Preparing your vegetable garden

·      Now is the time to begin preparing and planting the garden for a fall harvest.

·      The first key for a successful veggie garden is to remove any existing grass or weeds. If Bermuda grass is among those weeds, you can't till everything under because once you start watering and fertilizing again, you’ll have a nice crop of Bermuda grass!

·      A non-chemical method of killing weeds is to smother them under 6 to 8 layers of wet newspaper, and then cover this layer with pine needles, old hay or grass clippings, organic compost or mulch. Whenever weeds like Bermuda grass shows up through the edges, place another layer of paper over it. By continually denying them light, they'll eventually weaken and die. Then till all the material into your existing soil.

·      Hand digging is another option for small plots, but take care not to become overheated; work early in the morning before it gets too hot. There are also organic herbicides formulated with oils and soaps that will kill many tender annual weeds, but will not eliminate Bermuda and other perennial weeds with one application.

·      For future weed control, once you have your garden prepared, always maintain some sort of mulch covering the surface of the soil to prevent weeds from taking over again.

·       Every time you prepare the soil to plant a new crop, always mix in as much compost as you can get your hands on. Add well-decomposed organic compost and fertilizer and work all ingredients into the soil.  This will improve drainage and nutrient content of the soil.

·      Raised beds are a great solution to gardening in heavy clay soil.  They are especially useful for growing vegetables.

For examples of easy-to-do-it-yourself raised beds, visit our store! Or, watch the progress of our vegetable beds here.