Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens

346 Pages·2010·8.01 MB·English

by  Barbara Pleasant

STARTER VEGETABLE GARDENS
STARTER VEGETABLE GARDENS
24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens

Barbara Pleasant
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN GRUEN
The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Fern Marshall Bradley and Gwen Steege
Art direction and book design by Dan O. Williams
Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Photography by © John Gruen, except for pages 62, 91, 96, 117, and 122 by
the author
Photo styling by Lisa Newman
Illustrations by © William Howell Golson
Garden plans by Alison Kolesar

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

© 2010 by Barbara Pleasant

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The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge.
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are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pleasant, Barbara.
Starter vegetable gardens / by Barbara Pleasant.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60342-529-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60342-530-8 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Vegetable gardening. I. Title.
SB321.P58 2010
635—dc22
2009049114
To Madison,
and a new generation
of gardeners
CONTENTS
DIGGING IN
How to Use This Book
PART I:
DEVELOPING YOUR GARDEN PLAN
Starting Small and Growing Year by Year
Sizing Up Your Site and Soil
CHAPTER 1 THE EASY-CARE BAG GARDEN
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
CHAPTER 2 A BOUNTIFUL BORDER
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
CHAPTER 3 THE FRONT-YARD FOOD SUPPLY
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
CHAPTER 4 FAMILY FOOD FACTORY GARDENS
Short, Cool Summers
Full-Season Summers
Long, Hot Summers
Angel Wings Herb Garden
PART 2:
ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES AND
MORE PLANTING PLANS
Purposeful Planting Plans
CHAPTER 5 DECIDING WHAT TO GROW
It’s All in the Timing
Vegetables and Climate
CHAPTER 6 DESIGNING BEAUTIFUL, BIG-FLAVOR
GARDENS
From Flowers to Food
CHAPTER 7 WORKING WITH SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS
Garden Plan: Overnight Success
Direct-Seeding in Your Garden
Garden Plan: Strictly from Seed
Starting Seeds Indoors
Starting Seeds Step-by-Step
Garden Plan: Paintbrush Beds
CHAPTER 8 SUPPORTING YOUR PLANTS
Types of Support
How to Pound a Post
How to Cage a Tomato
Garden Plan: High-Value Verticals
CHAPTER 9 WATER: MAKE EVERY DROP COUNT
Garden Plan: Marinara Medley
Knowing When to Water
CHAPTER 10 THE MAGIC OF MULCH
When Looks Count
Garden Plan: Managed Mulch Garden
CHAPTER 11 FERTILIZING YOUR GARDEN
Weighing Your Options
Garden Plan: Sweet Corn & Company
Can You Use Too Much?
CHAPTER 12 YOUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES
Organic Remedies That Really Work
Garden Plan: Beneficial Border
CHAPTER 13 PREVENTING DASTARDLY DISEASES
Super-Strong Varieties
Garden Plan: Cajun Spice
Fighting with Fungi
CHAPTER 14 SMART HARVESTING
Chill Out!
Preserving Your Favorite Herbs
Garden Plan: Good-for-You Garden
CHAPTER 15 STRETCHING THE SEASONS
Three Ways to Bring On Spring
Garden Plan: Six-Weeks-Sooner
PART 3
PICK-OF-THE-CROP VEGGIE VARIETIES
Making Good Choices
What Is a Variety?
Varieties for Your Garden, Crop by Crop
APPENDIX
Gardener’s Basic Lingo
Which Planting Plans Are Right for You?
Sources for Seeds and Plants
USDA Hardiness Zone Map
Metric Conversions
INDEX
DIGGING IN

Planting a garden is hope in action. As you tuck in seedlings or pat seeds
into soft soil, you hope they will grow. But maybe you also feel a little anxious
because, truth be told, you’re just learning to tell a radish from a rutabaga. Relax.
You can grow a successful organic food garden right now, this season. This book
will get you started with simple, delectable garden plans and the instructions to
see them through to a bountiful harvest. Next season, when you’re ready for a
little more challenge, you can graduate to specialized planting plans to expand
your cultivated space, grow a pet crop like gourmet potatoes, or add more herbs
and flowers for a garden that’s as beautiful as it is practical.
Tending your garden will be more pleasure than struggle. Granted, there will
be some bending and lifting involved, but you wanted a hobby that you could
enjoy outdoors, moving around, right? The work won’t be terribly hard. While I
cannot guarantee that every crop in your garden will succeed any more than I
can promise you a summer without hail, I can say this with certainty: Growing at
least some of your own food will change your life for the better.
DIG THIS!
Food gardens can be as pretty as they are productive. Including colorful
flowers looks great and attracts butterflies and bees as well as scores of pest-
eating beneficial insects such as lady beetles.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is intended to be of endearing value to three groups: new
gardeners ready to jump into food gardening with both feet, experienced
gardeners who are coaching new gardeners, and seasoned greenies who can
grow prize-winning roses or peonies but are stumped on the fine points of
growing a gourmet salad garden. In pursuit of this goal, the book is divided into
three parts.
Part 1: