Growing Vegetables - The Basics
Growing vegetables – the basics
Well renowned organic gardener Joy Larkcom writes in her wonderful book ‘Grow your own vegetables’: “The newcomer to vegetable growing is sometimes at a loss as to how to start. This is hardly surprising: What works well one year may fail the next; what is suitable for a mild costal area would be most inappropriate in a hilly inland area. The real gardener is inevitable an experimenter, constantly trying out different ideas until he discovers what is best for him.” When we started our garden in Cliffoney in 1987 it was very different to what it is today.
Feed the soil that feeds the plant.
One of the most important aspects of any gardening and especially organic gardening is a proper assessment of the site and the soil of the garden. Good healthy soil full of nutrients produces healthy nutritious vegetables. Find out if your soil is mostly made up of clay and therefore very heavy or of a more sandy type, which is lighter and easier to cultivate, but can’t hold water and nutrients very well. Our soil in Cliffoney was very peaty at the start and we improved it with homemade compost and farmyard manure from our cows and goats and also seaweed for minerals.
You could start your compost heap immediately and recycle some of your kitchen waste.
Select your site and measure your plot
You can grow vegetables at any size, in pots and fish boxes, in raised beds or a full size kitchen garden. We would suggest start small and keep in control! You could start with 4 beds of 1.20 m wide and 5m long, which is a plot of around 40 square meters including foot paths. For the more ambitious amongst you, just double it up.
It is best to start with 4 or 8 beds so you can easily establish a 4 year rotation between potatoes, cabbages, peas and beans and carrots and onions. A sunny south facing site is best and a wind break such as a hedge or an artificial wind break netting helps growth.
Measure your site, mark the beds or construct raised beds with timber, put farmyard manure and compost on top and cover with black plastic until early next year. The black plastic will help warming the soil, help breaking down the manure and prevent weeds or grass coming up and also prevents leaching of nutrients through the rain.
Buy some quality tools
For starting a small vegetable garden there is no need to buy a large range of fancy garden tools. The only advice we give is not to buy cheap tools. The following are sufficient: A good spade with a stainless steel blade for digging and planting. A garden fork for handling compost, loosening and aerating the soil and digging out root crops. A rake with a smooth and long enough handle for levelling soil, breaking down lumps and weeding. As hoeing is probably on of the most important gardening activities in terms of bed preparation, planting and weeding - only hoe when the weather is dry- take a good look at round hoes, oscillating hoes and draw hoes, get some advice and buy one. Our favourite hoe is a trenching hoe with a light Ash handle that has 2 sturdy prongs on one side to break up compacted soil and a heart shaped blade for making drills and general hoeing. Hans’s favourite hoe is actually a rake. Last not least you need a hand trowel, a quality watering can, a 5 m long rope and a measuring tape.
Buy good quality organic seeds
Sowing from seed – compared to buying young plants - enables you to choose the variety you prefer, the variety that suits your garden and the variety that suits your micro climate. We would always recommend to grow what you can’t buy and what is expensive to buy. Choose an Irish seed company like Brown Envelope Seeds or the Irish Seed Savers Association or buy organic seeds from The Organic Centre or from a reputable company like Green Vegetable Seeds.
Get advice, attend a course or join a community garden group.
There is no better way than to learn from other gardeners and we can wholeheartedly recommend attending a course, visiting gardens or become a member of a community garden.