Basics of Home Vegetable Gardening

Vegetables can be grown in containers, home yards, community garden lots, or large ranch areas. To be successful, follow these seven basic rules:

1. Plant only as large a garden as you can maintain easily. Beginning gardeners often overplant and fail because their skills and time commitment are not great enough to accomplish the task. Gardening requires that weeds and pests be controlled and that water be applied when needed.

2. Plan your garden on paper before you begin.

3. Grow crops that produce the maximum amount of food in the space available.

4. Plant during the correct season for the crop you plan to grow. Choose varieties recommended for your area.

5. Select a site that receives at least 8 hours of full sun each day. It should be relatively level, well-drained, and close to a water source. Avoid shaded locations.

6. Prepare the soil properly and amend and fertilize as needed.

7. Harvest vegetables at their proper stage of maturity. Store them promptly if they are not to be used immediately.

Vegetable Classification

Most vegetables are classified as "cool-season" or "warm-season."

Cool-Season Vegetable Crops: Cool-season vegetables grow best and produce the best quality crops when average temperatures are 55^oF to 75^oF, and they usually tolerate slight frost when mature. The food-value of cool-season vegetables is usually higher per pound and per square foot than that of warm-season vegetables. The difference is due to the fact that vegetative parts of the plant are consumed, such as roots, stems, leaves, or immature flower parts, rather than fruits. Examples are listed below.

• Root: beet, carrot, parsnip, radish, turnip

• Stem: asparagus, white potato

• Leaf: cabbage, celery (fleshy petioles), lettuce, onion, spinach

• Immature flower parts: broccoli, cauliflower, globe artichoke

Warm-Season Vegetable Crops: Warm-season vegetables require long, hot days and warm soil to mature. They grow best and produce the best quality crops when average temperatures 65^oF to 95^oF and are intolerant to prolonged freezing temperatures. The food value of warm-season vegetables is usually lower per pound and per square foot than that of cool-season crops because the "fruit" of the plant is eaten. Many warm-season vegetables are really immature or mature fruits. In other words, vegetables such as tomatoes and squashes are fruits in the botanical sense, just as oranges are fruits.

• Mature fruit: cantaloupe, winter squash, tomato, watermelon

• Immature fruit: sweet corn, snap and lima beans, summer squash