Eat What You Sow: How to Start a Vegetable Garden

Even if you've never tried growing food, there are good reasons to sacrifice some of that green carpet for a starter bed. First, chances are you don't use your lawn as much as you think?how long has it been since you played Frisbee out there? Second, most turfgrass has a thirst that can only be satiated by overhead sprinklers, which lose a lot of water to evaporation and runoff; veggies, by contrast, can be watered by efficient drip irrigation. Then there's dealing with the weeds, the grubs, and the chemicals needed to keep that grass glossy. If you're going to put that much effort into your yard, why not get a little payback? You'll save money, even if you buy young vegetable starts rather than seeds. An average 100-square-foot edible garden can save you around $700 a year on the cost of fresh vegetables.

Finding the right spot is simple. The basic requirement for most edible plants is sun. You need at least 6 hours of it in summer. Position the beds against a south-facing wall or fence to get some heat-pocket shelter; you can also put up wires or a trellis for climbers such as peas or beans. The ground should be relatively flat and close to a water source.

The most effective way to dig up a patch of lawn is to roto?till it, which will remove the turfgrass and allow you to mix in soil amendments at the same time. Till compost or another supplement at least 4 inches down. (Local suppliers or your Cooperative Extension Service can advise on choices for your area.) For a 100-square-foot bed, you need around 2 cubic yards of amendment. Landscaping suppliers will deliver this amount for a small fee, or you can fit it all in a standard bed of a full-size pickup truck.

It's essential that you clear your bed of as many weeds as possible, especially perennial monsters such as Bermuda grass, dandelions, and bindweed. Their roots run deep, so watch the bed for a few weeks and spray emerging shoots with an herbicide. If you're opposed to chemicals, solarize the soil by covering it with black plastic and leaving it for a month in the sun. After planting, be ?generous with a degradable mulch such as fine bark; it keeps moisture in the soil while suppressing weeds.

And if you're not ready to dig up your lawn just yet, build a raised bed instead. To get started, check out our plans.

Three Edible Layouts

Choose your plants based not only on what you want to eat but also on what grows well in your area. Most vegetables and herbs here are annuals. Mixing them up with some perennial? plants such as artichokes or asparagus works well in a bigger bed. Perennials take a little longer to get going but produce for years.

Note: Each bed is 10 x 10 feet. Measurements in parentheses give crop-spacing requirements.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/lawn-garden/eat-what-you-sow-how-to-start-a-vegetable-garden?src=rss

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