Vegetable Gardening: Even the White House is Doing It

According to a report from The National Gardening Association, vegetable gardening is expected to increase by 7 million more households in 2009 compared to 2008. The primary reason for this large increase is the economy. Money is tight for all of us, and growing our own herbs and vegetables can make an excellent difference in the grocery bills too.

In fact, even the White House will have a vegetable garden this year. Michelle Obama joined together with two dozen local elementary school students in late March, and broke ground for a vegetable garden on the White House South Lawn. At 1,100 square feet their garden plot is much larger than what's needed for most households, and they plan to plant 55 different vegetables.

Most families don't need vegetable gardens nearly this large. In fact, even the smallest potted window garden can help reduce your grocery bills. You don't need any special skillsets to plant a vegetable or herb garden either, and if you engage your own children in the process it can be both fun and excellent learning for them too.

If you don't have outdoor space to plant a full vegetable garden plot, you can grow your most used and favorite vegetables in containers either inside the house in sunny areas, or on a porch or patio. Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Choose the location for your garden. Where you plan to put the garden will determine how much you can plant at once, and how much preparation work is needed to get started. The most common location for a vegetable garden is in your yard, but as noted above you can also create a container garden for a porch or patio area. Some cities have community garden plots you can rent, so if neither of the previous places are an option you'll want to look into what's available in your area.

2. Choose the vegetables you'd like to grow. There's no need to plant 50 different things like the First Lady is, particularly if you're tight on space. Instead, choose a few of your favorite vegetables - the ones you tend to buy the most of at the grocery store - because growing these yourself will have the biggest impact on reducing your shopping bill.

Some of the vegetables being grown at the white house are: Carrots, Broccoli, Collards, Lettuce, Spinach, Radishes, Onions, Peas and Shallots.

3. Check your local area to find out when the average last frost dates are. You don't want to plant seeds and starter vegetables and then lose them to bad weather. Knowing when the average last frost is will help you know when it's safe to start planting.

4. Get your soil ready for planting. If you're gardening in an outdoor ground plot or garden bed, you simply need to turn and cultivate the soil. If possible, mix in some rich organic compost so there will be plenty of nutrients and vitamins to make your vegetables grow strong and healthy.

5. Once your garden is planted, be sure to care for it regularly.
- Pull any weeds as soon as you find them so they won't steal water and nutrients from your growing food.
- Be sure to water your plants deeply, particularly while they're still young and small, because this helps them become established and strong enough to produce good food for you.
- Harvest your vegetables as soon as they're ripe. Some plants will stop producing food if you don't pick what's ready regularly.

Vegetables take time to grow, so you'll need to have some patience too. Some can be harvested in just a couple of months while others may take a full 4 months to reach maturity.

Sources:
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