Six Tips When Planning a Cooking Garden
Posted by admin on September 6, 2008
If you’ve been thinking about starting a cooking garden to grow your own foods, whether as a hobby, for better eating, or to save money, there are a few things to consider in your planning.
- What do you like to eat? Its smart to choose foods that you and your family enjoy.
- Know what grows well in your area. It’s better to adapt to container gardening, which can be done indoors, for those plants that won’t grow well in your climate.
- Take advantage of crops with short harvest periods by staggering plantings to stagger harvests. Corn is an example of this kind of crop. The rule of thumb is two weeks between plantings in the spring results in about one week between harvests in summer.
- When choosing crops with a short growing season, consider planting another crop after harvesting the first crop.
- Don’t mix your perennials with your annuals. Keep them separated so the perennials aren’t disturbed by the frequent cultivation needed by the annuals.
- Consider the amount of space you are working with for your garden. Plant strategically to best utilize your space. Consider varieties that don’t become as real large as others.
When you plan for your garden and have several options, don’t limit yourself to a backyard summer garden only. You can grow many crops year round, and a window sill is a great place to grow herbs for cooking. Get creative, you may surprise yourself at the ideas you can come up with for your cooking garden.
