Fall Veggies?

Planning a spring vegetable garden?  According to the National Gardening Association, eight out of ten Americans will engage in some variety of gardening in 2013 whether it’s in the form of planting an extensive vegetable patch, forcing indoor bulbs, or planting some color near the front door of your home.  Don’t allow the cool temperatures and shorter days of fall to retire your thoughts from chores that can be done now to make a spring vegetable garden more successful.

Decide today which vegetables you want to have on your table next year and plan accordingly.  Site selection is the first step in planning your garden.  Chose a flat location that receives plenty of sunlight; most vegetables require six to eight hours.  If the garden receives too much intense light you can always provide shade but a site that is too shady can’t be corrected.  High winds can really do a number on your vegetables so chose a site that provides protection from our little ole West Texas gusts.

Choose realistic dimensions for your garden layout.  Bigger may not necessarily be better.   Large gardens can hold more plants than a small garden but will require extra work to maintain.   How much time do you have to devote to gardening?  An eight-hundred square foot garden is approaching the large category while a garden of two-hundred square feet is more manageable and is a satisfactory size for a family of four when properly organized.

Develop an understanding of your soil type now so that you’ll know what improvements are necessary before you plant your vegetables.  Soil characteristics such as texture, density and pH play important roles in soil fertility and water holding capacity.  You have limited control over most soil features so it will improve your garden success to learn about them prior to planting a vegetable garden.  How much organic matter does your soil contain?  Most West Texas Soils are low in beneficial organic matter.  Fall is a great time to amend your soil with compost in preparation for spring vegetables.  A simple soil analysis will prove useful in the early planning stages of your garden.  Soil analysis forms and information can be found at soiltesting.tamu.edu

How will you provide supplemental water to your vegetables?  One of the most common causes of poor vegetable production is inconsistent moisture levels.  This doesn’t mean your garden needs a lot of extra water but it does need to be irrigated consistently at critical developmental stages.  Small and distorted fruits are often a result of improper watering practices.  One of the best methods to keep consistent moisture levels in your garden is to maintain an adequate mulch layer over root zones to slow evaporative water loss.