Vegetable Gardening 101

The most common questions about gardening come from people just starting out: What do I do?  How do I start?  Most any experienced gardener will tell you they never stop learning, so don’t wait until you think you ‘know it all’ to get started; try following some common guidelines, get started NOW, and learn as you go.

The Deal

The first thing is to understand ‘the deal’.  You want plants to produce food.  These plants have special needs because they are bred to produce tasty food, but usually aren’t so good at survival against all the other types of plants.  There are certain things they need, and in return for their food, you need to provide them a certain level of comfort, security, food, water, and a nice environment.  

Start Small

Thinking big in the beginning is good, but understand that nature is complicated, and most beginning vegetable gardeners run into all kinds of issues in the first few years.  It is easy to become overwhelmed and frustrated.  Try starting with one or two beds to begin with, build up your skill level and knowledge base as you expand.

Raised Beds

Most of our soils in the DFW area are hard to deal with.  It is possible to amend the soil, but it generally takes a good deal of time and effort (and maybe money) to do this.  The quick and easy solution is to build a raised bed.  Some books say 6″ of soil will be enough, but I think we need at least 9″ of good soil to hold enough moisture to get plants through our hot days.  Raised beds can be made with lumber, stone, concrete blocks, or most any other material, or the simplest of all is just create a raised pile of soil.  Raising the bed gets the plants up away from the native soil to promote good drainage.

Choose a Good Location

Full Sun:  One of the most important ingredients for a vegetable garden is sun.  We need at least 6 hours of full-strength sun for most vegetable plants.  If the area doesn’t get enough sunlight, vegetables won’t grow there, it is simple, but some people want it all:  a piece of land fully shaded with 200 year old trees AND a vegetable garden.  Sometimes you can’t have it all!  Find or create a good sunny location.

Ideally, your garden will be somewhere that you will walk through every day and will have easy access to a source of water.  If the vegetable garden is located along the pathway between where you park your vehicle and your home, then you will likely notice possible issues very early.

Also consider the drainage of the area your garden will be in.  A low-lying swampy area will always be a problem, so pick somewhere else.  The ideal location will also have protection from violent winds, but will offer a gentle breeze most of the time.

Good Soil

Chances are excellent that the native soil at your home is not ‘good soil’.  Fortunately, there are some excellent sources for blended soils that will almost guarantee vegetable plants will grow well.  If you are going to spend money on something for your garden, it should be good soil.  Ideal soil is a mixture of minerals, sand, clay, and organic matter, and should be full of life.  Adding quality compost is almost always a good idea.

Water

Having a source of water near your garden makes life much easier.  Storing rainwater is the best choice, but a faucet nearby works also.  I’ve hauled water in 5 gallon buckets for a season, which encouraged me to add some underground pipes to bring in water the next year.

Fertilizer / Food

Rarely will the soil have enough nutrients by itself to encourage the kind of growth we want to see.  Extra fertilizer will provide for our plants.  Avoid highly concentrated (NPK numbers above 10), fertilizers.  Slow-release is best.  (organic fertilizers are slow-release)  Balanced and complete fertilizers are ideal.  A vegetable plant is generally fertilized once when it is planted, and then again when it starts to set fruit.  Finished plant-based compost (humus) is a good fertilizer.  You can also make your own fertilizer from natural ingredients.

Mulch

Avoid bare soil!  The hot sun bakes the soil, which isn’t good for much of anything.  Mulch helps retain moisture and promotes more even soil temperatures.  Mulch made from shredded native trees is considered the best, but many other types can be used, such as hay, grass clippings, leaf litter, or unfinished compost.  Don’t let the mulch touch the stem of your plants and don’t let the mulch mix in with your garden soil (especially wood mulch).  Most all plants need to have their stems exposed to the air.

Unintended Consequences (A plea to go organic)

Our need for instant gratification has a few downsides.  If you see a bug eating your plant, your instinct might be go to the store to buy something to kill it.   (and there are plenty of stores that are very eager to sell you something to kill it) Realize that spraying a chemical will almost always have unintended consequences.  That action will likely do something that will further harm the cycles of nature.  Take the time to understand why that bug is there in the first place.  Are your plants weak or diseased?  Home gardeners can easily overpower and upset the delicate balances of nature.  It is best to understand what is happening through observation and education.  Usually, the best action is the absolute minimum necessary.  Sometimes the best action is to do nothing.  Focus on plant health, soil health, diversity, and co-operation.

Plant the Right Variety of Plant

Most plants were developed to grow in climates different than Dallas, Texas.  If you are going to the trouble of growing a garden, you should make sure the plants you are using are adapted to the climate and conditions.  Big-Box stores do not excel in expertise in this area, local nurseries do.  There are plenty of online resources to help decide what to plant in the DFW area.

Plant at the Right Time

We have 3 general growing seasons in the north Texas region:  1) cool weather, 2) warm weather, and 3) way too hot weather.  The good news is that we can grow food all year round, and we get two chances at growing the warm weather crops.  The bad news is that the timing is critical for growing certain plants that like it warm, but not too hot.  Be sure and consult a local planting calendar to figure out what will grow at a certain time of year.

Square Foot Gardening

This is an excellent book for new vegetable gardeners.  Mel has created a simple, all-inclusive method for getting good results.  This book covers all the topics needed to be successful.

