In today’s column are a few suggestions for new gardeners planning to grow vegetables this year in a dedicated spot.
Regarding location of your vegetable garden the primary consideration is how the garden will be watered. You’ll have several options of watering methods, depending on availability and need.
• Drip irrigation uses the least amount of water but is the most intensive to set up. Drip is the most desirable method of water delivery not only because it uses the least amount of water but also because it delivers water directly to the root zone.
• Sprinkler watering is an option but leaves of the plants are wetted, which may increase the likelihood of foliar diseases; less water reaches the root zones because of the interference of the foliage.
• Flood irrigation in furrows is the simplest option but wastes water because water is delivered to the entire area not just the roots.
Sunlight is another factor. Most summer crops are warm season plants that need full sunlight for most of the day. Without full sunlight plants are thinner and leggier, with fewer fruit. East facing spots receive early morning light while west facing sites receive the hotter late afternoon sun. Southern exposures are superior to northern. Northern exposures receive the least light.
Size is a consideration that depends on the accessible ground, amount of space that can be managed, water availability and delivery system, how many plants of which crops are to be grown.
Finally, what plants do you want to grow? Newbie gardeners might want to start small and put in a conventional garden with a few rows with only a few plants. Start by growing something the gardener or the gardener’s family likes. Chances of tender care of the garden like weeding, watching for insects, and watering are more likely to be done for crops the family likes.
Easy crops to start the gardening adventure with are the summer squashes, cucumbers, and peppers. One or two plants of a zucchini and one or two plants of yellow crookneck yields enough to share. An easy cucumber that kids love to pick and that produces prolific numbers of small fruit is the lemon cucumber. Peppers are produced on a small plant that does not require a lot of space. If the family likes hot peppers jalapeños are easy to grow but for families that don’t like the heat, there are some fun jalapeños that have no heat at all. Jalapeños are much easier to grow than are bell peppers.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
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