Reap a bounty of vegetables from a well tended home garden. Gardening fulfills different needs for different people. One person may use her vegetable garden to relax and enjoy moments of solitude. Another may use it to spend bonding time getting dirty with his kids. People around the world grow a vegetable garden for sustenance that feeds them all year long.
Watering the Garden
Vegetables require adequate irrigation for optimal growth and bountiful production. Water your garden if it receives less than 1 inch of rain per week. Maurice Ogutu, a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator, advises avoiding frequent light watering. Instead, Ogutu instructs home vegetable gardeners to irrigate the vegetable garden thoroughly in the morning by soaking the soil 6 to 8 inches deep to reach the root zone. Watering in the morning helps prevent fungal leaf diseases because the sun dries the leaves during the day. Watering your plants in the middle of a hot day results in water loss due evaporation and can burn the leaves of sensitive plants. Sow your seed as early as possible based on recommended planting dates, to take advantage of spring rains. A portable drip irrigation pipe attached to a timer works especially well for vegetables gardeners living in a municipality with water restrictions.
Choosing a Garden Site
Plan your vegetable garden before you select your site. Larry Bass, an Extension Horticultural Specialist at the Department of Horticultural Science College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, recommends a 25 square foot area for a family of three or four. Research which vegetables thrive in your area, decide how many plants you want, and calculate the space required for each plant. Place your garden site, or sites, close to your home, and you will be more likely to notice any problems. Chose a spot that receives at least six hours of sunlight for cool season vegetables, such as bok choi, broccoli and cabbage. Summer vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, need eight to ten hours of sunlight a day.
Transplants
Direct seeding and using transplants are two ways to plant vegetables in your home garden. Transplants are young plants you can buy at a garden center or propagate at home. Depending on the vegetable, transplants need between three and 12 weeks to mature before you plant them, according to Bass. He cautions that transplants are subject to wilting and do best when planted on a cloudy day in pre-fertilized soil.
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