Vegetable gardening is accessible to anyone with limited space, with success dependent upon careful site preparation, plant selection, timing and weeding practices.
Seeds may be directly planted into your garden, while many vegetables should be started indoors using transplants. Contacting your local Cooperative Extension center can assist with soil testing and provide recommendations for starting seeds and plants successfully.
Tomatoes
Tomato plants require at least six to eight hours of direct sun each day in order to achieve maximum yields. If planting in shaded areas, try selecting determinate varieties with smaller fruits or cherry tomatoes which do well with partial shade conditions.
Plant your seeds or transplants in rich, well-draining garden soil with plenty of compost and bonemeal at planting time, then mulch after transplanting to retain moisture, prevent soil splashing onto tomato leaves, and control weeds.
Avoid plantings that could compete with the growth and health of your tomato plants, such as cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) or peas (Pisum sativum). Cucumbers in particular don’t get along well with tomatoes due to their competing habitat requirements causing blossom-end rot. If your tomato plants produce flowers but no fruits it could be caused by insufficient light, irregular watering schedule, high or extreme temperatures or lack of pollination.
Beans
Beans are one of the easiest vegetables for beginners to cultivate and are great sources of nutrition for young children who enjoy helping plant them.
Sow beans outdoor after the last frost date and space seeds 1 inch deep in rows 18 inches apart. Beans thrive under full sunlight in soil conditions ranging from light to heavy, yet well-draining soil with moderate fertility is ideal. Beans also don’t typically need additional fertilizers since their root systems naturally fix nitrogen into the ground.
Beans pair well with many vegetables, including carrots and beets that loosen the soil by competing less for nutrients than beans do, corn, melon and squash plants, deer resistant fencing to keep out deer, as well as Savory which emits scents to repel pests such as aphids, carrot flies and bean beetles.
Lettuce
Lush lettuce is a fast-growing cool-season crop that can be harvested multiple times before going to seed. Preferring full sun but tolerating some shade in hotter regions, lettuce flourishes best when grown in rich mix soil with plenty of moisture available to it.
Space lettuce plants 6-18 inches apart depending on variety and cultivar. Mulching will help conserve water, prevent weeds from appearing and ensure steady growth.
Plant lettuce among other leafy greens like kale, spinach and radishes for optimal results. However, avoid brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, collards and romanesco, which have strong aromatic compounds that interfere with proper lettuce germination. Cilantro and dill are good companions to lettuce; marigolds help deter pests while alliums (onion family plants such as garlic leeks and chives) also help improve garden health while repelling some common pests that damage it.
Spinach
Spinach is a cool-season leafy green that thrives best during spring, fall (and in mild climates, winter), and harvest periods extending over an extended period. To thrive successfully it needs rich, moisture-retaining soil rich with nitrogen.
Use organic mulch to maintain cool and moist conditions for the soil, especially as spinach can bolt (flower prematurely) if it dries out too quickly.
For an early harvest, sow outdoor seeds as soon as the ground becomes workable in spring and again 6-8 weeks prior to frost in fall. Plant 1/2 inch deep seeds 12 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart when using 12-inch containers; thin to 6 inches when plants have four or five true leaves and avoid overwatering the leaves as this could cause fungal diseases. Water regularly but avoid direct contact with leaves as this could lead to fungal infections.
Beets
Beets do not transplant well, so for optimal growth they should be planted directly into your garden. Soak the seeds for at least 24 hours prior to sowing in order to speed germination. Seeds should be planted 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart along rows; 9 seeds per square foot is the recommended spacing in partial shade conditions.
Start sowing beet seeds throughout spring until midsummer or 6 weeks prior to frost in fall for winter harvest. Thin out beet plants when they reach 2 inches in height; young, tender beet tops make delicious salad greens!
