Horticulture consists of selecting a site, planning the garden, preparing the soil, selecting seeds and plants, and planting and caring for them until they are ready for harvest. The result is fresh produce to eat, share or sell.
Anyone willing to invest in feeding plants every day or two can start a garden. It doesn’t require a lot of money, time, or skill, but some will come in handy. Your abilities will advance year after year with time and effort. Even if the initial try isn’t very successful, keep continuing.
Although it doesn’t take up acres, growing veggies demands some room. A garden doesn’t always have to be in a flower bed or on the ground. In containers, a variety of veggies may be cultivated. For instance, a 12-inch pot on the back porch may produce enough lettuce for a salad. You may start a fantastic salad off right by adding some radishes and carrots grown in 12-inch pots for flavor and sweetness.
However, success requires more than just growing vegetables. They defenetly need sunlight, water, air, soil, fertilizer, and shelter.
1. Orchard:
A house or garden is the growing of vegetables in the backyard of a home. With the increasing demand for valuable land, vegetables can be grown on roofs or terraces.
Not only does it provide you with fresh vegetables, but it also saves you money as vegetables are costly in the market now. Fresh vegetables not only ensure a more balanced diet, but they also have a subtle psychology behind their flavor.
2. Garden Market:
This type of garden is intended to supply vegetables to the local market. Therefore, they are confined to the vicinity of towns and cities. These parks are located within a 15-30 kilometers radius from large cities and towns. Because these types of gardens are close to urban areas, the land is often expensive. Therefore, a strict cultivation system is followed. A gardener must be versatile as many vegetables must be grown throughout the year to supply all kinds of vegetables to the market.
3. Truck Parking:
This is the production of some specialty crops in relatively large quantities for distant markets. The location of this type of garden is determined by soil and climatic factors suitable for growing that specific crop. Cultivation is more extensive. Goods are usually sold through a broker. Growing cabbage and squash in Nilgiri hills and transporting them to faraway places like Chennai, Trivandrum, and Cochin is an excellent example of truck gardens. With the development of a fast and convenient transportation system, the distinction between markets and truck parks continues to blur.
Pick the appropriate place.
It’s crucial to choose a nice site for your garden. Side vegetables might result from a side posture!
Sunny location – Most vegetables need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Some vegetables (especially leafy ones) tolerate a little shade.
Well-Draining and Not Waterlogged: If you have poor soil with puddles of water, plant vegetables in a raised bed or a high row to improve drainage. Moist soil means wet roots, which can turn into rotten roots. Remove and discard the stones if you have rocky soil, as they inhibit root growth and result in weak plants.
Stable and Windless: Avoid locations with strong winds that could knock your young plants down or prevent pollinators from doing their job. And you don’t want to plant in an area with a lot of foot traffic or easily flooded. Plant Goldilocks in a place that makes her smile, somewhere that is “perfect.”
Soil rich in nutrients. Your soil feeds your plants. You will have poor, unhealthy plants if you have thin, nutrient-poor soil.
Choosing a Lot Size: Start Small!
One of the most common affected mistakes beginners make is planting too soon – more than anyone will ever eat or need! Plan your garden carefully if you don’t want zucchini in the attic. Start small, and grow only what you know you and your family will eat.
The size of the garden.
Planted in the ground, a 10′ x 10′ (100 square feet) garden is manageable. Pick 3-5 of your favorite vegetables and buy 3-5 plants each.
A decent beginning size for planting in a raised bed is 4′ x 4′ or 4′ x 8′. Visit our raised bed guide to learn more about the advantages of raised beds, how to construct one, and what kind of soil to use when filling one.
A 12′ x 24′ in-ground garden could be the largest to start with if you want to grow anything. A garden that provides food for a family of four, for instance, might have three mounds of yellow squash, one bunch of zucchini, ten different pepper plants, six tomato plants, twelve okra plants, a row of twelve bush beans, two cucumbers in a cage, two eggplants, six basil plants, one rosemary plant, and a few herbs with a low growth rate like oregano, thyme, and marjoram.
It doesn’t matter how big your garden is – make sure there are paths every four feet or so that allow access to your plants for weeding and harvesting. Make sure you can easily reach the center of the row or bed without stepping on the floor.
Vegetable selection
As a beginner, start by choosing easy and effective vegetables. We’ve listed ten easy vegetables below. However, it is also wise to contact your state’s Cooperative Extension Service to find out which plants grow best in your area. For example, if you live in a room with a very hot climate, vegetables that prefer cooler temperatures may struggle.
When to plant?
Plan production throughout the year through successive plantings.
The spring. Plant winter crops early and warm season crops in late spring. Use a cold frame or anti-freeze cloth to get the season started early.
the season. With the lengthening of the days and the increase in temperatures, cool-season crops will vanish. To keep plants safe and lengthen the growing season, use shade cloth. Until the first autumn frost, warm-season crops sown in the late spring will flourish. Plant cool-season crops for the autumn in the late summer.
Autumn Cool season crops established in late summer continue to thrive in moderate to freezing temperatures.
Winter. Cold-resistant crops planted in the fall (such as kale, kale, and turnip greens) can survive the winter. Use an excellent frame or cool cloth to extend the season in cold areas.
The greatest advice for picking vegetables:
Select foods that you (and your family) like eating. Why bother cultivating Brussels sprouts if no one loves them? However, if your children like green beans, work harder to grow more enormous beans.
Regarding how many veggies your family consumes, be reasonable. Avoid overloading yourself since you’ll be exhausted from having to care for too many plants! You may always donate any leftover veggies to friends, relatives, or a nearby kitchen (of course).
Consider whether your supermarket has vegetables. You may want to grow tomatoes instead of readily available cabbage or carrots. Furthermore, some vegetables are so superior when grown at home that it would be a shame to ignore them (think garden-grown lettuce and tomatoes). In addition, homemade herbs are much cheaper than supermarket ones.
Be prepared to care for your plants during the growing season. Are you going on summer vacation? Keep in mind that tomatoes and zucchini are at their strongest in mid-summer. If you are away for part of the summer, you need someone to tend the crops, or they will suffer. Or you can grow cool-season crops such as lettuce, cabbage, peas, and root vegetables during the cooler months of late spring and early fall.
Use high-quality seeds. Seed packets are cheaper than individual plants, but you’re wasting time and money if the roots don’t germinate. A few extra pennies spent in the spring on that year’s basis will produce higher harvests at harvest time.
Where and when to plant
This process is easy if you’re growing two or three tomato plants. But if you plan on developing an entire garden, consider the following:
- Where does each plant go?
- When should each vegetable be planted?
Here are some guidelines for preparing your vegetables:
Not all vegetables are grown at the same time. “Cool season” vegetables, such as lettuce, broccoli, and peas, thrive in cooler climates in early spring (and fall). “Warm season” tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are not planted until the soil warms up in late spring and summer.
Plant tall vegetables (such as a trellis or dung corn lce) on the north side of the garden so I don’t shade the lower plants. Suppose you have shade in part of your garden; save that area for more miniature, cool-season vegetables. If shade cannot be avoided in some regions of your garden, save those areas for cool-season vegetables that appreciate shade in hot weather.
Most vegetables are annual (planted every year). Provide permanent sites or beds if you plan to grow “perennial” crops such as asparagus, rhubarb, and some herbs.
