Make Your First Vegetable Garden

From The Fresno Bee, March 11, 2010; by Lee Reich:

How about going to a place where you can relax, enjoy some sun, and get a little exercise and gourmet food? It's a home vegetable garden, and don't be intimidated if you've never planted one before. Vegetables are easy to grow, especially if you follow these 10 steps for first-timers:

1. Choose a location in full sun, which means six or more hours of direct sun in summer.
2. Your site needs soil that is well-drained. Roots need to breathe.
3. Grow your garden as close as possible to your door--no farther than your wife can throw the kitchen sink, goes the old adage, said when kitchen sinks were cast iron.
4. Start small. Too much garden may begin to feel like work.
5. Fence your garden. A fence, besides keeping out rabbits and other hungry animals, helps define your garden visually.
6. Make your garden pretty. Yes, it's a vegetable garden, but even vegetable gardens can be pretty. An arbor, with climbing beans or grapes, can dress up your garden gate.
7. Planning your garden in four dimensions is a way to harvest more from limited space. Rather that single, widely spaced rows, plant in wide (3-4 feet) beds (a second dimension). Rather than keeping everything at ground level, let your vegetables--those that can--grow up (a third dimension). For the fourth dimension--time--use transplants for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers.
8. Pay attention to fertilizing and watering.
9. Weed regularly and frequently.
10. Grow vegetables that you like to eat, and choose the best-tasting varieties.