It’s a warm, sunny, and cloudless day, and I decide to take a walk outside to enjoy the weather. My neighbor tells me that she’s never seen such beautiful green plants around before, so I plant a few pots of what I presume are good vegetables. The first plant grows quite tall and blooms a beautiful pink lipped flower with tiny flowers. My second plant grows even taller, and blooms a brilliant yellow. I’m so glad I decided to try growing vegetables and now have these wonderful vegetables at my fingertips!
In Growing Vegetables, Hubie Brown (author) from on may of the outstanding books on vegetable gardening, offers some great suggestions for growing vegetables that are both healthy and delicious. One of her tips is that I should water earlier in the day. When I did, I also didn’t water until after the plant had flowered, which only took two days. Hubie also says I shouldn’t pull water from my main line when I am watering my vegetables, but only water when the soil is wet. This might be a good rule for all vegetables, especially tomatoes, since they love to get water while the soil is still moist.
In Growing Vegetables, Hubie explains some useful tips for choosing and planting your garden. This includes selecting what vegetables you like, planting in fertile areas and following the correct procedures for harvesting and pruning. I’m planning to start my garden this summer, so I’m happy to read about Hubie’s advice for planting and cultivating early in my gardening experience. I’m going to plant tomatoes, peppers, and to include some herbs to my hubby’s menu.
I grew cucumbers last summer and was delighted when my hubby suggested that I should grow them, since cucumbers are such a healthy vegetable to grow. They thrive in southern states, where the soil is cool and abundant in nutrients. Hubie said he couldn’t wait to plant them because they tasted so good. I also loved to plant them early in the year, before most other vegetables have a chance to grow.
The cucumbers I grew were small, just enough to fit on my hand at first, but I quickly discovered their beauty and pleasurable taste. I’ve enjoyed growing cucumbers ever since, so I’m glad that Hubie’s advice led me to growing them myself. Now my hubby and I share them whenever we have guests over. I’m sure the guests appreciate them as well!
I’m planning to start a container garden soon, and would recommend growing vegetables as close to your house as possible, if space is at a premium. Growing vegetables in pots will save you both time and money. You can harvest your vegetables almost immediately after planting them. That saves me since I have to use a garden hose to water my veggies!
There are many other vegetables I planted that only take a little bit of attention, time and care, but my favorite is spinach. Spinach is one of my favorite vegetables because it is so versatile. It goes great on pasta, with tomato sauce or on top of salad mix. My neighbor grew spinach too, so we usually get compliments about our lush green spinach all the time. My sister uses spinach on her sandwiches, and her daughter uses it on her pizza.
So this fall I’ll be harvesting my beans, carrots, beets and onions. I’ll be happy to report that these plants turned out to be some of the best vegetables I’ve grown in my many years of gardening. They have produced some marvelous vegetables for this coming summer. I hope you enjoy the success of your own summer vegetable garden as much as I enjoy the result of all those healthy green beans.