GETTING STARTED

There are some things you need to consider before you set up your vegetable garden:

1) Location/Water: you will want to have it located where it will receive the most sunlight during the growing season (we’ll readdress this).  Water: Is water readily available to this site you will choose?  Garden hose to hook up to soaker hose or sprinkler, or is there a sprinkler zone available for that area only?  If you have several sprinkler zones, you can retrofit and cap existing heads to attach drip lines.  For about $100 you can have a landscape technician set up/modify existing zones for just your garden area like I did.  I also retrofitted the heads to dripline system, which is easy.  I did this myself.  You can make it as simple or complex as you like.

2)Growing Season:  The Growing season is usually designated as the date of your last frost for your area, until the date of the first frost in the Fall.  For me, the Boise/Treasure Valley area the traditional date to follow is the week of May 7th; and the wive’s tale is when the snow melts off the Shafer Butte area which is the one that should probably be followed.  Our season ends around October when the first frost hits.

3)What should I grow?:  Always start small and go from there.  Ask the local garden centers, local university extension (master gardeners), or local farmers market for some suggestions.  That’s what I did.  OR, if you live near rural areas, watch what they are growing in their own fields.  I started out with tomatoes, basil and yellow squash the first year.  This year I have some ambitious plans.

Advertisements