Would you like to try your hand at creating a vegetable garden? Then arm yourself with work gloves, spades and rakes, because the work to be done is long: from soil preparation to fertilization, from sowing to the final harvest, your efforts will be rewarded by the vegetables you bring to the table!
You too were conquered by food at km 0. So you decided to make a small piece of land your own and create a vegetable garden to watch your vegetables grow, collect them and bring your products to the table. Where to start? The first step is dedicated to soil preparation (and perhaps the most tiring!). You will need work gloves to avoid blisters on your hands, a spade, a rake, a pickaxe, a shovel and fertilizer.
soil preparation
Contrary to what one might think, the soil must be prepared at the beginning of winter. The earth must in fact be moved, fertilized and left to rest before sowing in spring.
At this point it is time to roll up your sleeves. First you must dig the ground, turn over the earth where you will create your garden and remove the roots of weeds and weeds. Also remove as many stones as possible so that the subsequent work of the soil is easier. Fertilize
the soil with fertilizers: the best is the horse manure , but it is also the most expensive; otherwise use compost , which is perfect for fertilizing because it makes the soil very friable.
Chop the larger clods, helping you with the pickaxe and the rake, and finally mix them well with the fertilizer that will be added to the soil. In the end, the surface of the soil must be as uniform and level as possible.
Before sowing
The efforts did not end there. The garden land must be worked again just before sowing
. Weeds and weeds, if still present, must be removed, as well as large and medium-sized stones must be eliminated. Work the soil until it is crumbly and well leveled. At this point, you can organize your vegetable garden. Think about what products you are going to grow and divide the land into areas of different sizes. Seedlings and seeds must be placed in furrows that are spaced apart from each other and made across the slope that follows the flow of water. How do you determine the spacing of the furrows? Just imagine what vegetables you are going to grow and how much the bulk of the crops will grow just before harvest.
Another important aspect is the placement of the seedlings in the furrows: if they are spring or summer products, you must place the seedlings in the furrows to avoid water being distributed. For winter products, you must instead place them on the mounds of earth that you have prepared on the furrows to avoid possible stagnation of water.
What to grow
There are vegetables that are easy to grow and others that are more demanding. If you are a beginner with spade and rake, it is better to focus on the easiest ones.
The tomato is one of them. It needs good sun exposure and a soil acidity between pH6 and pH7. Dig a hole for each seed, leaving the holes at least 30 cm apart. It is a climbing plant, so get a structure that supports its growth.
Zucchini should be sown in spring, in the period from March to May. Place two or three seeds for each hole, leaving the holes between them at least a meter apart. Zucchini needs a lot of water, so water every day and in a couple of weeks you will see the first shoots!
I can’t imagine a vegetable garden without carrots . On Ohga we have already explained how to grow carrots. You have to sow them in the period from January to October. In this case too, make well-spaced holes in which you will place a few seeds for each hole. Make sure that the soil is always moist, water as needed, especially when the plants are still in the growth phase.
Lettuce will add a decorative touch to your garden: its leaves are indeed very beautiful, broad and light green or more yellowish to red in some varieties. Lettuce is excellent for salads, is rich in folic acid and vitamin A and needs a well-fertilized soil. The seeds should be planted at a depth of between 8 and 16 centimeters and watered daily.
Spinach is rich in iron and calcium and should be grown in soil well fertilized with compost. Water them abundantly and keep distance between one seedling and another.
But there are also many other vegetables available to you. For example, on Ohga we explained how to grow strawberries and how to grow the orange tree.
When to start
Of course , if you want to start a vegetable garden from scratch , the best time is always the spring and summer months. The increase in temperature makes it possible to facilitate the germination process, that is, the emergence of shoots from the seed. However, you must pay attention to the sowing times indicated for each plant you want to grow, as some prefer different times of the year.
