Gardening is now ready for much of the country, and gardeners will be thinking of getting ready, and planting.

It is true that a seed or plant stuck in the ground almost anywhere will grow if it gets sun and rain. But the goal of the gardener is good plant production of fruit. Delicious fresh fruit beats store bought vegetables every time. As a lady said to me, store bought tomatoes taste like card board, and she is right, especially when compared to fresh tomatoes off of your own tomato plants. And they are more nutritious.

Gardening is easy in terms of what to do, but it is work. So maybe some tips will be helpful.

1. Soil. If possible choose a spot with southern exposure where the rows can be laid out north and south. That will allow the plants to enjoy the morning sun on one side and the other side from the afternoon sun. If it to be a fairly large garden, the preplanning it on paper can be helpful especially the first time.

2. Sandy soil means having enough sand in the soil for water to pass through more easily and reach the plant roots. Loam soil is soil that the clay and sand are in proportion. These are not always available. So two methods of gaining good growing soil are: cultivation which breaks up the soil allowing air and rain, or water, to reach the roots, making raw soil plant food more available, and by adding manure or other plant food. One can look at the soil and see when cultivation is needed.

3. Planting seeds and young plants. In order to maintain adequate space between rows it is good layout rows with a string stretched across the garden. The space between rows varies according to what is being planted. Tomato plants require more space than bean plants. You want enough space between rows to allow for cultivation. Seed packages will give you the space between rows and seed hills for that particular plant.

4. Seeds selected should be large for that plant, and fat may describe them. They should be clean and otherwise healthy looking. Choose the largest and fullest seed if you have a choice, and the seeds should not be older than one year, two at the most.. Spacing between seed hills and the number of seeds in a hill are important. Prepackaged seeds usually give both, or free planting guides are available at farm stores and other places. These should be followed, however depending on the seed size the number may be hard to realize. Bean and corn seed, for example, are easy to because of size and two seeds to a hill is usually enough to get a plant growing. Small seed, like lettuce is often a larger number which can be thinned out later.

5. Plants such as tomato and cabbage plants are spaced according to adult plant size. Cabbage would take less space than a tomato plant, for example. Plant deep, and put a small amount of liquid fertilizer in the hole. Otherwise it is good put water in the hole when planting. If buying plants, do not buy large plants. It is easier to get smaller plants rooting out and started.

6. DO NOT plant anything near or under a walnut tree. The plants will not produce.

7. Cultivation after the plants are growing helps keep down weeds, and breaks up the soil one-two inches deep helping water and air to reach the roots, and for conserving moisture. There are tools for cultivation from farm tractors, to motorized tiller, to hand pushed wheeled tillers, to hoes. What tools are required is according to the size of the garden, and how manual labor one wants to put into cultivation.

8. Weeding around plants requires skill. A hoe can easily cut down plants. So some weeding by hand may be necessary. Weeding is needed to prevent weeds from using up available plant food.

9. Insects. Dust and liquids are available to put on plants by hand or spraying. Birds are good, preferably after planted seeds have sprouted above ground. It might be good to scatter some bird seed in the garden to draw birds into the garden. Toad frogs are a welcome sight because they do not destroy plants, and they will devour a lot of insects at one feeding.

10. Worms. Cabbage worms, for example, can be kept off of plants by placing cardboard or tin around the main stem about one inch from the plant and about one inch into the ground.

11. Apartment dwellers often use urns or large pots to grow tomatoes, for example. The plants can be staked if wished. Use potting soil and fertilize when planting. But remember that they also need sun and water, and pots tend to dry out rather quickly, so a little water every other day or so is needed.

12. When the plants have reached 3-4 inches above ground cultivate and weed as needed.

SUMMARY

Gardening is good exercise, fun, and on seeing and picking the fresh vegetables to eat one is delighted by the taste, and nutrition. And anyone can garden successfully. Enjoy the exercise and the food !