13 tips to grow the perfect vegetable garden

The sunniest spot in your yard is the best place to stake out your plot, because most vegetables need a minimum of 6 hours of sun daily. Because vegetables like lots of moisture, grow yours near a water source. Finally, vegetables always have the unwanted company of weeds, so monitor your plot weekly to pull up invaders as you watch your vegetables grow.

In temperate climates, make sure your vegetable rows run from east to west so that all the plants receive maximum sunshine. In hot, arid climates, run the rows from north to south so that each plant will shade its neighbour.

This is especially important if you use a tiller to cultivate between plantings, but it’s harder than it looks to do freehand! For planting heavy seeds, such as beans, put sticks in the ground at each end of a row and run a string between them to guide you as you plant. To plant dozens of lightweight seeds at once, cut a piece of string the same length as the row, wet it thoroughly, and sprinkle the seeds directly on it. The moisture will make seeds stick long enough to lay the string in a prepared furrow. Just cover the string with soil and you’re done!

To make tending beds easier, make them no wider than the spread of your arms (that’s about 120cm). Design a main path wide enough for a wheelbarrow (at least 90cm wide), and include footpaths (30cm wide) between beds. To suppress weeds and proved a clean place to walk, keep paths covered with straw, chopped leaves, boards, or strips of scrap carpeting.

Want to get your winter garden ready? Start preparing your garden beds with these tips.

Plant vertical crops (such as peas and pole beans) that take up little ground space. Or try dwarf varieties, such as ‘Tom Thumb Midget’ lettuce and ‘Tiny Dill’ cucumbers. Many dwarf varieties can also be grown in roomy containers kept on a deck or patio.

If you’re eager to get an early start in spring, plant your tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, or other vegetables inside old tires laid on the ground. The tires will protect the plants from harsh winds, and the dark rubber will absorb heat from the sun and warm the surrounding soil.

Flowers in the vegetable garden not only make it a more pleasant place to work, but also have practical uses. Many flowers attract beneficial insects, such as bees, ladybugs and lacewings, while others may repel pests in search of your vegetables. Try French marigolds, cosmos and zinnias as well as edible flowers like nasturtiums and violets.

Bored with your current cooking spices? Try growing some of your own!

Beans, peas and other legumes are among the few plants that enrich the soil with nitrogen, an element essential for plant growth. Legumes begin using up the nitrogen they’ve stored when they blossom and set fruit. If you pull them out early, they will leave behind nutrients in the soil that can be used by other plants.

After harvesting a cool-weather crop (spring peas or spinach, for example), replant the space with a warm-weather vegetable (green beans or summer squash). Interplant quick growers (radishes) with slower ones (tomatoes). The short-term crop will be up and out before the slow grower can crowd or shade it.

Here are some tips to help your indoor garden thrive.

Many common vegetables are attractive enough to be used as ornamentals. Use “Tequila Sunrise” or “Chocolate Bell” peppers and “Violet Queen” cauliflower to add colour to your vegetable garden. For textured or colourful leaves, plant red chard, savoy cabbage, or “Red Sails” lettuce.