| After a long winter, many of us are ready to get out | | | | as necessary. |
| into our yards tackle some small home improvement | | | | 6. Fertilize at the right time. Different vegetables will |
| projects. One popular project that many American | | | | require fertilizing at different times. Consult a |
| homeowners will be taking on this spring is putting in | | | | vegetable gardening book or authoritative website to |
| a vegetable garden. With many of us looking for | | | | find out when to apply fertilizers to each plant. |
| ways to trim back our budgets and our waistlines, | | | | Fertilizing is critical to getting the biggest and best |
| growing your own produce at home is gaining in | | | | harvest from your plants. |
| popularity. Not only can you grow an array of | | | | 7. Deal with pests right away. If you see damage to |
| healthy, fresh foods at a fraction of the prices you'd | | | | your plants caused by insects, rabbits, birds, or other |
| pay at a grocery store, but you also have the peace | | | | garden pests, take action immediately. Install cages |
| of mind of knowing exactly where your food has | | | | to keep rabbits and birds away and apply insecticides |
| come from. In this article, we'll cover the ten basic | | | | (either chemical or natural, as you prefer) to kill |
| steps to take to cultivate a productive vegetable | | | | insects. Pests can damage a crop very quickly, so it's |
| garden in your yard this year. | | | | important not to delay. |
| 1. Choose the best location. For a vegetable garden, | | | | 8. Remove diseased plants immediately. If you notice |
| you should seek out a spot in your yard that | | | | that one of your tomatoes is beginning to blight, pull |
| receives at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day and | | | | the entire plant from the garden right away. |
| that has well drained soil. | | | | Removing a diseased plant from the garden quickly |
| 2. Prepare the ground. After you've cut away the | | | | may save the rest of your crop. |
| sod and tilled up the soil, an important step before | | | | 9. Harvest produce promptly and regularly. With most |
| planting is to amend the soil with some organic | | | | vegetable plants, you'll get the largest and longest |
| matter like peat moss or compost. | | | | harvests if you keep picking produce very regularly. |
| 3. Start your seeds early, if possible. Having the | | | | Bean plants, for example, will stop producing very |
| longest and largest harvest in the summer means | | | | rapidly if you leave them for a week or two without |
| you want to get your plants started as early as | | | | picking the pods. |
| possible in the spring. If possible, use a small home | | | | 10. Don't forget the year-end maintenance. At the |
| greenhouse. Coldframes in your garden can also be | | | | end of the season, be sure to remove all plants; |
| quite useful for protecting young, delicate plants from | | | | don't let them die and overwinter in the garden. If |
| late frosts. | | | | possible, add some compost or other organic matter |
| 4. Mulch after planting. Once all your plants are in the | | | | to the soil at the end of the season, as this will have |
| garden and have started growing, be sure to spread | | | | the most benefit for next year's crops if it sits over |
| a thick layer of mulch over everything. This will help | | | | the winter. Last but not least, cover your garden |
| the soil retain moisture and will keep weed growth at | | | | beds with black landscape cloth. In the spring, when |
| a minimum. | | | | the snow melts, the black fabric will attract the sun's |
| 5. Regular maintenance is important! Don't neglect | | | | heat, helping to warm your soil faster so you can |
| your garden for weeks at a time. Get out regularly | | | | plant even earlier next year. |
| to water, thin weeds, and trim or pinch back plants | | | | |