Vegetable Garden

The Kitchen Vegetable Garden:

Homegrown produce,

It is easy to list material benefits that a kitchen garden can bring. Your vegetables will arrive on your table garden fresh. They will probably be far tastier than the often days old produce found on the shelves of food stores, and more nutritious too. And there will be impressive savings in your food dollar; experts say that for each $20 worth of supplies and labor invested, a return of more than $200 can be reaped.

But beyond such practical considerations are additional benefits: the pleasure of working with the soil, of watching seeds sprout and grow, and of knowing that the food on your table is a product of your own labor. It is these reasons, perhaps more than mere economics, that account for the recent upsurge in home vegetable gardening.

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The story of vegetable gardening in America goes back further than the current boom or even the victory gardens of World War II. The first gardeners, in fact, were the first Americans: the Indians who raised corn, beans, and squash in neatly tended plots. This food saw the Indians through the lean times of the year when game and fish were scarce. The colonists, like the Indians, depended on their gardens for survival. Life was hard, toil unending, and there was no room in the garden for any plant that was merely ornamental. What herbs and flowers were grown were used for flavoring, medicine, or dye.

Click here Garden Favorites. You will find a list of the most commonly harvested vegetables.

For most people today, the home kitchen garden is no longer a necessity for survival. However, the garden still has an important role to play not only in economic terms but also in a well earned sense of independence and accomplishment, as well as in the closer relationship with nature that working with the soil and its produce affords.

Companion Planting

For centuries, observant gardeners have noticed that certain vegetables seemed to thrive in the company of one plant while doing poorly in the company of another. There is evidence that secretions given off by the roots of some plants are the cause of this effect.

For example, the roots of black walnut trees exude a chemical that inhibits the growth of tomatoes. Onions apparently stimulate the growth of beans, peas, and several other vegetables. Tomatoes and basil are also believed to do well together, as are cucumbers and cabbage . Another aspect of companion planting is that certain vegetables and herbs seem to repel the pests of other plants. Marigold roots, for example exude a secretion that repels nematodes, tiny wormlike creatures that attack plant roots, and parsley is said to repel the carrot fly.

Other plants lure pests away from their neighbors, as the eggplant lures Colorado potato beetles from potato plants. Although companion planting is a source of controversy among experts, it is certainly worth trying in your own garden.

Use the natural organic method to rid your garden of those unwanted pest.

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