Jump Start Your Summer Vegetable Garden

Tending to a few potted flowers is one thing, but managing an entire garden of vegetables is a big to-do.

Thanks to warmer temperatures, extended sunlight hours, and a general ease to the daily grind, the summer season is often the ideal time for venturing into the world of gardening.

When deciding to turn your backyard into a veritable food factory, it is important to have a few fast facts about farming. You don’t necessarily need to have a green thumb to produce a thriving vegetable garden, but a little bit of researching and strategizing can make the difference between bloom and bust.

Placement Is Key.

Before choosing which vegetables you want to plant, you need to think about where you are planting them. Regardless of climate, it is best to find a space sequestered from any shrubbery or buildings, a space that gets direct sunlight with minimal shade. In this setting, you will have maximum control over the conditions of your garden, allowing you to tweak things such as heat, shade, and irrigation to suit whatever you plant.

Once you have chosen such a location, the next step is to create the perfect conditions for growing vegetables. It is more than just ripping out sod. Actually, most farmers recommend building raised beds for your vegetable gardens.

Traditional raised beds are no more than 4 feet above the ground and contain rows of crops that should be planted in succession to increase their total yields throughout the year. (Planting in succession is defined as rotating crops in your garden to increase its fertility.) Below the raised bed, farmers usually put a base of cardboard that prevents any underground weeds from burrowing through your topsoil.

Play to the Region.

You know your climate best. If, for instance, you live in the Northeast then direct sunlight is a must. Shade is otherwise needed for intensely hot climates that could burn or shrivel up plants.

Another handy recommendation is to use what is around you to build your raised beds. Have a rocky backyard? Take some of those rocks to frame the bed for an aesthetically pleasing garden.

Choosing Soil Depends on the Plants.

However, soil is one factor that does not depend on location, but what you put in it. Most farmers recommend a 50/50 compost mix to enrich soil. Good soil is abundant in organic matter as well as agricultural lime, rock phosphate, and greensand. You can provide your soil an additional boost by scattering it with used coffee grounds, eggshells, banana peels, and shredded leaves.

Fun fact: a sprinkling of baking soda on soil helps grow sweeter tomatoes.

Do Fence It In.

Unless you live in a detention center with mile-high walls, you probably have critters that occasionally cross through your backyard. They are the number one threat to your burgeoning vegetable garden. After identifying what kind of animals you have in your backyard, it is time to plan a defense.

Unless faced with bears and deer, you can usually go with a lower chicken wire fence anywhere from 3 to 4 feet high. The fence should be soft on the top to prevent animals from climbing up it. Likewise, the fence should have an underground apron component to prevent animals from digging into the garden from underneath.

One of the best recommendations for building the fence is to build a solid one. That way the animals don’t know what they are missing.

Special precautions should be taken if you intend on planting sugary berry fruits like blueberries and raspberries. Because birds are attracted to these fruits, they can swoop down and eat them. For prevention’s sake, cover the plants with extra chicken wire or an extremely sheer fabric to allow sunlight in without the pesky beaks of hungry birds.

Now for the Best Part: Choosing What to Plant.

Finally, once you have planned and plotted out your summer vegetable garden, it is time to plant. Timing is of the essence: it is important to plant your crops as soon as possible once into the summer season.

Actually, the best time to start planting is after the threat of frost bite disappears. For most regions of the United States, that occurs between April and May while the first frost bite usually occurs between September and October.

Here are a few of the most popular options for summer vegetables:

• Tomatoes
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Okra
• Peppers
• Melons

What’s the Best?

Of these 9 choices (and all their varieties) tomatoes are the frontrunner for producing the best results. The most important trick here is to wait until night temperatures stay above 50 degrees to plant them—they are very temperamental and will otherwise freeze to death. Other than that, they are pretty tolerant plants.

If you love a small challenge from an unsuspecting vegetable, try okra! The veggie loves hot weather, and its seeds are sown directly into the ground.

from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2960S3S