Grow Your Own Vegetables
Growing your own fresh vegetables is such a rewarding process. If you are a beginner, it can seem overwhelming at first but the best way to learn is to try! If you are a seasoned gardener there is always something new to learn or a new challenge.
Plan the Garden & Select a Site
Growing vegetables requires a lot of light and good soil. Sometime we are limited by our space but don’t give up as you can grow in containers or raised gardens. Choose an area that receives at minimum 6 hours of sunlight a day, is well draining and is near a water source. Start small and expand when ready, a great starter size is 50-75 sq feet. Be realistic and select vegetables that you and your family enjoy eating.
What to Grow
In Maryland we have “cool-season” veggies that grow in early spring (i.e., lettuce, spinach, root veggies) and “warm-season” veggies that aren’t planted until the soil warms up (i.e., tomatoes, peppers). Cool season vegetables can handle air temperatures as cool as 40 degrees, typically they are planted 2-4 weeks before the average last frost date. Warm season crops need the air temperature above 50 degrees and grow best when air is 75 degrees or above.
Top 10 Easy Vegetables
- Lettuce (cool season)
- Green Beans (warm season)
- Radishes (cool season)
- Tomatoes (warm season) Bush & Cherry types are the easiest
- Zucchini (warm season)
- Peppers (warm season)
- Beets (cool season)
- Cucumbers (warm season)
- Chard, Spinach, Kale (cool season)
- Peas (cool season)
Prepare your soil and plant
Remove any sod and dig in at least 2” of compost our favorite is Bumper Crop. Not only does compost add nutrients that the plants will need, it also retains moisture longer than topsoil. It’s always a good idea to test your soil so you know the nutrient and PH levels. If gardening by seed be sure to plan ahead according to seed packets, while seed starts can be purchased when you are ready to plant. Follow planting guide lines for seeds, our Botanical Interest seed packets have great detail on the inside of the seed packet (some even have recipes!). If planting seed starts make sure you harden them off before planting. When planting tomatoes they can be planted extra deep, up to their first set of leaves. Other vegetables should be planted at the same depth as their pot. All vegetable starts benefit from the soil being dug twice the width of their root-ball and then incorporating a handful of compost and an application of Tomato-Tone around them.
Caring for your Garden
- Water deeply around the base of your vegetable plants, as necessary, to keep the roots systems moist. Frequent, shallow watering is good only for newly planted seeds—not mature plants.
- Water in the morning when possible. Use a soaker hose or drip irrigation system to reduce water use.
- Fertilize as necessary based on your soil test recommendations.
- Tomatoes are heavy feeders and benefit from multiple applications of Tomato-Tone.
- Control weeds by laying down organic mulches, slicing or chopping weeds with a hoe, and hand-pulling. Start early, as soon as weeds appear.
- Support tomato, pepper, and cucumber plants with stakes or trellises to save space.
- Monitor plants regularly for problems
Enjoy the Harvest
