Community Horticulture Fact Sheet #47 Intensive Vegetable Gardening
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Community Horticulture Fact Sheet #47 Intensive Vegetable Gardening The concept of growing our own fresh tomatoes up poles and cucumber vines up vegetables appeals to most of us, but few support frames. people have the time to put in and care for a big vegetable garden. The solution is Winter squash and pumpkins take up lots of obvious. Put in a tiny one, but make it as space, so you may choose not to grow them. efficient and productive as possible. If you do grow squash, tie them up onto a trellis. If needed, you can support the heavy To get the most out of your garden: fruit with slings. • Choose wisely what you will grow. (The fact sheet “Deciding What to Plant” may Pole beans and climbing peas will give more help.) production per square foot than bush • Prepare the soil deeply by double cultivars. Provide support, even for short digging and add the proper amendments. vines, so that they don’t fall over onto the (The fact sheet “Soil Testing & neighboring crop. Improvement” may help. • Use transplants whenever possible. SPACING AND INTERCROPPING (The fact sheet on “Transplants” may Assuming that you have prepared your soil help.) well, you should plant in blocks not rows. By • Use your space wisely by growing up, by double digging and adding lime, organic intercropping and by doing successive matter and fertilizer, plant roots can go deep cropping. instead of sideways into their neighbor’s • Mulch, mulch, mulch. territory. Plants should be grown close enough together that their leaves touch, but The first three points are covered in other not so close that they compete with each fact sheets, so we can dismiss them quickly. other for sunlight, water or nutrients. Choose to grow crops that are valuable Consider the space needed by the mature (herbs, asparagus, mesclun), productive plant, when setting out transplants. Seeded (beans, summer squash, rhubarb,) and crops will need to be thinned to the final more flavorful fresh from your garden spacing. (tomatoes, peas leaf lettuce). Prepare the soil well. Use transplants whenever you Crops that need a big area eventually (like can. Learn to grow them yourself. Seeds squash, tomatoes or cabbage) can be planted give us weeks of bare soil, so the weeds can with an intercrop (such as leaf lettuce, green move in. Transplants save you weeks or onions, spinach, mustard or radishes). months, depending on the crop. Intercrops are fast-growing crops that can grow between large plants before the big GROWING UP ones need their full space. Intercropping In a small garden every foot of soil is allows you to get two crops out of the same important. Don’t let crops sprawl. Train the space. 600 128th Street SE, Everett, WA 98208-6353 425-338-2400 • Fax: 425-338-3994 • Master Gardeners: 425-357-6010 • TDD 1 -800-833-6388 • http://snohomish.wsu.edu • http://gardening.wsu.edu Extension programs and policies are consistent with federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, sex, religion, age, color, creed, national or ethnic origin; physical, mental or sensory disability; marital status, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era or disabled veteran. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office. SUCCESSIVE PLANTING Try to keep your garden space full of crops A floating row cover or clear plastic row cover at all times. Your garden will produce lots of over hoops will keep crops warmer. Giving vegetables in the summer. With planning, it crops protection will allow you to grow earlier can provide fresh vegetables all year. When in the spring and later in the fall. Many over- one crop is harvested or past its peak, take wintering crops will do better under row it out and plant another crop. This covers as well. If you use plastic, be sure it is successive cropping gives you much more well vented. food from the same amount of land. There are different kinds of successive plantings MULCH that can be grouped by when you are going Organic mulch is a busy gardener’s best to eat the produce. friend. • Mulch keeps the soil moisture from Summer crops: Most are sown as the first evaporating, so that you won’t have to crop in the spring. Many fast crops can be water as often. sown one after another, so that you get • Mulch shades the soil to prevent weed several crops in summer. [Green onions, seeds from germinating. When weeds do lettuce, mustards, radishes, etc.] grow, the mulch makes them easier to pull. Fall crops: After spring crops are finished • Mulch keeps veggies cleaner, since soil in-mid-summer, plant a second crop for fall. doesn’t splash up onto them. Some of these can be left in the garden for • Mulch can be turned under in the fall or winter eating. [Beans, peas, beets, lettuce, the following spring to add organic matter mustard, turnips, spinach, rutabagas, to the soil. cabbage, broccoli, greens, etc.] Organic mulch shades the soil, so don’t apply Winter crops: Plants don't grow much it until the soil has a chance to warm up, during the short, cold days of winter. To eat especially around heat-loving crops. vegetables in winter, you must plant them in warm summer or fall months. Once they have grown, these hardy crops will hold well in your garden to provide food for winter. [Carrots, collards, corn salad, green onions, kale, leeks, mustard, potatoes, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips. etc.] Spring crops: A few crops can be started in late summer or fall. They grow a little, but stay small through winter. In spring they finish growing and produce extra-early harvests. Often certain varieties of a vegetable over-winter better than others. [Broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, garlic, greens, onions, spinach.] Growing successive crops, especially over winter, will require good cultural practices. Each time you replant, add compost and a balanced fertilizer to keep the soil healthy. Don't over-fertilize in the fall. Too much nitrogen will cause plants to be less cold hardy. Kennell 2/03 .