Vegetable garden. When to start and how to plan?

If you have your own piece of garden, then you would definitely like to grow vegetables in it. Growing vegetables in a home garden has many advantages. How to start a garden and when to sow the first vegetables?

Choosing a location for the vegetable garden

When choosing a place for a vegetable garden you should take into account:

• terrain – a flat place is best;
• appropriate sunlight;
• connection to irrigation system.

The site for the vegetable garden should be chosen and dug in the autumn. In spring, the soil should be dug up again and leveled. Then start planning the paths.

Checking the soil reaction

Soil should have a pH of 6.0 to 7.0 for vegetables to grow better. It is a good idea to check the soil pH – I wrote about this in the article “Alkaline or acidic soil? How to checkthe soil pH”.

Prepare the soil for sowing

The place for the vegetable garden must be very carefully cleared of stones, branches and the remains of previous crops. Plant remains can be a source of pathogenic pathogens.

The next step is to loosen the soil with a spade or a rotovator. Then rake the soil and apply manure or compost. You can also sprinkle it with basalt meal, which is rich in micro and macro elements.

Planning your vegetable garden

Planning the vegetable garden is the last step before sowing it.

The main principles of vegetable planning

• the tallest plants should be planted and sown at the back, e.g. under the house or under a fence;
• make sure you have paths so that you don’t trample the beds;
• the optimum width of the bed is 120 cm, and the path 30 cm;
• if the vegetable bed is small, it’s a good idea to sow slow-growing vegetables alongside fast-growing plants;
• fast-growing vegetables should be sown successively every week;
• plan the planting sequence so that fast-growing plants replace each other – otherwise weeds will take the place of the vegetables;
• choose a permanent place for perennial vegetables such as rhubarb, chives and radishes.

Good neighbourhood – which vegetables grow best next to each other?

vegetable	best neighbourhood	negative influence
pumpkin	beet, radish, pea	cucumbers
eggplant	lettuce, basil, savory, tarragon
peas	carrot, radish, lettuce, tomato, potato, cucumber	onion, garlic, beans
squash	bean, mint, radish	potatoes
cabbage	beet, mint, celery, potatoes	strawberry,tomato
potatoes	cabbage,lettuce,radish	tomato,cucumber,pumpkin
onion	cabbage, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beets	bean, pea, sage
carrot	onion,radish,garlic,tomato	dill
cucumbers	radish, lettuce, celery, cabbage, tomatoes	sage, dill, mint, fennel
bell pepper	carrots,onions,collards	kohlrabi,beans,fennel
tomatoes	garlic,carrot,onion,parsley,cabbage,kohlrabi,lettuce,spinach	potatoes,fennel,beets
radish	cucumber,lettuce,carrot,onion,pumpkin
lettuce	strawberries, radishes, beets, cabbage, tomatoes, beans	parsley
beets	cabbage, kohlrabi	bean, tomato
celery	onion, leek, tomato, cabbage
pumpkin	peas, mint	potatoes
garlic	tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, eggplant	peas

Sowing and planting vegetables

In early spring you can start sowing and planting vegetables. Onions can be sown into the ground in March. Planting spring onions is recommended in April.

At the end of March you can sow into the ground already:

• lettuce,
• carrots,
• parsley,
• celery,
• peas,
• broad beans,
• cabbage,
• cauliflower,
• kohlrabi,
• leek,
• spinach.

Protecting plants from pests

An effective and natural way to protect your vegetables is to plant herbs between them, which repel pests and increase yields.

Plants to plant between vegetables are:

• garlic,
• onions,
• savory,
• marjoram,
• coriander.