Little Known Vegetable Garden Tricks
Have you ever stood in someone’s garden and envied their bountiful harvest? Chances are they knew a few vegetable garden tricks that you have never heard of. It is amazing how in the same neighborhood, each garden can have completely different production rates. One would think that every garden in a square mile would produce evenly, but that rarely happens because some gardeners know several vegetable garden tricks.
It Starts With Good Soil
One of the best vegetable garden tricks is learning to work with the soil you have. Not all soil is created equally, but you don’t have to have a poor yield of vegetables simply because you have poor quality soil.
Buy a soil test kit at your local hardware store and find out exactly what kind of soil you have. Is it too alkaline? Is it too sandy? Does it contain too much nitrogen? The nutrients in your soil feed your plants, so one of the most valuable vegetable garden tricks is learning how to feed your soil.
Amend your soil by adding a good organic compost at the beginning and end of each season. You can purchase this or start a compost pile and turn your yard and kitchen waste into a valuable resource for your garden.
If your soil is too clay like, till in some sand. If your soil isn’t alkaline enough, add sulfur before you plant anything. By amending the soil in your garden, you can create an environment that plants thrive in.
Feeding Your Plants
Everyone knows that you need to water your plants, but did you know that your plants need to be nourished as well. It is important to feed your plants with a commercial fertilizer or homemade compost tea. A basic 10-10-10 fertilizer applied throughout the growing season is one of many wise vegetable garden tricks.
Make sure that you read the labels carefully and know which part of the plant’s life cycle you should feed it. Fertilizing some plants when they set fruit will actually discourage production.
Mulch and More Mulch
Beautiful gardens tend to have one thing in common. Mulch is one of the best kept vegetable garden tricks. When you mulch your garden you keep the roots of your plants moist. This means that your plants can go longer between watering and they won’t get water stressed, which could affect your harvest.
Mulch also cuts down on weeds which rob your plants of nutrients and look unsightly in the garden. If you take the time to apply these simple vegetable garden tricks of amending your soil, feeding your plants and mulching your garden, you too can have that everyone admires.
