Julien's Journal May 2016 (Volume 41, Number 5) | Page 49
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LOCALLY
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Low Maintenance Vegetable Gardening
for a Bountiful Harvest
by Melina Myers
I
ncrease your harvest without increasing the size of your garden or workload.
All you need is a bit of intensive planting, along with some low maintenance
techniques.
Invest some time upfront to prepare the
garden soil. This will save you time throughout the growing season. Add several inches
of organic matter and a slow release fertilizer into the top eight to 12 inches of soil.
The organic matter improves drainage in
clay soils and increases moisture retention
in sandy soils. The slow release fertilizer
feeds the plants for several months, reducing the number of applications needed.
You’ll have healthier plants that are better
able to fend off pests and outcompete the
weeds.
Match the plants with the right growing
conditions. Tomatoes, peppers, and other
vegetables that produce fruit need full sun.
Leafy crops like lettuce are more tolerant
of shade. Check plant tags and seed packets
for planting details or download a free gardening app, like Homegrown with Bonnie
Plants, for plant information, maintenance
tips, weather reports, and more.
etables like spinach, radishes, and lettuce
in spring. Once these are harvested, replace
with warm weather vegetables like beans,
tomatoes, or cucumbers. Finish off the
season by filling any voids with a fall crop
of cool weather vegetables.
Go vertical to save space, reduce disease,
and make harvesting easier. Growing vine
crops on supports lifts the fruit off the
ground and increases the amount of light
and airflow the plants receive, reducing the
risk of disease. Plus, you’ll do less bending
when it’s time to harvest.
Mulch the garden with pine straw/evergreen needles, shredded leaves, or other
organic matter. These materials suppress
the weeds, conserve moisture, and add organic matter to the soil as they decompose.
You’ll have fewer weeds to pull and not
have to water as often.
Save time and water with the help of soaker
hoses or drip irrigation. These systems apply the water directly to the soil where it
is needed. Less water is lost to overspray,
evaporation, and runoff. They also reduce
the risk and spread of disease by preventing water from settling on the leaves of
the plants.
Try a few or all of these strategies this season for an abundant harvest without a lot
of extra work. ❖
Editor’s note: Melinda Myers has over 30
years of gardening experience and has written over 20 gardening books. She hosts the
nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment television and radio segments. Myers is
a columnist and contributing editor for Birds
& Blooms magazine and was commissioned
by Bonnie Plants for her expertise to write
this article.
Plant seeds and transplants in blocks with
fewer pathways. Give each plant enough
room to grow to its full size. Your rows will
be closer together with just enough paths
for weeding, watering, and harvesting. You
will be growing more plants and pulling
fewer weeds with this strategy.
Interplant to further maximize your planting space. Plant short-season vegetables
like lettuce and radishes in between properly spaced longer-season vegetables like
broccoli and tomatoes. By the time the
longer-season plants start filling the space,
the shorter season plantings will be ready
to harvest. You’ll be pulling radishes or cutting lettuce instead of weeds. Plus, you’ll
harvest two crops from one row.
Plant successive crops throughout the
growing season. Pl [