Vegetable gardening good for the belly, soul, and the wallet!

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All of us are basically a generation removed from there being no question about where at least a portion of your food comes from.  When I was growing up in the late 70's and early 80's we were going to have a garden it just was a matter of how big and what was to be grown.  Now a days it seems we are wishy washy on whether we'll put out a couple of tomatoes.  Our garden each year was lead and planned by my Grandmother and my aunt.  It covered about a half acre and fed about three good sized families.  It was a given that we would all spend some time in the garden and grandma dictated when and what  needed to be done.  This community/family garden really shaped my future and set me on the path that led me to becoming a Horticulturist.  But it was the social aspect that really formed my values and honed my belief in the strengths of an extended family.  It was everything from the sowing of seed, cutting and gathering bean poles, finding the first ripe tomato, and the inevitable dirt clod fight among cousins that cultivated both the love of family and gardening.  Let it be known that my Uncle Herb just about always found the first tomato and always had a shaker of salt in his pocket for said event.

Get your family involved and garden together the kids may fuss now but I guarantee they will have the good memories forever.  If the thought of a vegetable garden intimidates you join forces with someone with all the experience of gardening but just can't do garden work like they used to.  You'll both benefit immensely from the experience and your food knowledge will greatly improve.  The Home Vegetable Gardening In Kentucky you see pictured in this entry is a wonderful publication for all levels of gardening experience.  You can click on the picture caption  to see a pdf of the publication but if you would like a copy just send me an email at robsmith@uky.edu with your name and address and we will mail you one out, or you can simply stop by the Nelson County Extension office for your free copy.

Changing the way I Veggie Garden

Traditionally I have been an in row gardener like most folks but have decided to try a different way of conducting veggie business.  Recently I spent a great deal of time in my garden.  In late November I caught a few days when the soil in the garden was quite workable and decided to create permanent garden beds.  To do this I tilled as deep as I could then tilled in the opposite direction as deep as I could get the tiller down.  I know that the tiller does nothing for the soil structure except destroy it but my decision to create permanent beds should offset that activity in a few growing seasons.  After the soil was worked adequately the kids and I began to lay out the garden.  First, we squared up the garden to within an inch and began to lay out the beds and paths.  I took into consideration equipment size, optimal bed widths and aesthetics when creating the final design.

We ended up with a a four foot wide main path and two or three foot wide paths along the beds.  By shoveling the soil out of the path area down to the un-tilled soil and placing it into what would become the beds we created raised beds that became about 40 inches wide and to a depth of about 10 inches.  This will or should create a much deeper rooting zone than what we previously had.  Next spring I'll sod the paths from sod on the farm to make harvest and planting less limited by weather conditions.

The final practice this winter was to top dress with some of our compost on some beds and leaves on others to increase the organic matter in the beds.  I will let you know which one performs best in the spring.

The advantages to the permanent bed garden:

• Easier planning in the off season
• Once established easier spring preparation 
• Start gardening earlier
• Better Drainage
• Deeper Rooting (maybe now I can grow Carrots)
• Allows for more diverse planting 

Advantages of Fall Vegetable Gardening

I just recently presented a class on fall vegetable gardening at the Bloomfield, KY Library to a an enthusiastic audience.  During that talk I outlined several advantages to the fall garden versus the spring garden or as an extension to the spring garden.  First I will point out the reasons it isn't as popular as the spring garden and then I will list the many advantages to the fall garden. 

Everyone loves a spring garden for many reasons not the least of which is that we have been cooped up in the house all winter looking through seed catalogs and just getting the itch to be outside.  We have a uncontrollable instinct to refill the pantries and strong desire for the flavors that come with a garden.  For me its the smell of freshly tilled soil that just makes me happy.  We begin the garden with vim and vigor and end sometimes in a flurry of I just cant keep up.  This year is one of those years that epitomizes why fall gardening is just not as popular.  In a year like this the garden can easily be run over with weeds, taken by some evil fungi, or wiped out by a marauding herd of potato beetles.  Those scenarios in themselves are reason enough to give up. But lets not quit hastily, here are some of the advantages of the fall vegetable garden:

•  Provides valuable produce production extension
• Excellent quality produce due to cool temperatures
• Sweeter
• Increased tenderness
• Less off flavors
• Vegetables hold longer in a fall garden
• Fewer pests to control
• Helps keep weed seed numbers down for next seasons garden
• Adds additional organic matter to the garden
• Less disease pressure

For more information of vegetable gardening in general stop by the office at 317 south third street, Bardstown KY 40004 or take a look at Vegetable Gardening in KY