Vegetable Gardening

by Emily M.
from Virtuous Daughters, June 2004~Volume 4, Number 3

Vegetable gardening can be fun and enjoyable if pests or diseases don't strike your plants before you can harvest your produce. Here are a few tips that might help your garden be successful.

Broccoli

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Common Pests: Worms
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-10
• Other Comments: Pick before yellow flowers appear

Cabbage

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Common Pests: Slugs, Cut Worms
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 10-10-10
• Other Comments: Pick when heads are firm

Carrots

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-10
• Other Comments: Plant in raised bed

Cauliflower

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Common Pests: Worms
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 10-10-10
• Other Comments: Requires constant moisture

Corn

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Corn Bore, Mealy Bugs
• Best Fertilizer to Use: High Nitrogen
• Other Comments: Plant in rows for best pollination

Cucumber

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: Plant by pea fence or chicken wire

Green Beans

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Leaf Rust
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: If pole beans plant near support

Lettuce

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Common Pests: Worms
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 10-10-10
• Other Comments: Pick before it bolts or flowers

Okra

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Aphids
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-0
• Other Comments: Pick before becoming woody

Peppers

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Cut Worm
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: Likes warm weather

Radish

• Best Season to Plant: Winter-Early Spring
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 10-10-10
• Other Comments: Will withstand cold temperatures

Snap Pea

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Spring
• Common Pests: Powdery Mildew, Aphids
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-10
• Other Comments: Plant by pea fence or chicken wire

Summer Squash

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Bore
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: Plant in full sun

Swiss Chard

• Best Season to Plant: Fall-Winter
• Common Pests: Aphids
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: Can be grown year-round

Tomatoes

• Best Season to Plant: Spring-Summer
• Common Pests: Horn Worm, Birds, Stink Bugs
• Best Fertilizer to Use: 5-10-5
• Other Comments: Put in cage when 1 1/2 fee tall

Fertilizing Your Vegetable Garden:
Plants need to be fertilized because most soil does not provide the nutrients required for optimal growth. Even if you are blessed to have great garden soil, as your plants grow, they absorb nutrients and leave the soil less fertile. There are six primary nutrients that plants need: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Plants get plenty of the first three from air and water. That leaves three nutrients, called macronutrients. On fertilizer packages you will commonly see three numbers listed (example: 15-15-15). The first is nitrogen, the second is phosphorus, and the third is potassium.

• Nitrogen: Nitrogen helps plants make proteins, which are the plant's building blocks. Proteins allow the plant to grow. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not fruit or flower. The growth could actually be stunted because it isn't absorbing enough of the other elements it needs.
• Phosphorus: Phosphorus stimulates early root growth, helps the plant set buds and flowers, improves vitality and increases seed size. Phosphorus does this by helping to transfer energy from one part of the plant to another.
• Potassium: Potassium improves the overall vigor of the plant. It helps the plants make carbohydrates and provides disease resistance. Potassium also helps regulate metabolic activities.