Vegetable Gardening

It’s Springtime! Which means time to get those vegetable gardens going!! I love planting vegetable gardens, because it is so rewarding. It is so nice being able to go out to the garden and cook what you grow. I have been planting vegetables since I was a little girl. My Grandfather in Massachusetts was an amazing gardener and I always looked up to his skills, knowledge and love for plants. There is just something about going out to pick your own lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber for a salad on a nice summer day. I love planting vegetables all year round, especially in California, because our weather is great; but Spring is my favorite season to plant vegetables, because of all the choices! Fun Fact: I also took Botany in college!

I have been through a lot of different issues in my gardening days, such as bug infestations and animals eating my fruits. I have also tried many different kinds of methods, such as using wood chips to keep weeds out (epic fail) and different pruning techniques to get the most out of certain plants. I have also planted by seed versus buying the plant. By using trial and error, I have come up with some pretty fool proof method to easy peezy gardening.

Gardening is such a fun hobby to do with the whole family! I had June in the garden with me since she could walk. Now she is helping me dig holes and plant the plants. I also get to teach her about all of the plants and how they grow into fruits. Some of them grow in bushes, some vines, some stalks, etc. It’s cute, because she is not fond of tomatoes, but she said she likes tomatoes now, because we grow them in the garden 🙂 We have yet to find out though, because she has not tried one from the garden this season yet. Stay tuned!

How I planted my garden this year:

Clear out the area you plan to garden – I like to get the dirt wet, so it is easier to work with. Then I till the dirt to get it nice and loose and make it easier to pick out any weeds. It is hard to get all the weeds, because I have a large gardening space, so I just get most of them and pick out the smaller ones as I go.

Pick out plants from a local nursery – This is my favorite part! I like to pick fruits, vegetables and herbs we use a lot in our household. I go to Torro gardens next to my house on Crenshaw Blvd. At Torro they have soil that they bag themselves that was used to plant the plants they grow. I like to get this soil, because it is packed with nutrients the plants are used to growing in.

Map out your garden – I like to put my tall, big bushy plants or plants that grow on poles in the back. I also like to spread out my viney plants, such as the melons and cucumber, so they aren’t intertwining with eachother.

Make rows for planting – I use a garden pick and hoe to dig out rows where I am going to plant my plants.

Plant your plants – I use the rows I dug out to plant the plants. For each plant, I use a hefty mound of dirt apply around the plant. Make sure you follow the instructions on distance to plant each plant from each other. Some need more space than others.

Water – Water the plants after they are planted. I like to water everyday thereafter for about a week, to make sure they get enough water until they have rooted into their new home. After that, I water every 2-3 days, while also making sure the soil never gets too dry; I may have to water more or less depending on the weather (dry, humid, rain, etc). The reason I dig out the rows is so it serves as an irrigation system and water settles in the trenches to remain damp around the plants longer.