Going Green in the Garden – Plant you own vegetable patch

So, you want to further reduce your impact on the environment. Do you have a vegetable patch in your garden? If not, then you need to get planting. It’s easier than you think and even the most reluctant gardener can successfully harvest vegetables from the garden to be used at the dinner table.

The quickest and least demanding method used today is the 'door project'. It first gained popularity in the townships in the 1950’s, when access to fresh fruit and vegetables was almost impossible. Community members with a piece of land, no bigger than a standard door (2m x 1m), would plant vegetables for their family.

Well, now in 2008 it is the hippest garden feature to have in suburbia.

Here is a quick guide to help you get started:

Step 1:

• Collect composting basics, such as, leftovers, vegetable leaves and peelings, paper, cardboard, wood ash, eggshells, dead plants and flowers and tea and coffee bags.
• Materials, such as, glass, plastic or nylon materials can’t be broken down to enrich the soil, so rather recycle them.

Step 2:

• Mark out a piece of ground in your garden that gets plenty of sun.
• Using sand or flour mark out the bed the size of a door – 2m x 1m.

Step 3:

• Dig out the soil from this area to a depth of half a metre (about knee deep).
• Put the darker topsoil at one corner and the subsoil at the opposite corner.

Step 4:

• Half fill this ditch with the composting material you have collected, by placing the course materials at the bottom.
• Break up the paper and cardboard to help speed up decomposition.

Step 5:

• Wet the compost and press down firmly. Fill the ditch immediately with soil.
• Use some of the subsoil first and then all the topsoil to bring the top of the bed about 10cm above ground level (as the compost rots the level will drop).

Step 6:

• Rake the top of the bed until smooth and level.
• Break up any lumps of soil and discard stones.

Step 7:

• Cover the bed with a thin layer of mulch (dry grass or dry leaves).
• Mulch will conserve water, feed the soil and discourage weeds.

Step 8:

• Part the mulch with your hands to make rows for planting seeds or seedlings.
• You can plant immediately after preparing the bed.
• Most vegetables can be planted in rows 20cm apart.
• Bigger plants like cabbage and lettuce must be planted about 30cm apart.
• When planting seeds make shallow grooves in the soil with your finger or a stick.
• Make the rows across the bed, not lengthwise.
• Plant the seeds carefully and not too close together.
• Fine seeds should be planted about 1cm deep while larger seeds like spinach must be planted a little deeper.
• Big seeds like beans and peas must be planted about 2,5cm deep.
• Don’t allow the mulch to cover the rows of seeds as they need light and warmth to germinate.

How to care for your vegetables

• Newly planted seeds must be watered gently and regularly for the first 10 days. After that water only 2 to 3 times a week. The soil must never dry out when the vegetables are growing, but rather slightly wet.
• In summer water your garden late in the afternoon. In winter never water your garden after 15:00. A thorough soaking twice a week is better than a light surface watering every day. An old tin with fine holes in the bottom is an efficient way of watering especially for seeds and small plants. Dip the tin into a bucket of water and direct the spray exactly where it is required.
• When the plants are about 10cm high spread mulch around them again.
• If you make four beds and start each one four weeks apart, you will have fresh vegetables throughout the year.
• As soon as a row has been harvested replant with seeds or seedlings. A root crop (carrot, potato) should follow a leaf crop (spinach, cabbage) and a legume (pea, bean) should follow a root crop.

How to control pests

• Avoid using pesticides on your vegetables because, in addition to killing "pests", they also kill many useful insects such as bees and butterflies. Some pesticides are poisonous to people, and may accumulate or build up in the body as we get repeated doses of them.

• Homemade organic sprays:

1. Crush 10 cloves of garlic with a quarter cup of grated household soap and soak this in 1 litre of boiling water. Once cool, spray on the plant leaves.
2. Add two tablespoons of Jeyes Fluid to a bucket of soapy water and spray or wash off leaves of affected plants with this mixture. Repeat the treatment twice at intervals of three days.

Starting a potted garden

If you live in a flat, or house with no garden, you can grow vegetables and herbs in window boxes or on a balcony. Sprouting uses even less space

Here's how:

• Soak the seeds in water overnight in an old jam jar.
• Make holes in the lid so that you can drain them in the morning.
• Leave the seeds for 3-5 days and rinse them at least twice a day. Never leave the seeds to stand in water, or to dry out.
• When the sprouts are ready, eat them raw in salads and sandwiches, or cooked in casseroles, soups and stews.

Sprouts are exceptionally nutritious as they contain vitamins, minerals, proteins and enzymes.

So, now there is no reason why you shouldn’t grow your own vegetables, your body and pocket will be grateful.

Let us know how your vegetable patch is going, email us at info@homemakersonline.co.za.