Thread: Managing a Vegetable Garden

I am searching for someone knowledgable of the art of growing a veggie garden specific in midwest weather. One of my characters is an older gentleman who treats his vegetable garden with nothing less than the best of care. And I know nothing...you are lucky if I will even eat vegetables

What month would one start planting? What needs to be done beforehand as far as preparing the soil? Around what month does the garden die? Do you have to replant the seeds every year, or do they come back up like certain flowers? How often do you water them? When are they ready to be picked? I am sure these things vary depending on what vegetable you are speaking about...I guess I am focusing on tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, and peppers.

Any advice you could provide, including outside resources, would be wonderful.

I could possibly answer some of your questions, and so could Olly, but our comments would be specific to other parts of the world. What I do, when I want specialised knowledge on any topic that’s part of what I’m writing, is find a forum that specialises in that topic. Others here do the same thing (JoeB comes to mind). Anyway, here’s a link to a US-based gardening forum. Good luck.

http://www.gardenweb.com/


Edit: Unlike geology, or astronomy, or meteorology, or most other sciences where not too many people know much and a writer could get away with mistakes, gardening is indulged in by so many people that you have to get it right or risk being laughed out of town.

Thanks Ox, I will definately check out that website.

hehe....

Well, let's see. I'm from the Midwest, and I'm a gardener, though I do not grow veggies, but I can surely help. Here in Ohio, it is always best to prepare your garden in the fall, October is a good month because usually the rains return after our usual summer dry spell, and makes working the soil easier. If starting from scratch, most will just till the area until it's well worked. Add compost, aged manure (horse is best) and even chopped up leaves and leave set over winter. In the spring, when the ground thaws, usually April, till it again so the ground is nice and fluffy. Sometimes you have to wait until closer to May or in May itself, depending on how much rain there's been, as we usually have very wet Springs. To plant the veggie's you've listed, it's best to wait until May to plant, Mother's Day is a common time because the chance of a frost killing your newly planted plants is much more minimal, and the ground has warmed enough to be safe. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are hot weather plants, the cold will easily kill them. Don't know about broccoli, never grew it. The best advice I can give you is to go to a gardening forum and ask questions there. Gardeners are always happy to share (and show-off) their knowledge. In the Summer, things get dry, and watering to keep things alive and growing from July through August is a must. The rain usually returns by September. And, it gets pretty hot, and humid. I hope that gave you a good start.

Heh...I just realized Ox linked you to the gardening forum I go to. It's a good place, lots of helpful people. Good luck!