Tools Needed
- Rototiller
- Hand Shovel
- Regular Shovel
- 4 tomato cages
- Rake
- String/line
- 8 wooden stakes 12” long
- Hose
- Hand sprayer or hose nozzle
- Old salt shaker
- ¼ cup of flower
- 10 bags topsoil
- 10 bags cow manure
Plants Needed (can be force sprouted or seed packets)
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Beans
- Beats
- Radishes
- Squash
First, find an area 15 by 15 feet in the yard and make sure it gets 6-8 hours of full sunlight, no less. Spread your topsoil across the entire area first then spread cow manure. Next rototill in one direction across the entire bed, then in the opposite direction. Next, rake the rototilled area and make sure to remove any large rocks. Finally push piles of dirt together to form two mounds on the far end of your bed (where squash and cucumbers will be planted). See the two large circles in the image below for a visual.
We’re going to start by planting our tomatoes and peppers in the spots designated by the images below. Peppers go where the triangles are and tomatoes go where the pentagons are.
Then get your string and stakes and make a line connecting the string to the steaks across your garden to create the lines for your carrots beets beans and radishes.
HELPFUL HINT
You can use some flour in an old salt shaker and mix your carrots or radishes in the flour to help plant. Shake your shaker down the line you’ve created with your stakes and wire, then cover the seeds lightly with soil.
Next, we’re going to plant our cucumbers and squash on the top of the mounds we created earlier.
After everything is planted make sure to give the garden a good drink of water.
In about one week the seedlings will begin coming up. If the bunches are growing in a close-knit group you may want to use some trimmers and thin out some. Make sure that when you do water the garden it is when it’s necessary and that you saturate the entire bed. Water your gardens either early morning or early afternoon so the leaves will be able to dry before the high sun. Watering midday and creating wet hot leaves can lead to fungus disease. Typically, most gardens need one and a half inches of water per week.
To help keep the weeds down utilize mulch or grass clippings in between the plants.
You can begin fertilizing the plants when they are approximately two inches tall. We recommend the use of a vegetable-specific fertilizer every 7-10 days throughout the season.
Make sure to read your packages to see when your harvest is ready and the plant is properly mature. When the season is finished make sure to clean the area of any debris or weeds to prepare for your garden next season.
Good luck and good eating!