Start your own vegetable garden

Vegetable prices are growing faster than the actual plants are.

January 25, 2016

3 minutes read

Listening to rumours, some people say they have now stopped buying vegetables because it is simply too expensive.

Looking at this from a health perspective, refusing to buy vegetables because of its price will do more harm to the body than to the pocket.

Start now and create your own little farm by growing a vegetable garden that will save you a lot of money and give you the satisfaction of reaping what you sow.

Planting the most basic vegetables first will already see you saving greatly on your expenses as far as groceries are concerned.

Here are some guidelines on planting tomatoes, lettuce, onions and spinach.

Tomatoes:

Plant seedlings in a site with full sun and mix with compost.

Water well to reduce shocks to the roots.

Use stakes to support the plants and help them grow upright.

Water consistently for the first few weeks

Fertilise the plants two weeks before picking and two weeks after picking.

Lettuce:

Prepare your planting bed by loosening the soil.

Mix in compost or well-rotted manure.

Sow lettuce seeds in rows or squares.

Water well.

Onions:

Find a good location, onions should be planted in a sunny or partially shady spot with little wind.

Use your feet or the head of a rake to firm down the soil as onions grow well in hard soil.

Lightly rake the surface once more.

Choose onion sets that are firm and plump, discard any that are soft or too small.

Make rows of small holes in the soil, use a trowel to dig small holes only as deep as each onion set so the tip is exposed when you replace the soil. Gently firm down the soil around the tips with your fingers. The sets should be planted with the tips pointing upwards and positioned about 10cm apart.

Spinach:

Choose smooth-leafed spinach for a fast growing time. Smooth-leafed spinach grows upright and produces leaves lighter in colour than those produced by savoy spinach. It grows quickly and easily.

Choose an area with full sun. Though spinach prefers a mild climate and will not do well in extremely hot temperatures, it does like full sun. Spinach will produce in partial shade, though the yield may not be as impressive and the plants not as productive.

Make sure that your soil drains well. Spinach likes a mild, moist climate, but it will not do well in soil that floods regularly or does not drain well. If you cannot find an adequate plot in your garden you can opt to make a raised vegetable garden bed, or plant your spinach in a pot.

Fertilise the soil thoroughly. Spinach likes soil rich in organic matter such as manure, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, blood meal, or any other high-nitrogen fertilizer. Be sure to mix a few feet of fertiliser into the soil to ensure adequate richness.

Make sure the rows are spaced well apart if planting in rows. Doing so allows the seeds to germinate without having to compete for space. Make sure to buy fresh seeds for planting each year, as they do not stay fresh for long.

Cover the seeds with soil and pat lightly. The soil does not need to be firm over the seeds, in fact it should be rather light and fluffy. Just be sure that the seeds are not exposed to the air and are entirely covered by soil.

Spread mulch over the planting area. Cover the soil of the planting area with hay, straw, leaf, or grass mulch to prevent weeds from sprouting up. Pulling unwanted weeds may harm the fragile spinach roots, so mulch is a good alternative for preventing weeds from growing in the first place.

Water the planting area thoroughly. Make sure to use a watering can or a light shower setting on your hose. A strong setting can disrupt the newly planted seeds and even wash them away.