Food Gardening 101: Part Two

Welcome back to Food Gardening 101: Part Two. In our first article of Food Gardening 101, you were to take soil samples from different areas and get them tested by a local agronomist or county Home Extension office. Then you decided what area suited a garden best.

Today we will walk you through the next steps:

• The garden site and soil preparation.
• Choosing what to grow- Starting from seed or buying started plants.
• Planting your garden.
• Water and grow.
• Watch out for weeds!
• The harvest.

Preparation

Select a garden site that gets FULL SUN, and review your soil report. The soil report will give you a snapshot of the condition of the soil and advice on what needs improvement. In a perfect world, it is best to prepare your gardening soil a year in advance.

Next, you will need to get rid of the grass and make way for the garden.  The BEST way to prepare your ground for gardening would be to remove the sod. There are many ways to remove the sod. You could rent a gas-powered sod cutter or cut the sod by hand. Sod removal removes the grass and its roots leaving you beautiful soil underneath.

Once the sod is removed you can till up the soil. Tilling the soil mixes the soil, fluffs it up, and helps to warm it in preparation for planting your vegetables. This is also a great time to add some manure to enrich your garden with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphates.

Check with your local farmer for manure from chickens, cows, sheep, and goats. You can also pick up composted manure bags at your local gardening center.

Veggies You Like

Choosing what to plant in your garden is fun! Sit down and make a list of what vegetables you purchase from the store. From there, take your favorites list and go down to your local gardening center and look at seeds. You can also subscribe to a few seed catalogs like Jung’s Seed Company, or Gurney’s.

Each seed packet has directions on how to plant and when to plant. The seed information will tell you the seed germination time and how many days it will take to mature. Click here for printable PDFs on when to plant what in your Wisconsin garden.

The Farmer’s Almanac is an excellent resource for vegetable planting information. A vegetable companion guide is handy as well. Click here for that guide.

Weeds and Water

In addition to giving your body good food, gardening provides excellent outdoor physical activity and a mental health boost.  Gardening will require you to check on them daily if not twice a day for weeds and moisture levels.

Picking the right tools for gardening is essential. A few tools we would recommend would be:

1. Cape Cod Weeder– This is an awesome weeding tool to have in your arsenal. This weeder comes as a right hand or left hand. Its narrow short blade makes it excellent for weeding in tight spots.
2. Hand Cultivator– Great for removing garden debris, weeds and cultivating your garden soil
3. Dutch Hand Hoe– Super handy in large gardening areas. This hoe can remove weeds in one swipe.

Watering your garden is essential for a good vegetable harvest. Applying the right amount of water and using the water efficiently can be tricky. A general rule of thumb is to apply one to two inches of water weekly, but some folks find it easier to give each plant a daily 10-second drink right at the base of the plant. This will get enough water to soak down to the roots.

There are different ways to water your garden. Choose from a lawn sprinkler, drip irrigation hoses, or direct shower watering at the plant’s base. Using your water efficiently will keep your water consumption down. You can give yourself an edge by harvesting rainwater from your home. Simply hooking up a downspout into a watering barrel will provide extra water for your garden and flower pots.

Bringing in the Harvest

Soon enough, your garden will begin to produce delicious vegetables. Be proactive in researching the proper storage of each vegetable. 

Many garden items have a short window from ready to pick and ready to eat. Some items like lettuce mixes, radishes, and table onions can be picked and resown. This will keep the garden deliciousness coming!

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