Vegetable gardens sprouting

Seed companies like W. Atlee Burpee & Co. have sold twice as many seeds this year as last, with half the increase from new customers.

Higher grocery bills, as a result of rising fuel prices combined with the realization that it’s healthier and cheaper to grow your own vegetables, are the incentives behind this trend.

I’ve already planted the seeds for my first vegetable garden in at least 10 years and it’s a great feeling to think of what I can start nibbling on in a few short weeks.

Salad ingredients like mesclun, sugar snap peas, green onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and more are especially easy to grow. You don’t even have to have a plot of land to sow seed in - it’s possible to reap plenty to eat from simply container gardening.

When choosing an area to grow vegetables, make sure it receives at least eight hours of sun daily.

If you do plan on growing in-ground, work the soil deeply to a depth of at least 8 to 12 inches. Add compost and mix thoroughly. One of the benefits of a first year vegetable garden is that things always seem to grow extremely well because existing nutrients and valuable elements in the soil have not been “used up” from previous years.

Your choice of forming beds or rows for vegetables is a personal one. I’ve adopted the three-foot wide bed style as it seems to allow for more growing room and can be tended easily from either side.

If planting fast-growing vegetables like lettuces, beets, peas and beans, don’t plant the entire contents of the package. Divide the amount into two or three sections and plant each group two-weeks to a month apart, in between the first seedlings. That way you will extend the harvest considerably.

Water your garden deeply at least once a week if nature doesn’t do it for you and keep the weeds at bay.

If you live in a neighbourhood like I do where an alarming number of cats make their daily rounds, you might want to safeguard against the threat. I use chicken wire, not vertically as a fence, but instead laying it over the garden and securing the ends with sticks.

In a few weeks, after the ground has settled a bit and is less of a temptation for cats, I’ll remove it. I could leave it in place for the season... except the potatoes and onions might be a little difficult to extricate from the mesh.

It’s not too late to plant a vegetable garden. I’ve known people who have grown their best vegetables ever from gardens planted as late as July.