Vegetable gardening is nutritious in both body and mind. It’s exciting to watch a little seed turn into a sprout, then into a small plant, and eventually, into a big ole squash plant that’s bursting with bright yellow gourds and giant green leaves. Digging your hands into cool soil is meditative. Smelling the basil and dill is heavenly. And you don’t have to live on a country estate to grow your own food at home, either.
City dwellers can plant vegetables in patio container gardens. In cold climates, you can start a small garden indoors or even grow vegetables outdoors most of the year if you have a greenhouse.
When it comes to planning a backyard vegetable garden, ideas are easy to come by. There are plenty of pictures of elaborate gardens with rows of sun-ripened tomatoes, entire sections devoted solely to peas, raised beds for root vegetables, and, of course, a fountain and seating area. We don’t all have gigantic yards, though. As nice as it would be to have row after row of heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers, it’s just not realistic when your backyard garden is a two-foot by four-foot rectangle between your driveway and the foundation of your house.
The thing is, you can create a really nice garden in that small rectangle of space. It’s a simple matter of timing, design, and plant selection. But if you have a large backyard, even better!
In the articles below, we dive into everything you need to know about vegetable gardening. You can learn even more in our How to Grow a Vegetable Garden: 10 Things Every Gardener Needs to Know Before Starting a Food Garden freebie. Enjoy!
If you’re new to vegetable gardening, you might see the six-pack of tomato sprouts at your local gardening center and think, “Wow, what a deal!” What you might not realize is just how big tomato plants grow. I’m 5’6,” and my indeterminate tomato plants are usually at least as tall as me.
I admit it, I’m a scrapper. I love growing vegetables from scraps. It doesn’t always work, but when it does you get to give yourself a little pat on the back, and if you have kids, they’ll think you’re a super cool mad scientist.
The first time I planted an herb garden and saw my chives, sage, and thyme grow back in the second year, I jumped to wondering what other kinds of herbs and vegetables regrow a second season and beyond. Living in New England, even perennial herbs like Rosemary are considered “tender perennials” depending on how harsh your winter gets, so could there be perennial vegetables that differ in their perennial-ness, too?
I admit that subtitle is a bit misleading. No matter how much of a hurry you might be in, the magic of nature takes time. So “hurry” is pretty relative here. That said, there are some vegetables that take what seems like foreeeeeeeeever to grow. I love spaghetti squash and Brussels sprouts, but you gotta have some serious patience to grow those.
We all know that vegetables need water to grow, but what happens when watering your garden gets complicated. You might live in a dry climate where droughts are common. Or maybe you use well water and need to be careful about using a sprinkler or irrigation system on a regular basis. Whatever your reason, choosing drought-resistant vegetables is a great strategy when planting a water-conscious garden.
The first time I saw the mutant vegetables, I was scared. It was like a horror scene out of “The Walking Dead” or something. But then it hit me: Those were my carrots! That’s my corn! Oh my gosh, why is my tomato being so naughty? My mind raced with thoughts of how to solve […]
Let me tell you about the first time I grew broccoli. I planted three in a row. They were one of the first to grow in my garden that year, and I was proud. As they started to go from small heads to the kind you see in the grocery store, I realized I didn’t know how to cut broccoli off the plant. And honestly, I was confused why anyone would grow such a big plant for one head of broccoli.
Mention heirloom vegetable plants and immediately we think of rich tomatoes, sweet corn, or bright purple carrots. The other thing that comes to mind is a garden full of vegetables that get ruined by disease or eaten by bugs or that fail to thrive because they have such specific growing needs.
I live in New England, and I love having four distinct seasons, even if winter is a bit longer than I’d like. If you’re reading this based on the title, you are likely in New England too (howdy neighbor!) so you know that New England also has a long history of farming, and you probably live on a plot that was once farmland. Bartlett Farm, one of the oldest farms in New England, is in Massachusetts and began growing vegetables in 1659 (or possibly 1639, depending on your source).
I’m writing this in early fall in the northeastern part of the United States, where fall weather is well underway. The last of my summer tomatoes are ready for harvest, and the Delicata squash is in. And though there are still quite a few cooler weather vegetables in the garden, the season is definitely winding […]
