by Laurie Keit

Enjoy fresh produce, but tired of paying high prices? Why not grow your own? Growing vegetables from seed is easy and inexpensive. It is also a great family activity and a fun way to help children learn about nature.

Let’s get started with a basic plan. As with real estate, location is everything. Choose the sunniest available space you have — away from trees and buildings, but near water. You may want to consider an automatic watering system. You may also need to protect your new garden from foraging wildlife.

Take a look around your garden. If you see gopher mounds, consider planting in large containers — half wine barrels work well — or building raised beds. Containers on rolling castors can be repositioned as needed and provide a fast and easy way to get started. If you plan to invest in raised beds, consider lining them with galvanized ½-inch chicken wire or hardware cloth. Beds should be 2-3 feet wide and a minimum of 12-18 inches deep.

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The next step is to find out what type of soil you have. Grab a handful and squeeze. As you let go, notice if it sticks together, crumbles or just plain falls apart. If the soil crumbles, you have sandy loam, which is ideal. If it sticks together, you have clay, which drains poorly. In order to successfully grow in clay you will need to heavily amend the soil with finished compost and gypsum. If your soil falls apart completely, you have sand, and will need to add compost to help it retain moisture.

If you plan to plant directly in the ground, cultivate your soil to a minimum depth of 7-10 inches. The idea is to have finer soil at the top to support your seeds and enough depth to allow the rooting to spread freely in all directions.

Choose your crops and sow them; chard, carrots, beets, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, radishes, onions, parsley, lettuce, leeks and peppers are some of your choices. If space permits, plant two or more of each vegetable for continuous production. I like to intermix my vegetables with edible flowers like nasturtiums, calendula and pansies, and marigolds to repel pests.

Remember to leave room for May crops like cucumber, eggplant, more peppers, tomatoes, squash — including pumpkins — and watermelon.

Other basics for successful vegetable gardening include regular feeding, watering, mulching, weeding and pest control. E.B. Stone and Dr. Earth are two good organic fertilizer brands. Consider using beneficial insects for a natural form of pest control.

Happy gardening!

Laurie Keit has been designing residential gardens since 2001 through her company, Seasonal  Celebrations. An 18-year Pacifica resident, she may be contacted at 650-722-009, by e-mail at laurie@seasonalcelebrations.com, or through her Web site, www.seasonalcelebrations.com.