Planning
Now that you know what you want to plant and what the plants need, you need to draw up a plan.
I start with a list of the vegetables I want to grow and notes about their care. My go to reference that I have been using for 20 years is The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible. I highly recommend it to find detailed information on growing individual vegetables, along with great information on how to start your garden beds.
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible
The classic go to reference book for vegetable gardeners. Detailed instructions on how to grow vegetables, sorted alphabetically. Also available on Amazon.
Soil Temperature
To start, I sort my vegetables by the soil temperature they prefer. Make two columns, one for cool and one for warm.
Some vegetables like cool soil, such as peas, and some like warm soil, such as beans. Because of this, peas can be planted in April and sometimes beans aren’t planted until early June.
Companion Planting
The next step is to identify what plants are suitable to plant together. This technique is called companion gardening or companion planting. Some vegetables do better when grown with others, some do not.
Some of the reasoning behind this technique is to avoid common pests. By planting common host plants in different areas helps to trick the pests and maybe only one vegetable will be affected.
On your list, write next to the vegetables what companions they will do well with. To keep it simple, I just list the good companions. If you want to add the bad ones, do so, or keep them in mind as you plan your garden.
Gardening Classic: Carrots Love Tomatoes
Carrots Love Tomatoes is the classic companion planting guide by Louise Riotte. This is your go-to book on what plants grow best together. Available on Amazon in paperback or as a Kindle download. Also on Indigo
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is also used to deter pests that overwinter in the soil – if you plant somewhere new next summer, the pest or disease have a harder time finding their favourite host vegetable.
For example, if you grow your potatoes in the same spot year after year, you may run into potato diseases or potato beetle infestations. I use a four year rotation. Keep the maps you will make and label them by year to know what to move where next year. If you use raised beds and they are the same size, it makes rotation much easier. To learn more about managing pests and disease in your yard read about Integrated Pest Management here.
Your Garden Space
There are no limitations on your choice of garden receptacle. Most people want more room for more veggies and have large plots, but there are lots of people who container garden very successfully. At this point you should know where you are going to plant your veggies and will have a rough idea of how much space you have. For those who don’t have room for a garden in their yard or on their apartment balcony, many communities have community gardens where you can rent a plot.
The boxes are different sizes because of landscaping constraints – but the best plan is to make them the same size for add-ons like trellises that need to be moved each year.
There is a technique called square foot gardening that eliminates the wasted space of traditional rows in gardens.
All of this may sound a bit intimidating, but it is mostly a matter of knowing what you are growing. Every vegetable has some basic needs that you need to understand, but you won’t do any harm in trying to grow what you want to eat. Just be prepared to run into some snags and have someone you can ask – Facebook groups are great for this.
