Saving money, spending time outdoors, and added excercise are all benefits of growing your own vegetable garden. When Eleanor Roosevelt planted her “Victory Garden” on the White House lawn during War War II, US families grew 40 percent of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. Forty percent is a significant amount, not only nuturing individual families but addressing the nation’s food security on the whole. Michelle Obama has taken Eleanor’s lead and planted an 1,100 square foot organic vegetable garden. Join in the movement and begin planning for next spring.

Steps to Growing Your Own Food

1. Find a space & partners - Late winter/mid-Spring (March-May)
   Choosing a location for your garden is the most important step in planting a garden. Be sure a water source is close by! Most vegetables need at least 6-8 hours of sunlight for best growth. Good soil with good drainage will ensure healthier plants, and you may want to test your soil for missing nutrients.
   
2. Find folks to work with you—whether it’s your best friend, spouse, neighbor, children, your local school or church—gardening without assistance and companionship can be difficult. The cost and time necessary for growing your own food is minimized when resources, labor, and moral support are pooled. The benefits of growing food are multiplied and enhanced when the work and harvest are shared.
   
3. Plan Layout & Gather Tools - Late winter/mid-Spring (March-May)
   Draw a simple plan or diagram of your garden. The tallest plants in your garden such as corn should be at the north end of the garden and permanent vegetables like asparagus should be at the side of the garden. Using planting techniques like vertical cropping, succession planting and intercropping helps maximize the space you have. Make sure you have the right tools: a hoe, rake, spade, trowel, labels, string, ruler and watering can.
   
4. Prepare the Soil or Build Raised Beds - Mid-Spring (April-May)
   Before you can plant, you must prepare the soil. There are two main approaches. You could dig or machine till (rototill) the soil to a depth of at least 6-10 inches. Or you could construct raised beds filled with your home-mixed soil. In both cases, incorporate at least two to four inches of organic matter with your spade. Organic matter will improve your soil structure and will add nutrients to the soil. It is less expensive and healthier to grow your vegetables organically; organic fertilizers like peat moss, compost or composted cow, horse, goat, or rabbit manures are a good source of nutrients for your vegetables. Remember, never prepare your soil when it is too wet. Tilling or digging when the soil is wet will cause it to dry into concrete-like clods. Pick up a handful of soil before digging and squeeze. If it crumbles easily, it is ready to be tilled. If it doesn’t crumble, allow the soil to dry for a couple more days and test again before digging.
   
5. Start Your Seeds, Get Your Transplants - Spring (March-May)
   Grow what your family likes to eat and plenty of what you anticipate wanting to preserve for winter. Seeds can be purchased at local stores, ordered through catalogs and online, or exchanged with friends or neighbors. You can start them in early spring indoors or in a greenhouse. It is a good idea to use heirloom or non-hybrid seeds as you can save and trade these yourself for next season. Vermont’s own High Mowing Seeds is a great source of seeds. If you do not want to start your own seeds, purchase bedding plants already started for you by many of our local growers and nursery businesses. These will be available at area farmers’ markets and farm stands by May. Delay planting of cold-sensitive plants until the last frost date is safely behind us, usually mid to late May in our area.
   
6. Plant, Maintain & Enjoy: Watering, Weeding, Harvesting & Feasting—(May-October)
   If possible, visit your garden every day over the summer and into the fall. Assess how it is growing while enjoying the space you have created. A garden needs a lot of care, nurturing, and attention over the summer, and you want to be able to harvest what is ripe as soon as you can. Pay attention to the weather. Most gardens like to have about one inch of rain every week. Some weeks you may get a lot more than one inch and some weeks you will probably get less. For the weeks when it is dry, you will need to water your garden. Also, keep in mind that clay soils dry out slower, needing less frequent watering than sandy soils that dry out fast and need to be watered more often. A slow, thorough, deep watering is better than a light sprinkling. Allow the soil to get nice and moist so you encourage roots to grow deep. Water your garden early in the day so plants dry off before it gets dark. This helps prevent disease. Use mulch. It conserves the water in the soil and you won’t have to water as often. Hand weeding or hoeing reduces competition from weeds. Finally, harvest and enjoy the feast with your friends family. In the end, you will have a low-cost meal (in terms of $), and preparing (or preserving) and feasting on garden-fresh food together is one the biggest payoffs to growing your own food.
   
   By Eleanor Tison is an associate professor at Green Mountain College and an expert in cultural food traditions. Eleanor is also very involved in a number of food and garden projects with local schools.

Gardening Resources

Vermont Master Gardeners Certification, a twelve week traning program covering the basics of home gardening and plant and soil sciences. Includes a volunteer internship.

UVM Soil Testing Service, $12

Gardener’s Supply Garden Planner

Northeast Organic Farming Association - VT hosts a Gardener Education page with information, workshops, and links to gardening resources for organic gardeners and homesteaders.

The Vermont Community Garden Network supports the expansion of community, youth, and school gardening movements statewide. Resource links and e-newsletter online.

Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit, member supported organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds.

Kitchen Gardeners International, a 501c3 nonprofit founded in Maine, USA with friends from around the world. Our mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable food systems.