A good-size beginner vegetable garden is 10×16 feet; this is a easy to mange size garden that will still produce plenty of vegetables. You can plant in the normal vegetable garden style, in the ground or you can opt for raised beds or square foot garden techniques.

photo credit: thebittenword.com

A plot this size, planted with the vegetables below, can feed a family of four for one summer. There will also be a little extra for canning and freezing or giving away.

There are vegetables that may yield more than one crop per season. These are beans, beets, carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce, radishes, rutabagas, spinach and turnips. For the plan below, your rows or raised beds should run north and south to take full advantage of the sun.

Garden plan

Make your garden 11 rows of 10 feet each or use 2 to 3 raised beds. Plant the following vegetables:

Tomatoes — 5 plants staked

Zucchini squash — 4 plants or two of zucchini and tow other squash varieties

Peppers — 6 plants

Cabbage

Bush beans

Beets

Carrots

Chard

Lettuce, leaf, Bibb or a mix variety

Radish

Grow marigolds to discourage rabbits and some insect varieties! Geraniums also discourage some insects and any flower adds beauty to a garden.

Leave 2 feet between bush beans, 1/2 foot between bush beans and lettuce, and 1 foot between all of the rest.

This is a simple easy garden plan. As you garden you can add new vegetables, get rid of others and experiment with different styles of gardening.

I started out using rows, went to square foot gardening to make better use of my space,

Note: If this garden is too large for your needs, you do not have to plant all 11 rows. You can also make the rows shorter. You can choose the veggies that you’d like to grow or add more flowers!

Tip: Radishes planted by the base of a squash plant will deter squash bugs. Radishes also mature quickly so only plants a few seeds at a time.

If you’re interested in planting potatoes, tomatoes and potatoes are not ideal companions and need “distance.” I myself plant them in barrels or bushel baskets so that I can just dump the crop at the end of the season for easy harvesting.

And for the beginning gardener. Read the instructions on the back of the seed packet. It will let you know how long the crop takes to mature, proper spacing and it will help you determine if you can grow two crops in a season.

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Allium sativum, (more commonly known as Garlic) is a member of the onion family and can be grown very easily at home in your open garden, in a cold green house, in a pot or even a window box.

photo credit: ginnerobot

Garlic will grow all year round in mild climates although in colder climates, like in the UK, planting Garlic is best around autumn so the plants will grow slowly throughout the winter frost and start to flower around spring. Garlic is a Perennial with long green flat leaves and white flowers.

Garlic is available in two varieties, hardneck (also known as ‘top-setting’) and softneck.

Hardneck Garlic is well suited to growing in cold climates and the bulb produces one layer of cloves which is much larger than those of softneck. The cloves of hardneck garlic also have a stronger flavour and are easier to peel than softneck. However, they do not keep as long in storage.

Softneck cloves last much longer in storage and are more readily available.

Planting your Garlic

Garlic seeds can be rare so it is more common to grow garlic from the bulb segments (cloves) which you can obtain from a specialist garden center or even from your local supermarket.

Before planting your garlic cloves you should prepare the soil by working in compost and make sure the area of your garden has good drainage as cold wet cloves will rot. To improve drainage you should consider constructing a raised bed to grow the garlic in. Since garlic has shallow roots you will only need a 5 inch high bed.

You should split the bulbs just before you intend to plant and discard any damaged or small cloves, and try to use the biggest clove as this will produce a bigger bulb.

When planting the cloves it is better to use a planting drill because pushing the cloves into the ground may inhibit root development. In cold climates the cloves should be planted to a depth of 4 inches whilst milder climates will be fine with a depth of 2 inches.

Spacing is important to properly grow garlic; you should plant your cloves in a row setting them 6-8 inches apart for softneck and 4-6 inches apart for hardneck. If you plan on setting additional rows leave 12 inches between rows. After planting, water your crop thoroughly and mulch with leaves if available.

Care for your Garlic

Depending on the weather, after planting your crop in autumn you may not need to water again until Spring. From spring onwards you should water your crop regularly but don’t over water or allow your crop to become soggy or else your bulbs will rot.

If you applied mulch when planting your crop there should be few weeds. Be sure to check your mulch is not retaining moisture, if so reduce the mulch and cultivate the soil as needed to keep your crop free of weeds.

Harvesting your Garlic

You can expect to harvest your crop in late spring/early summer. A sign that your crop is ready for harvesting is when the leaves begin to turn yellow and bend over. When you see that a quarter of the leaves have dried up you should pick a couple of bulbs to check them.

Ripe bulbs should have a firm skin and the inner cloves should be fully separated. Don’t delay if your crop is ready – you should harvest right away. Use a garden fork to gently loosen the bulbs out of the soil.

After picking all your bulbs you need to cure your crop – this can be done in a greenhouse, shed or even a garage, and curing normally takes one to four weeks. Fully cured garlic plants will have a completely dry outer skin.

Once your garlic is fully cured you should clip and gentle brush off any excess soil. When clipping leaves and you find any moisture then your bulbs have not fully cured.

You can store fully dried bulbs in baskets, string bags or sacks in a frost-free dark shed or garage.

For more great tips and advice on how to grow Garlic, visit http://www.rassad.co.uk/grow-garlic-at-home.

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Our area was hit very hard with tomato blight. Almost everyone lost their entire tomato crop. I believe the reason for this was our cold rainy summer and nights that were chilly. It just put to much stress on the plants.

photo credit: kthread

And the heavy rain created sickly plants that were the perfect target for any disease. Even a garden that was well maintained and weeded fell prey to blight. The only people who seemd to do well were those who grew their tomatoes indoors or in a greenhouse.

And of course there is always an exception to any statement or rule. I met an amish man who shared his secret for keeping blight under control. Epsom Salt!

I use epsom salt for pepper plants and cleaning garden tools but I had never heard of using it for tomato blight control.

Jacob told me to use a cup of epsom salt to a 5 gallon bucket of water and spray the plants heavily at the first site of tomato blight. You may wantt o spray the plants once more in a few days.

Jacob has used this method for tomato blight control for years and he always has the perfect crop of tomatoes.

I plan on trying this next year if we have tomato blight again.

photo credit: _e.t

NOTE: If you had tomato blight in your garden make sure you burn the diseased plants. And also change the location of where you plant your tomatoes the following year. This is one disease that will leave the ground infected and more vulnerable to blight the following year.

Technorati Tags: epsom salt for tomato blight, how to cure tomato blight, tomato blight control, tomato disease control, vegetables