In The Garden

Get active and plant your own vegetable garden!

Growing your own vegetables will not only teach you about the marvels and bounty of nature, but you will also get fresh air, exercise and some sunshine (that's a good source of Vitamin D). So, get the whole family to join in the fun. Here is a step-by-step guide to create your own little veggie patch!

1.) Equipment:

Rake, Fork, Spade, Watering Can, Wheelbarrow and Gloves

2.) Compost

The secret to a happy garden is healthy soil. Set up a compost heap outside where you throw all your organic waste matter - vegetables, peels, egg shells, tea bags, vegetable leaves, mealie cobs, weeds etc.

This means that you will be recycling within your own home. You will be using these waste materials to produce healthy food for your family!

3.) Positioning

Choose a sunny spot for your vegetable garden. 6 hours of sun per day is ideal. the ideal size for a bed is 1 x 2 metres.

If you have limited space, you can use an old car tyre to protect your bed.

If you are serious about producing lots of vegetables throughout the year, you will need 4 searate beds. Mark your bed with four sticks and some string or use bricks / stones to make a border.

4.) Soil preparation

Dig out the topsoil (darker more nutritios soil) and keep to one side.
Dig out the subsoil and keep the other side.
Dig your trench about half a metre deep.
Cover the bottom with newspaper.
Alternate layers of soil with layers of fresh organic matter until the trench is almost full.
Replace the topsoil, making the level slightly higher than before.

Topsoil
Subsoil
Organic Matter
Subsoil
Organic Matter
Newspaper

Note: The soil will sink down as the material decomposes.

5.) Crop rotation

Rotating crops will maintain the balance of nutrients in the soil. There are 3 main groups of vegetables which should be rotated.

A: Legumes: Peas and Beans
Grain: Maize

B: Leaf crops: Lettuce, Spinach and Cabbages

C: Root crops: Beetroot, Carrots, Leeks, Onions and Potatoes

6.) Planting time!

Rake the bed till smooth and level.
Cover bed with a thin layer of dry grass or leaves (mulch). This will conserve water, feed the soil and discourage weeds.

Decide what you want to plant, for example:

Plant 3 rows of Carrots 30cm apart. Plant the seeds 2 to 5cm apart in rows, 1cm deep and cover the soil.

Plant 3 rows of Beetroot 30cm apart. Plant the seeds at the same spacing but 2cm deep and cover with soil.

Plant your Potatoes in a seperate bed 60cm apart.

Plant seed potatoes that are beginning to sprout 20cm apart, 10cm deep and cover with soil. When the potato plants are 30cm tall, ridge the soil up around them. The potatoes will develop in the ridged-up soil.

WATERING AND WEEDING: Don't forget to water your vegetable garedn daily and to weed it regularly!