So you want to start a vegetable garden.
Sure, it might seem intimidating, and you might question the value of the hours you’ll spend tending a raised bed when the market down the road stocks red tomatoes all year long, but gardening is never just about the dollars you shell out to create a raised bed, some quality soil to fill it and a handful of starter plants.
Gardeners garden for a connection, for the mental and physical health benefits of a hobby that forces you to get outside. Like any hobby, tending a garden is as involved or simple as you make it. While it might be frustrating (you will be punished if you slack off on weeding!), ending up with too many summer zucchini isn’t a bad thing and even the worst of your tomatoes will taste better than any greenhouse version you find in the supermarket.
From finding the right location for a garden bed to watering it, here’s what you need to know about starting on the road to a green thumb.
Site Plans
Ideally, a garden bed is convenient to access from the house, near a water source like a spigot and bathed in at least six hours of direct sun. While the first two are negotiable, the last is a must. Many homeowners make the mistake of checking the sun in winter or in spring, during the planning phase.
“You want to know what gets full sun from the middle of June onward, so go outside at that time of year and observe the spot you’re planning,” says Sandra Vultaggio, horticulture consultant with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Riverhead.
If you don’t want to wait around all day to observe the angle of the sun, you can stick an inexpensive sunlight meter in a pot and place it in the garden bed’s potential location and check on it to see if you have the minimum six hours. You might have to walk a bit further to a more remote part of the yard, and use a longer hose for irrigation, but finding direct sun, not blocked by trees, sets your bed up for success.
Starting a vegetable garden might seem like a daunting task, but if you follow this guide, you’ll be eating home-grown greens in no time. (Photo credit: Left, Outback to Coast; Top and bottom right, Tagphoto and PaulMaguire for iStock)
Speaking of trees, Vultaggio suggests steering clear of Norway maples, which have an extremely aggressive root system that would love nothing more than to creep into the nutrient-rich soil you’re about to fill your garden bed with.
Build-a-Bed
A garden bed’s most common size, 4×8 feet, is classic for a reason — you can reach into the center from all the sides without stepping into it. Vultaggio likes the basic, mounded style of bed over raised ones, so vegetable plant roots can go deep into the native soil. But raised beds, elevated off the ground, can be easier to tend for some gardeners.
You can use nearly any material for a raised bed, though you must be careful with pressure-treated lumber and ensure it’s not treated with arsenic — if in doubt, consider using cedar, which costs more, but is naturally rot resistant. While pallet wood is cheap and plentiful, Vultaggio avoids it because it’s difficult to know if it’s been treated (and also mice; mice love pallet wood).
Whether it’s in the ground or above it, in a wood, brick or a metal box, plan to have at least 10 inches of nutrient-rich soil. “Most vegetables need 10 inches of soil, unless you’re growing root crops,” says Vultaggio. Root vegetables, like carrots, onions, potatoes, and garlic, usually need at least 12 inches, and ideally 18 inches, of soil to thrive.
Fill It Up
Don’t underestimate how much soil a basic bed needs. A 4×8-foot bed with a 10-inch-deep layer of garden soil is 27 cubic foot deep bathtub. Most of the bagged garden soil at the nursery is 1 to 2 cubic feet. It’s a good idea to plan for weed suppression from the start, which is why Vultaggio adds a layer of cardboard first, then fills her beds with organic matter from around the yard, like leaves and sticks.
“I encourage people to use some of their property’s native soil, in whatever they’re going to be doing in the raised beds because we have very productive mineral soil on Long Island,” she says.
Once filled, you should test the soil, which Cornell can provide for around $5, indicating the soil’s pH and other key details you need to bring into balance to have a productive growing season.
“You should test your soil every year at the minimum,” Vultaggio says. “For Long Island soils, I would say just testing the pH would be fine.”
Carrots typically take 60-80 days to grow, so start planting! (Photo credit: Left, Torjtrx; top and bottom right, GomezDavid and AHPhotosWPG, all for iStock)
Water It
While the traditional method of dragging a garden hose over to the garden bed, or using a watering can, still works, there are easier ways to make irrigation a no-brainer.
“I think investing in some sort of drip system is always your best bet,” Vultaggio says. “Timers are also very helpful for things like tomatoes that need consistent moisture level for fruit development.”
A basic drip system is a DIY project and you can find kits at the hardware store, most of which include a timer you attach to your garden spigot. An inexpensive soaker hose is another popular option, though the recycled rubber tires some of those are made from might not be something you want watering your edibles, as the rubber can leach with the recycled rubber.
Not only does that put watering on autopilot, but it avoids getting the foliage wet.
“Most of my job is diagnosing plant disease issues and, unfortunately, most come from incorrect watering, and in particular, overhead irrigation,” she says. “Keep the leaves dry, water the soil, and you’re going to eliminate a lot of disease issues in the garden, not only with vegetables but ornamentals too.”
Be Picky About Seeds
While starter plants are easier, growing veggies from seed gives you the most choice and control over what you grow. Consider these heirloom varieties options to stock in your garden.
Henderson’s Black Seeded Simpson lettuce You can pick these light green, crumpled leaves young without worrying about them tasting bitter. Toss them into salads or to add crunch to a burger.
Lipstick Pepper This medium, thick walled, pimento style pepper is sweet, for out of hand snacking, or cooking.
Amarillo Yellow Carrots Bright, lemon-yellow carrots with sweet and juicy flesh that adds a nice pop of color to summer crudité platters.
Sugar Sprint Snap Peas Not only do these peas have almost no fussy string to peel, they are also some of the earliest of the season to harvest.
Where to buy
Shop local! Several garden stores and nurseries on the North Fork can help you find these seeds.
Chick’s Southold Agway 1705 Youngs Ave., Southold
Clarke’s Garden and Home 416 Main St.
Sang Lee Farms 25180 County Road 48
Shade Trees Nursery 1875 Main Road, Jamesport
Trimble’s of Corchaug Nurseryn20985 Main Road
Verderber’s Nursery and Garden 459 Main Road, Aquebogue
