Did you have trouble growing veggies last year? Every once in a while, I’ll have a bad gardening year. Sometimes it’s beyond my control {i.e. squirrels or other critters getting into my plants} and sometimes, I’ll look back and be like, “Whoops, I can totally see how I screwed this year up.” Gardening is definitely a learning process.
Maintaining a healthy garden isn’t really that tricky when you get right down to it, but it does involve the slightest bit of tenacity–which, on days when you would rather drink tea on the patio and only think about getting dressed eventually, can be too much to ask. Ha!
Here’s what I think are the basics on maintaining a healthy vegetable garden:
- Soil. It seems like you should be able to stick your plant into the dirt, water it, and watch it grow, but that’s just not the case. The soil should be prepped and cared for all through the gardening season. Adding compost to the beds each year and basic crop rotation will go a long way in ensuring your soil can provide for your plants. {I ignored the crop rotation principals last year and paid for it in much lower yields. Lesson learned. Mother Nature-1, Mavis-0. } Now, I am a little behind the curve, so I am also going to prep my soil this winter by experimenting with cover crops. Hopefully, they will give my soil a little added boost.
- Rethink your watering plan. All plants require a different level of water, but letting vegetable crops dry out a bit before you water them is pretty universal. Over-watered plants become susceptible to disease and fungus. So, water thoroughly less often–allowing the soil to dry out in between waterings.
- Start with healthy plants. If you buy your plants, don’t be afraid to pull them out of the container and examine their roots. A healthy root system and plant gives you a huge head start in maintaining your garden. The same goes for plants you grow from seed. If you have a weak one, get rid of it. It’s survival of the fittest here–don’t be sentimental. 🙂
- Be vigilant and proactive. Bugs can devastate a plant pretty quickly. Worse, if you don’t catch it in time, you have to decide whether you are going to treat the problem or lose the plant. I try to maintain a completely organic garden. I pick squash bugs off pretty much daily. Last year, though, the snails won, and I opted for an organic solution called Sluggo to help me combat the slimy little beggars.
With those four basics covered, you really can maintain a pretty healthy vegetable garden with good yields. How about you, do you have any swear-by tips for keeping your garden healthy?
~Mavis
Rosario says
I recently found leafminers in my Swiss chard. I am thoroughly grossed out. I’ve been cutting the affected leaves off and feeding them to my chickens. I’ve also been wiping the eggs off the leaves. Is there an organic solution for this problem instead of doing this by hand.
Carol says
I have had the same problem in past years. This spring I read an article about dealing with pests, and it advised to plant chard and beets after the lilacs bloom. Evidently, this has something to do with the larval stage in their life cycle being mostly over. Well, I jumped the gun a bit and have seedlings up, but the lilacs are mostly through and no sign of leaf miners yet. We’ll see–thought it was worth a try.
Nora at Simple, Easy, Frugal says
I do a snail check almost every night now. And I pay my daughter and her friends $.02 for every snail they find and put in the yard waste bin. They are menaces to garden society!
Pam says
Diatomaceous earth is organic and great to control pests of all types. It slices up their bodies and they dehydrate (I’ve heard). It does not harm people or pets and in fact is often added to animal feed to eliminate internal pest problems (Google it!). We have had an organic yard for 30 years and have used it as needed. It’s amazing what it will do… gets rid of ants too! Just a thought!
Tangela says
Do you feed your veggies during the growing season – other than the initial compost at the time of planting?
Mavis says
I don’t. I try to start with healthy soil and let the water and sunlight do the rest.
The Couch Potato says
I don’t have much experience yet, but I plan on mulching heavily to add to soil fertility and promote soil organism activity.