From Guest Blogger Brooke Chaplan: Improve the Environment By Growing Better Veggies in Your Own Garden

Creating a successful vegetable garden can be intimidating at first. You have to consider everything from the space you have, the seeds you can grow, and the soil type you have available. Even when it seems like everything is in line, you can still end up with some pretty pathetic produce. But by simply keeping in mind a few helpful tips, your veggies will be bigger and more bountiful this year.

Start with Soil

Building your garden starts literally from the ground up. Rich soil will result in healthy, lush, and highly producing plants. There are several steps you can take to create nitrogen rich soil. Begin by examining your garden soil. If it is mostly sand or clay, you will want to take an aggressive approach by adding organic matter in liberal quantities. It may take a period of years of adding compost, organic soil, manure, and organic fertilizer to achieve the best results. Places like Nature Safe offer organic composts and soils and can help recommend a mix that will balance your own dirt. A way to have more control over the soil is to plant your vegetable garden in raised beds. Plants in raised beds are more likely to produce higher yield and have the added bonus of not requiring as much work to maintain.

Plant with a Plan
Tomatoes like lots of sun. String beans should not be started indoors as they might not survive transplanting. Squash varieties especially require nutrient rich soil. Rabbits love to nibble on broccoli and bean plants. Coming up with a plan for your garden ahead of time according to the needs of the specific varieties that you want to plant is necessary for a successful garden. By fencing, utilizing the sunny and shady spots, and spacing properly, you will have a garden that produces more of those delicious vegetables all summer long.

Strategically Space
Getting more produce per square foot can be simply a matter of utilizing your space to the best advantage. Planting vertical plants such as tomatoes and string beans will enable you to grow more in a smaller space. Also, planting in a triangular pattern instead of rows or rectangles utilizes your space to the best advantage. Spacing strategically enables you to not only have more vegetables, but better ones.

Invest in Intercropping
The concept of intercropping is simply a matter of planting vegetables that produce at different times. For example, planting carrots and radishes together works well because the radishes will be ready for harvest while the carrots are still maturing. As you pull the radishes, you give the carrots more room to grow. Vegetables grown from seeds such as lettuce and green onions can be planted in between larger crops grown from seedlings such as tomatoes and corn. Intercropping is particularly a good idea if you are going for lots of variety in your vegetables.

As we all know, freshly grown vegetables taste better and are better for you. Grow better veggies in your backyard by planning thoughtfully, spacing wisely, and waiting patiently. You will have an abundant harvest in no time.