What is a self-sustaining vegetable garden? As the name suggests, it is a garden that sustains itself through proper planning, planting and cultivation of its crops. If your vegetable garden is self sustaining, eventually you will not need to buy anymore vegetables from the market or grocery store because you can eat from your own vegetable garden year after year. This should be your ultimate objective as a vegetable gardener. But how can you cultivate such a self-sustaining vegetable garden?
A self-sustaining vegetable garden is one with healthy and good soil for growing high-quality seeds into nutritious vegetables. In my many years as a vegetable gardener, I have developed a system that continuously produces vegetables from my garden irrespective of the seasons. My system focuses on two elements - the soil and the seeds.
Firstly, to have a self-sustaining vegetable garden, your soil must be healthy.
The next thing to do is to ensure the optimum ratio of sand, silt and clay. You can discover the approximate percentage of these three elements in your soil by taking some soil and putting it into a clear jar or beaker and adding water. As the soil settles, you should see three clear segments. The top segment is clay, the middle one is silt and the bottom segment is sand. The ideal ratio of these three elements is 40% sand, 40% silt and 20% clay. If the soil is too clayey, add some sand and if too sandy, add some clay compounds like bentonite. In either case, add some peat moss and compost also.
The pH of soil can be ascertained using a pH tester that can be bought from any garden center. The optimum pH you should aim for is between pH 7 and pH 6.5. This is the range of pH in which most vegetables thrive. Again, pH can be adjusted upwards or downwards by either adding lime or manure respectively.
The next important part of a self-sustaining vegetable garden is the vegetable seeds. If you are planting your vegetables for the first time, you should buy some quality seeds from a garden center to ensure you get good, healthy vegetables. Buy only real, non-hybrid varieties of seeds. After the first harvest, you will be able to use your own seeds for the next season. The seeds you choose should be according to the climate of your area.
Some vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, parsley, peas, radishes, celery, beets, cabbage, leaf lettuce, parsnips, and Swiss chard are cold or temperate climate vegetables. But green beans, corn, cucumbers, peppers, summer squash, melons, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes are vegetables that grow in warm climates that should be grown between spring and summer.
Preparing your soil well and planting the correct seeds will ensure a self-sustaining vegetable garden for you and your family.
Planting a Self Sustaining Vegetable Garden