When you first plant a vegetable garden, the time, effort and brain-power that goes into it may be more than you anticipated -the site selection, the garden beds, the soil, the plants….If you need some guidance with these steps be sure to grab a copy of the Vegetable Garden Workbook as it steps through each of these items.  Once your garden is set up and planted, what is next?

How do you make the effort you put into your garden set up worthwhile and keep all of the plants alive?

I began my vegetable garden set up and coaching service because I saw people struggling to not only set up their vegetable garden but also care for it.  Each season has it’s unique challenges but there are some basic guidelines you can apply to your garden care to ensure you achieve some wonderful harvests of fresh ingredients for your family meals.

Vegetable Garden Care Tips:

1. Monitor your plants daily – This can be a quick walk around and check on growth and the plant condition. Be aware of issues as they occur so you can put corrective measures in place immediately. Provide organic pest protection as needed. This may include netting to exclude pests or materials such as crushed egg shells or copper tape. Learn the growth patterns of each plant and provide any additional care as required, such as compost addition, cutting back or staking.  Make a note of your growing results each season – you will not remember next year, I guarantee it. This is the best way to find the varieties that grow the best for you in your garden and those you most like to eat. The Vegetable Garden Workbook provides journal pages for you to do this simply. If you get great results, or experience issues, learn to resolve each thing. This will lead to long term benefits and greater harvests over time.
2. Water regularly. A consistent watering routine will ensure your plants thrive. Ad hoc watering and allowing plants to dry out can cause stress, resulting in bolting, bitterness of fruit or leaves or reduced resistance to pests and disease. Over watering can result in depletion of nutrients and disease.
3. Be prepared for some failures, not everything will work. Have fun with it. Enjoy the time outside, watching the space grow and change.  If you have a desire for everything to be perfectly ordered and neat all of the time gardening is a nice way to help relax that striving for perfection and just let things “be”.
4. Begin to compost or add a worm farm – the resulting material of both of these processes will help your garden to grow as well as reduce waste in your home and provide low cost fertiliser.
5. Plant flowers among your vegetables to encourage bees and pollinators and increase your harvests
6. Remove weeds regularly. They compete with the vegetables for nutrients and can physically impede growth
7. Provide protection for plants from extreme heat and cold. Add a layer of mulch in summer and push it back at the end of the season. Read more on types of mulch to use here.
8. Be willing to try multiple ways of doing things. Things that work well in my garden may not work in yours. If you use Facebook, join a local vegetable gardening group for tips. Gardeners in your region are likely to experience similar issues and successes. Join the conversation on the A Fresh Legacy Facebook page if you are yet to do so as well.

If you feel like this list is too long, don’t stress. Focus on items one and two and add the others in over time.