Growing your own Vegetables

Good reasons for growing your own vegetables:

1.  Control what is used in the growing process, Most people do not like eating food grown with the use of chemicals

2.  Enjoy the planting from seed or small seedlings, watching them grow, satisfaction when the crop is a success, the picking, cooking and serving a vegetable ...yes I love it all!

3.  Life is about learning and everyday I learn something new about gardening - that makes me happy and hope it does you too.

4.  Save money, not having to buy vegetables is a huge saving in your food expenses

5. Fresh vegies do not go off as quickly and can be from garden to plate whenever you want them

Where to begin with your vegetable garden

The first thing to do when beginning your garden is to think about what you eat and how much of that particular vegetable you eat. Plan your gardening around that, make a list of what you and your family eat.  It is smart to grow what you want to eat and would normally buy from the supermarket or fresh vegie market.

Here is a list of the vegetables and herbs that we grow and eat:

• Beans
• Spinach/
• Broccoli
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Cucumber 
• Bock Choi
• Carrots
• Pumpkin
• Zucchini
• Corn
• Potatoes
• Chilli
• Curly Leaf Parsley
• Italian Parsley
• Curry Plant
• Mint
• Garlic Chives
• Fennel
• Thyme
• Basil
• Sweet Thai Basil
• Capsicum

Garden Design Options

You might prefer to plant your garden straight into the ground.  If you do, it would be a good idea to put a border for the garden to stop the grass from growing into the garden and help control weeds it will also be easier at mowing time with a defined border on your garden.
When preparing the garden for planting digging the ground can be hard work but it can be done a bit at a time or there are small digger machines you can buy and use to make the digging easier.

You might prefer to use above ground gardens.  Especially if you have limited space/live in an apartment.  We have plenty of ground space but decided to go for above ground gardens for a few different reasons:

1. Less digging
2. More control over weeds
3. Do not have to bend down as low  

Plan how to set your garden out for convenience

It is a good idea to take your time in the planning stage of your garden.  Here are some ideas you might be interested in.  Divide the garden into sections considering how often you will go to that part of the garden.  Plant the things you use most often, closest to the house for convenience.

Example

Herb garden close to kitchen to make it quick and easy to pick herbs when you are cooking.

Vegetable garden easy access but not as close as herb garden - you are likely to pick every second or third day but not every day with most vegetables, some prefer to just pick and use as they prepare meals and if this is what you like to do then it is a good idea not to have the vegie garden to far from the kitchen.

Orchard further away as it is likely not to be accessed as often, at times for pruning, spraying, checking the fruit and picking the crop

Green houses are usually situated in a position taking into consideration the sun and light and visual
appearance in relation to your house  

This post is still incomplete 
 Companion Planting

When to plant