by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: April 05, 2009

Early spring is always the time when one begins to prepare the vegetable garden for the soon to be planted crops. Ideally, the bed will have been cleaned up and all dead debris will have been removed. If it hasn't, then it must be done before anything else can be done.

Before beginning any of the preparation, it is a good idea to test the soil. A soil test will provide you with information about the quality of the soil and let you know how you can amend it. Then it will be possible to adjust the soil so that it will have the most nutrients for the things you plan to plant.

Home made compost is the best organic amendment that anyone can add to their garden bed. Next to that, well rotted leaves and composted manure are also good. If the pH is too low, adding limestone and/or ash can raise it. For heavy clay like soil, the addition of sand can sometimes help to improve the quality of drainage. Most crops will benefit from the addition of some bone meal to the bed.

Planting a cover crop such as rye will add nitrogen to the soil while also interrupting the cycle of repetition, making it useful both for amending the soil and providing an interim planting that will mean that it isn't so horrible if things aren't planted in entirely different places than the previous year. By planting a cover crop, one is actually doing a type of crop rotation.

Before anything is planted, the bed should be tilled. This will bring soil from down below up to the surface and take the top soil and push it back down into the soil. This is a good way to keep the soil from eroding and losing more nutrients than it does through natural processes. A tiller also facilitates the mixing of organic matter such as compost thoroughly into the soil.

Once the bed is thoroughly tilled and all of the organic matter has been added, then it is appropriate to start considering the layout. It is extremely important that in planning the positioning of crops, that they are not planted in the same place they were in the previous year. Crop rotation is essential for controlling the spread of disease and for preventing total nutrient loss.

Vegetables that take the longest amount of time to mature are typically started from seed well in advance indoors. The alternative to planting seeds in advance is purchasing planter packs of plants, but purchasing store bought plants limits what one can plant to the typical and traditional garden fare. Anyone wanting to plant more unusual or exotic things really must start their

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>