Conclusion

If anyone is considering starting their own garden, I hope the tips here will be helpful.  Remember to Observe, Experiment, Use Your Noodle, and Take Responsibility.  Growing your own food is very rewarding.  There is no question about the quality of food that was grown in your own backyard, and the nutritional content and taste are much better than most things you can buy in a store.  Working with plants and soil also provides happiness.  I don’t know any sad gardeners.  Someone said that if everyone gardened, we wouldn’t need psychologists or mind-altering drugs!

Education

Since this article was written, the Citizen Gardener education program has become available in the DFW area.  This program aims to package the main concepts discussed here in one easy to understand method and teach the method in a learning-intensive hands-on workshop format.  Please visit the Citizen Gardener website for more information.

 

About Brian Gallimore

Brian is a backyard vegetable gardener, permaculturist, aquaponics enthusiast, and maintainer of the online community at northtexasvegetablegardeners.com.
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18 Responses to Vegetable Gardening 101

  1. Pingback: Vegetable Gardening 101 | Brian's Blog

  2. Sarah says:

    Thank you for breaking it down for me. I get really overwhelmed at all the info and the H-E-A-T killing everything, so this post (and the one about when to plant on your other site) are going to help a lot. Since my childhood in Michigan (where we ate stuff from the yard all the time) I have wanted to do the same for my kids, but I am a)ignorant and b)a little bit lazy. I’m excited to get started.

    One question: Say I wanted to grow garlic. I plant it in the fall, it’s ready in spring. I guess I have to use store-bought the rest of the year?? (Or sweet potatoes or whatever else.) Just wondering.

    • Sarah, I’ve heard of some people leaving the garlic in the ground for a long time, I’d be curious to know how long it will keep in the ground.

    • Charlie says:

      If you plant enough garlic, you can harvest it all in May/June after the scapes have formed and hang it to dry (cure) in a well-ventilated place. All the garlic you by in stores has been cured, which is a form of preservation and make sit last way longer. Say you go through a whole head of garlic per week–all you need to plant then is 50-60 cloves in the fall and dry them in the spring!

  3. ron tucker says:

    good info. i also recommend that if you think you might have problems bending over to a bed that is only 6 to 12″ tall to raise that bed higher so you can enjoy gardening. your idea on having a bed on a pile of soil is excellent.

  4. Karen Carnes says:

    Some varieties of garlic store longer than others; but basically keeping it in a cool, dry, dark place will let you store your garlic until almost time to harvest the next crop. I grow a year’s worth of garlic and store most of it in my pantry, the rest I preserve by various methods. Dicing cloves and freezing in water in ice cube trays is one, peeling the cloves and keeping them in a jar of olive oil is another. This year I plan to try storing some by fermentation.
    I’ve not managed to grow a year’s supply of sweet potatoes yet, but mine lasted a long time just stored in a dark, dry and cool place. Don’t wash them until you are ready to prepare them. Check often and remove any that show signs of softening.
    Keeping either crop in the ground is not a great idea, they would be prone to rotting. I think it would be just asking for trouble – our weather is so varied from extreme heat to weird cycles of warmth and freezing through the winter; not a stable environment! Besides, I’ve never had the gardening space to try it! I want to harvest quickly and plant something else in that space. Cheers for year round gardening!

  5. Karen Carnes says:

    I disagree somewhat with your recommendation of Mel’s book as a good starting place for DFW gardeners. His info is good but not always realistic to our climate. For the beginner in our area, I would recommend Howard Garrett’s books and website (DirtDoctor.com). He knows our soil, our climate, our bugs! For someone new to Texas gardening I would also suggest looking for locally owned gardening centers to attend their seminars for “how to’s” related to our specific climate conditions. Timing is EVERYTHING here. (I suggest North Haven Gardens. NHG.com)

  6. Beep Pocock says:

    Hi
    I have a website http://vegetable-gardening.net – and I am looking to do some guest posts on other blogs. In exchange for a link within the post to my site.

    I wonder if you would be interested in a guest post about vegetable gardening. I look forward to hearing from you.

    Best regards

    Beep Pocock

  7. Jimmy says:

    Vegetable garden beds, given time get transformed into a nice passion. TYVM!

  8. Reed says:

    I agree, I would recommend Howard Garrett’s books as well. Really dig his books and style.

    Enjoyed reading this entry and looking for some more gardening knowledge!

    Thanks,
    Reed

  9. Brian H says:

    The heat has been my foe the past two years. The harvest and plant times are different than West Texas. And no problems with soil or growth now that I am here. But the long periods of high heat wipe me out.

  10. morgan says:

    Great post, I was wondering if you could advise me on my vegetable garden, which fertilizer would you recommend to add into the soil?

  11. Ellie says:

    Brian, I raise a backyard flock. Is it safe to use dropping as a fertilizer on my garden? What about making a tea with the droppings? I use shavings in the coop this year and I am thinking of changing to sand for next year. Any reason I can’t just till in the shavings that have been in my coop all year?

  12. Sandy says:

    I live in Bullard, below Tyler. I live in a house that has an aerobic system in the backyard, so I can’t garden there. We have a North facing house. I want to grow edible shrubs in the front yard in the bricked in garden area around the house. Has anyone had any luck with the dwarf varieties of Lingonberry bushes, blueberries, or anything else that would be rewarding? How about Aronia or Acai?

  13. Pingback: Tomato Vegetable Gardening Blogs Texas

  14. Pingback: Florida Vegetable Gardening Blogs Texas

  15. Great content, very useful information. Thank you for sharing.

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