. Some plants replenish nutrients lost by another one, and some combinations effectively keep pests away. E Compost needs time to integrate and stabilize in the soil. Apply two to three weeks prior to planting. E Like vining vegetables, but don’t have the room?

Train your melons, squash, and cucumbers onto a vertical trellis or fence. Saves space and looks pretty too. E Keep dirt off lettuce and cabbage leaves when growing by spreading a 1-2 inch layer of mulch (untreated by pesticides or fertilizers) around each plant. This also helps keep the weeds down. E When planting a flower or vegetable transplant, deposit a handful of compost into each hole. Compost

will provide transplants with an extra boost that lasts throughout the growing season. E Insects can’t stand plants such as garlic, onions, chives and chrysanthemums. Grow these plants around the garden to help repel insects. E For easy peas, start them indoors. The germination rate is far better, and the seedlings will be healthier and better able to fight off pests and disease. E Garden vegetables that become over-ripe are an easy target for some pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid detection. E Onions are ready to harvest when the tops have fallen over. Let the soil dry out, harvest, and store in a warm, dry, dark place until the tops dry. Cut off the foliage down to an inch, then store in a cool, dry area. E Another reason to use natural and organic fertilizers and soil amendments: earthworms love them! Earthworms are extremely beneficial in the vegetable garden; increasing air space in the soil and leaving behind worm castings. Do what you can to encourage earthworms in your soil. E Diatomaceous earth makes an excellent organic insecticide – it is an abrasive white powder used to damage the cuticle, skin and joints of insects.

It also makes an excellent slug barrier. E When transplanting tomatoes, cover the stem with soil all the way up to the first set of leaves.

This greatly encourages root growth, making a stronger, healthier plant. E Healthy soil means a thriving population of microbes, earthworms and other organisms. A soil that has “good tilth” will produce robust garden plants that are better able to resist pests and disease. E A simple five percent increase in organic material (compost) quadruples the soil’s ability to store water. E Plants will do best if they are well suited to your growing area. Take some time to read up and choose plants accordingly. E Keep garden vegetables from getting dirty by spreading a 1-2 inch layer of mulch (untreated by pesticides or fertilizers) around each plant.

This will also help keep the weeds down. E Water your garden in the early morning to conserve moisture loss and to help avoid powdery mildew and other fungal diseases that are often spread by high humidity levels. E If you’re short on space, garlic, leeks and shallots make excellent container plants. They tend to have few insect or disease problems and don’t require much room for roots. E Over watering is worse than under watering. It is easier to revive a dry plant than try to dry out drowned roots.