7 tips for a low -maintenance vegetable garden

The cultivation of your own food can be fun, fulfilling and delicious. It can also be a lot of work – transport compost, seed plants and weeds and pests fight – before you have the chance to harvest the fruit (and the vegetables) of your work.

There is no way to make gardening effortlessly. (And why do you want? This is part of the fun you save time, effort and frustration in the process from seeds to harvest.

Here are some things you should consider, whether you are starting your first garden or restart your old garden for spring.

Get plants or seeds that are delivered

If you are like me, make you enjoy the annual spring trip to your local garden center or your Big Box Store to select plants by hand. If you are like me, you don't always have time or want certain plants or seeds that are not available near you. The solution? Get plants, seeds and more delivered.

A lot of places are listed in our guidelines for garden delivery services where edible and decorative plants, local pollinating, flowers and much more are described. I personally like to use the Southern Exposure Exchange of Sea for seeds such as “Sugar Ann” -Dwarf -Snap -Herbs and Experimental Farm network for really rare, unique varieties.

Choose the right plants

Adjust the success in the garden by choosing your system selection. Assess your level of experience, the time you can commit, and the space you have and then select plants that fit what you can offer.

For example, if you are an initial gardener who dreams of taking care of your own juicy tomatoes. If you only have to grow a few containers on your terrace, start with compact, rapidly growing plants such as salad, kale and radishes that fit your room and be ready to harvest in just a few weeks in just a few weeks.

Start with veggie starts

Gardening is often about compromises: you can store a bundle by buying and planting plants such as tomatoes and peppers in front of seeds. However, the growth of the seed takes longer, takes up space and can require an investment in equipment such as attachment lights and heating mats to give these baby systems the conditions they need to thrive.

The solution? Let someone else do the work for you. Make a jump into the vegetation period by buying seedlings, also called starts. Your local kindergarten, your garden center or your friendly farmer used your professional know-how to ensure that your plants are healthy and willing to thrive. The purchase of a six-pack tomato start may cost more than the purchase of a package seed, but you can skip the time and anger of diyying.

Note that there are some beginner -friendly plants that sprout so quickly and easily that plants from seeds are worthwhile, such as kale, Swiss chard, salad, radishes, beans and peas.

Add several years of herbs

Many of our favorite vegetables in the garden are an annual one -year -old in moderate climates, which means that the plants have to be finished every winter and have to be planted again in spring. Cut through the efforts to plant the planting time by planting several years of herbs such as thyme, sage, oregano, Marjoram, lavender, mint and rosemary. As soon as you have established yourself, these strong, tasteful plants can adapt to a variety of climate zones and require minimal care to jump back every spring.

Install an irrigation system

As soon as your plants are set, it is your job to give you what you need. This means regularly during the vegetation period. In very hot, sunny regions or during a heat wave, this could mean watering several times a day. This can be a lot of work, and if you forget, you will take the risk that these small plants are burned to burn.

This tip is a little more advanced You grow better plants. Including irrigation systems, connecting garden tubes or drip lines to A Timer connected to a tap. Some irrigation systems can be programmable while you have to manually switch on others. After preliminary investment, they help your plants the consistent moisture that you need and at the same time save time and effort.

The floor mulch

Another way to manage gardening and protecting your plants is to keep more of this moisture in the soil where it belongs. Mulching is the process of covering the floor surface with a few centimeters of organic material to create ideal conditions for your plants. Your plants are waves and occasionally neglect in hot weather much better.

The best mulches for vegetable gardens include crushed leaves, straw, dried grass sections and salt hay. You may now sit some of them in your garden for free, but you can also buy mulch in your local garden center.

Mulching also helps you to fight weeds, take over the bare soil and want to compete with your plants for resources such as water, nutrients and sunlight. With mulch you will shorten the time drastically so that you pull stubborn weeds and save you time and your back. Avoid vegetable beds with wood chips or mulches that you can say goodbye with these colored mulches to keep the paths weed -free.

Use line coverage

Weeds are not their only enemies in the garden. Insect pests are hungry for their plants, and the best way to protect your garden from you is prevention. You can do this with a line coverage, also known as floating row cover Or to apply again. It is a fine, transparent fabric that leaves light and water and at the same time keeps insect pests away from their plants.

For example, in many regions of the USA, brassicas such as kale, arugula, cabbage, mustard green, beet green and radishes that fall victim to the Harlequin bug, which can chew healthy leaves to the stem in a few days. If you protect your seedlings with row covers and low tires in spring before the insects appear and then keep them covered, make sure that these annoying insects cannot undergo all their hard work.

Bugs are not the only pests that want to divide on their plants. Birds, rodents such as squirrels and marmots, rabbits and deer could be ready to nibble on their garden, depending on where they live. It can be more difficult to keep these animals away – networkFencing or plant -resistant varieties can help. So contact your local cooperative expansion to receive instructions.