Meadowwood Garden
Part 3 in a series of posts about one method of easily building a vegetable garden.
Location, Location, Location
Now that you understand a little more about what it takes to build and tend to your vegetable garden you are probably chomping at the bit to get started. The good news is that now is the time to make a very important decision — where will your vegetable garden be located? A few things to keep in mind as you decide:
Bring on the Sun! Almost all vegetables love the sun. You will want to locate your vegetable garden in a spot that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. Six hours should be considered a minimum — if you can find a site that provides 8 or even 10 hours of direct Sun per day that is even better! If you are lucky enough to have an area with a good southern exposure then you really hit the jackpot! The more sunlight your garden receives the longer your growing season will be.
Quench your thirst. Vegetable gardens require a minimum of 1 inch of rainfall per week. If it doesn’t rain it is up to you to keep your garden adequately watered. Your garden should be somewhere that is accessible by a hose.
Keep your garden close. This is a little less set in stone than some of the others things you need to consider, but a good argument can be made for making sure your garden is as close to your house as possible. The easier it is for you to get to your garden the more likely you will be to spend time there. We humans like things to be convenient after all! It is also nice when your bounty starts pouring in to not have a long distance to have to carry everything. And if you are in a situation where large pests such as deer, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits etc. the closer the garden is to your house the less likely they will be to bother it.
Seek the middle ground. Often yards have that ONE low spot that stays wet longer than the rest of the yard. You know what I mean — that area that is always muddy and where nothing grows well because it is wet all the time. Yes, THAT one! If you have such an area it is probably not the best place to put a vegetable garden.
Watch the trees. Oak trees can leech tannins into the soil that stunt plant growth. There is a small oak tree stand on my property and hardly anything grows beneath them — even the grass has a tough time. In a similar vein, Evergreen trees tend to produce very acidic soil where their needles drop and accumulate. Acid soil might be good for Blueberries, but it is bad news for your vegetable garden. Usually this won’t be a problem since you want the garden to be as out in the open as possible to maximize the sunlight — but it bears mentioning nonetheless.
Go with the flow. The flow of the land, that is. if your garden site is rolling or sloped it is perfectly OK. In fact, a sloped site can be superior to a perfectly flat site because the sloped site promotes excellent drainage. If you are going to build raised beds as I will recommend in a post or so then this issue isn’t as important as making sure you have full sun and nearby water.
That should just about do it. Find a sunny spot within hose distance of the house and you are all set! In fact, unless you live in the middle of a dense forest there should be several excellent sites for your vegetable garden. So get outside and find your spot — because next you will be designing the garden that will go there!