Companion planting can dramatically enhance beet performance by improving growth, decreasing pests and improving flavor. Legumes such as beans provide essential nitrogen to the soil – essential for beet growth – while crops such as clover or buckwheat act as dense ground cover that protects from weeds. Fertilizer with complete vegetable fertilizer may further boost yields while also improving plant health.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are heat-loving vining plants that thrive when trellised. Trellising keeps their vines off of the ground, helping prevent diseases like powdery mildew. Furthermore, this saves space in your garden; mulching around their planting area with straw or chopped leaves keeps pests at bay while conserving soil moisture levels.
Consider companion planting (also called plant guilds) to increase both productivity and health of your vegetable garden. For instance, legumes such as peas, beans and lentils make excellent companions for cucumbers as they naturally increase nitrogen levels in soil.
Cucumbers thrive best in warm, sunny environments with well-drained soil with a pH between 6.5 to 7.0, receiving regular irrigation during flowering and fruiting periods. Pruning improves yield while keeping vines healthy and manageable; pruning also decreases problems like cucumber beetles or fast-spreading cucumber rot.
Peppers
All varieties of peppers belong to the Capsicum genus and come with various levels of heat ranging from sweet peppers with rainbow hues to fiery chilies that may cause you to tear up. All require warm and settled conditions in order to thrive successfully for cultivation.
Seeds should be started indoors in a sterile seed starting mix and on a warming mat for optimal germination rates and success. While germination rates may vary between seeds, regular watering will help ensure their roots do not become leggy and weak before transplanting out into your garden.
Like tomatoes, peppers do not make great companion plants when planted next to vegetables like cabbage (Brassica oleracea), peas (Pisum sativum), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), or potatoes (Solanum tuberculatum). Such crops have been said to inhibit pepper growth or compete for soil nutrients – container gardens make an ideal environment for pepper plants!
Carrots
Carrots thrive in most soil types, but to achieve maximum results they require keeping their roots from drying out and loose, rich soil that allows their long roots to spread down into. To promote this growth, work the soil using a hori hori or trowel to break up large clumps, remove pebbles and weeds as well as break any large soil clumps up and remove pebbles or weeds that appear.
Radishes make excellent companion plants, germinating rapidly and sucking up moisture from the topsoil. Radishes also serve as an aid in keeping carrots within their shallow, top inches of soil where they receive enough sun and water.
Carrots should be harvested within 70 days, although it can take them longer to emerge from the ground. Once they do appear aboveground, watch for their shoulders to peek above the soil line; this indicates they are still immature and could produce bitter tasting produce.
Potatoes
Potatoes are an ideal cool-season crop to plant early spring in any zone of your garden, depending on its requirements. Their roots form tubers which thrive best when placed in cool soil conditions.
Homegrown potatoes differ significantly from their grocery-store counterparts in that they feature multiple colors, sizes, cooking attributes and resistance to pests and diseases such as late blight rot.
Start by digging up seed potatoes and cutting them into golf ball-sized pieces with their eyes facing upward (it’s okay if some don’t line up; they will “turn” after planting). Sow these in either the ground or containers. As they grow, hill or cover with potting mix halfway up their plants as a precaution against sunlight exposure that causes green parts of plants to turn bitter and toxic.
Onions
Onions are heavy feeders and reap the greatest reward from regular fertilization. When planting onions, apply nitrogen fertilizer at planting time to encourage the development of large bulbs that continue growing strongly throughout the growing season.
Onion companion plants can help deter pests that attack other vegetables in your garden, such as strawberries. Planting onions near these fruits helps repel those same pests which ravage them.
Onions make an ideal companion crop to other root crops like beets, carrots and parsnips because their growing needs overlap, such as watering regularly and loose, deep soil. Planting them together makes sense given that harvest time span is from early spring through late summer. Onions can be grown from seed, sets or transplants – start seeds indoors to ensure you have a harvest when planting outdoors; plant sets/transplants an inch-deep for best results in garden beds without too much overshadowing of bulb formation!