This is a good time to make plans. From spring to fall, every day, even just 15 minutes a day can create a showcase of edible beauty. It’s a stunning look for ripe red tomatoes, colorful chard, or shiny bell peppers. It’s not as difficult as you think. Unlike maintaining a lawn, you can eat the results of your labor. Here’s what you need to do:
Growing good vegetables requires at least six hours of sunlight a day, preferably more. For most people, the sunniest spot in the garden is the middle of the lawn. A well-kept vegetable garden is just as gorgeous as a flower garden. If you like flowers, plant them in your vegetable garden too.
Don’t chew more than you can chew – or weed. The lovely lawn garden is only 10 feet wide and 12 feet long. With proper care, it can provide fresh vegetables all summer long.
How and when to start a lawn garden
Use string and stakes to define the boundaries of your yard, cut into 1-foot squares with a edging tool or spade, and then pry up the sod. Make a compost pile using the grass.
Starting early enough in the season (say May 1st), you can remove all grass for 15-20 minutes a day for a week or longer. That way, you can get into the habit of spending time in the garden, but not developing blisters or back pain. Gardening should be fun, not hard work. Still, you can exercise without going to the gym.
Your lawn yard has two raised beds separated by a walkway. Once the sod is removed, pile up the soil to form a bed about 30 inches wide with a walkway in the middle and a space between the lawn and the bed. has 6 inches of space throughout the garden. To do this, after removing the sod, loosen the soil with a garden fork, shake off the soil, and then rake the soil from the perimeter and walkways onto the bed.
Next, spread 5 bags of composted cow manure onto each bed (each bag is usually labeled 30 quarts) and work it into the loose soil using a garden fork or your favorite hand tool.
Alternatively, you can use regular 6- to 8-inch wide planks to make a wooden-sided bed. For longer use, 2 inch thick lumber is even better. Gardener’s Supply (gardeners.com) sells a variety of brackets to build your raised bed. I’m sure other garden stores do as well.
If you’re building a bed with wooden sides, you’ll need to buy more filler than if you’re using a mound bed. Most garden centers sell topsoil and compost by tractor scoop, which is usually two-thirds of the cubic yard of material. They will dump or deliver in the back of your pickup truck (for a fee). A 50/50 mix of topsoil and compost is recommended.
Making a woodside bed saves you the trouble of putting it on your lawn without having to remove it. Simply remove the grass with a lawnmower, lay a thick layer of newspaper on the lawn, and pack it in a box. Long carrots may bottom out in the first year, but most other plants don’t mind.
Planting strategies for best results
Make a list of the veggies you like best and taste best fresh. When planting tomatoes, create rows of at least 24 inches for each plant. And buy wire cages for your tomatoes so they don’t fall over and shade nearby carrots and broccoli.
I like to plant lettuce seedlings around the tomatoes early in the season when they are still small. Plant tomatoes (or taller plants) on the north end to provide less shade to other plants. Buy a bag of organic fertilizer and stir it in when you plant.
Oh, and about those weeds: The easiest way to prevent the problem is mulching.Lay out six sheets of newspaper and top with last fall’s straw, mulch hay, or leaves. This darkens the soil and turns off the switch that tells when weed seeds will germinate. Mulch retains moisture even during dry periods. If you get a few weeds, be sure to pull them out before they get bigger and produce more seeds.
Gardening is said to be a middle-aged sport. After all, who’s a parent of three toddlers and has time to mow? A garden is a wonderful thing if you want to keep food costs down and feed your family. This way you can maintain it in 15 minutes a day. Just keep doing it every day and your garden will look better and you will be amazed and delighted at how much food you can grow in the middle of your lawn!
Henry Homeyer’s blog is posted twice weekly on gardening-guy.com. Write to PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. If you would like a reply by mail, please enclose a self-addressed envelope with a self-addressed stamp. Or email henry.homeyer@comcast.net.