Planting a few tomato and cabbage plants and maybe a row of carrots and a few herbs in one or two beds in the garden just for fun doesn't require too much planning. On the other hand, if you want to use the space optimally and provide yourself and your family with fresh vegetables from your own garden, you have to plan carefully.
The larger the garden, the more planning it requires
How big does the vegetable garden have to be?
Before you think about pre-culture and post-culture, mixed culture and crop rotation for optimal soil utilization, you must first calculate the required garden area. The size of your vegetable garden naturally depends on the space available, but also on how extensive the later harvest should be. A few sunny square meters for a few tomato or strawberry plants can be found in almost every garden. However, for a "proper" vegetable garden to cover your own needs, you should plan at least 20 square meters per person. However, if you want to plant space-intensive vegetables for storage such as potatoes, etc. and possibly fruit trees, the required square meter requirement increases to at least 50 square meters - per household member.
Plan plantings and seeds in the vegetable garden
If you want to plant your vegetable garden, you have to plan the occupancy of the beds for optimal utilization. There are various options for this, because vegetable beds can be ordered several times during the growing season.
pre and post culture
Every vegetable has its fixed sowing or planting time, which must also be adhered to - otherwise there is a risk of growth disorders and crop failures. These times can differ greatly from each other, which is why a pre- and / or post-culture to the main culture can be worthwhile. Types with a short cultivation period that are ready to harvest after just four to eight weeks are particularly suitable for this. This group includes most salads, spinach, radishes, dill and chervil. Of course, you can also sow such short-lived vegetables and herbs again and again and enjoy them fresh all year round.
mixed culture
By intercropping, the gardener understands the cultivation of different types of vegetables at the same time in the same bed, which are then planted in rows next to each other or, alternating, within a row. It is best to choose neighboring plants that harmonize with each other or even promote each other's growth. Centuries of experience show which vegetables and herbs go best together and which combinations you should stay away from - and this article.
Crop rotation and crop rotation
If you grow certain vegetables in the same spot over and over again, they will grow worse and the harvests will become poorer and poorer. On the one hand, this is due to the one-sided nutrient withdrawal, which the gardener can only compensate for with very targeted fertilization. Above all, however, this type of planting favors pathogens (often soil fungi) that can become a lasting problem. Only crop rotation or crop rotation can prevent the negative effects. Basically, this means changing the area under cultivation every year and, if possible, only planting the same type of vegetable again after three to four years. Crop rotation is particularly important for tomatoes: constant cultivation in the same bed can promote the occurrence of late blight, late blight, wilt diseases and nematodes.
tips
By the way, you can download free planner software from the Internet for optimal planting in your vegetable garden.