Vegetable Gardening
Gurney's Vegetable Seeds – $20 Off $40
I’ve mentioned vegetable gardening in some of the other posts, but here I’d like to introduce vegetable gardening to the people who are just thinking about having a vegetable garden, but have no experience with it. Given economic conditions, it makes sense to grow some of your own food. It’s also a healthy way to feed your family.
What I would recommend is to start with the crops that are easiest to grow and as you get the hang of it, you can work up to more difficult crops. The easiest crops to grow are cherry tomatoes and bush beans. They both will give you lots of good harvest and are delicious. Carrots and radishes grown from seed are also very easy and even young children enjoy growing these and they love to pull them when they’re ready. Remind them to grab the stems down at the base, so they won’t break off the foliage. When you get your seed packets follow the directions on the package for planting and always prepare your soil first . ( See soil improvement and raised bed gardening for ideas). You also want to choose a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun per day. There’s more information about planting techniques in the post “What kind of garden do you want”.
Master Gardening has a lot of helpful items for your gardening needs. They carry compost bins, a variety of raised beds and many other goodies.
Another crop that’s relatively easy is summer squash or zucchini, providing you have enough room. (They spread quite a bit) Chard is also very easy and it will even tolerate some shade and looks good in ornamental gardens.
Try to grow things you love to eat, and don’t plant more than you can use or give away. I also like to plant those vegetables that are usually very expensive in the stores. One such luxury veggie is asparagus. The added benefit is, it’s a perennial that comes back every year and the older it gets, the more prolific.
Melons are also pretty expensive in the stores and all you need is a little space for these. There are some smaller varieties if your space is limited.
Speaking of small spaces, you might want to consider a small lettuce garden. You can grow your own salad fixings on a patio or deck or even a window box. Prolong the harvest by just filching from the outer leaves.
Strawberries are another perennial that you can container grow or use in a hanging basket. They prefer partial shade. If you do plant them in the ground, watch out for snails, They love them. Try putting a tin pie pan with beer in it out at night. They crawl in and drown. ( 
AWWW!)
The one crop I wouldn’t recommend that you grow is corn. It leaches all the nutrients from the soil, takes a lot of space, and when it’s ready to harvest, you can buy it at the market 4 for a dollar. Not worth the trouble.
Getting back to patio plants, breeders have developed many compact varieties that grow well in containers. One such is petite patio tomato .
You can also grow peppers, and bush baby zucchini, to name a few.
Growing your own garden is very rewarding, not to mention, you’ll save a lot of money on those expensive vegetables at the store. Try keeping a journal of what you planted where and when, then record your successes and failures at the end of the season. There’s not a gardener alive that hasn’t had failures, so don’t be discouraged. Just use the journal each year as a way to learn about your different crops.
Best of luck to you!
This book from Amazon is a great guide for you to follow.