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Growing your own vegetables is rewarding, on any scale. A row of radish, a tub of beans or a trough of lettuce will produce a thrill at any meal. But what size garden is needed for total self-sufficiency?

In the old days a working man needed a 20 pole (a pole is 25 sq meters) plot to grow all the fruit and vegetables needed for his family. This is probably a larger area than we would use today. A ‘working man’s family’ was larger in those days. Also, he did not have the benefit of our modern vegetable varieties, which are disease resistant and heavier croppers.

The TopVeg patch keeps a couple supplied with vegetables every day of the year, with some left over to give away. In July, August & September it also supplies ample veg for 4 hungry, working men.

The TopVeg kitchen garden is divided into 7 beds. Each bed is 1.8m wide by 15 m long, giving an area of 27 sq meters - just over 1 pole. So, with 7 beds we have in excess of 7 poles.Â

These figures would suggest that 10 poles is an adequate area to grow enough vegetables for a family of four to be self sufficient.  But this area has to be fully productive, using netting etc to keep insects off carrots and brassicas, so that they crop to their full potential.

Now is the time to get the children interested in gardening. Give them a small patch - let them define the shape with string and put stones around the border.

Choose easy-to-grow plants and as many different ones as you can get into the small space. Carrots, radishes, spring onions and beetroot are good vegetable choices.

Help them prepare the soil:

• remove all stones and clods
• dig the patch
• break the soil into small crumbs - they can jump up & down, or use a fork

Let the young ones design the planting scheme. Do they want:

• plants in rows
• or blocks of plants in different shapes

They can plan it on paper, draw out the design with a stick on the soil, then sow the seeds.

Keep an eye out for pests, & develop a strategy together for keeping pests out of the garden patch. Put up bird scarers made from CDs or ribbons hanging from sticks.

Find a small can or jug which can be used to water the seeds regularly.

Oversee the project to ensure rapid results - which will encourage further vegetable gardening!!

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A carefully chosen watering can will add to the enjoyment of growing your own vegetables.

The watering can should be:

well balanced, easy to handle, durable, long lasting, value for money, & decorativeÂ

AÂ watering can needs: Â Â Â

• a handle in a balanced position - to hold when carrying the can without spillage
• a handle in a ‘backward’ position - to hold when pouring from the rose
• a removable rose so that the can may be used without a rose and so that the rose can be cleared when blocked (the rose is the perforated attachment at the end of the spout). Â Roses can be either round or oval. The shape and angle of the rose will determine the force of the stream of water from the rose.
• a spout which is slightly higher than the height of the body of the can to allow the watering can to be filled to the brim.

Watering cans may be made of:

• galvanized iron (heavy, more expensive, longer lasting, may rust)
• plastic - light, cheap and durable . Plastic has smoother edges & is therefore less likely to bruise your legs.      Â
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Specifications of watering cans

1. Spouts -

Long spouted ( long reach) cans are useful to reach to the back of the vegetable garden, or if you are going to be spraying seedlings with finer sprayheads.

Shorter spouted cans are suitable for general watering jobs around the garden especially pot watering and spraying established plants. They are also easier to store.

Curved spouts have been designed especially for accurate spot-on watering of individual plants & plant pots

2. Size -Two smaller watering cans, instead of one big one, are easier to carry. Water is heavy. Carrying two smaller cans distributes the weight more evenly as there is a can in each hand.

3. Colour - have different coloured cans to avoid the risk of contamination with weedkillers. Have one red plastic watering can for soluble fertilizers or weed killers; plastic because some chemicals should not be used in galvanised watering cans. A green watering can be kept for pure water

4. Shape - Narrow-profile rectangular watering cans may be held closer to the body than round ones, allowing better posture and causing less strain for the gardener. Â

 Haws Watering Cans are generally accepted as being the best watering cans you can buy. These make a perfect present for the gardener.             Â

Capping of the soil is a major problem in the vegetable garden at sowing time. It happens when the soil particles on the surface melt together to form a hard cap or crust.

Effects of capping:

• the cap is so hard that the vegetable seedlings cannot break through it and are unable to push the shoot above ground
• the cap shrinks when it dries, and forms a crazy paving effect of hard soil lumps

                               

Causes of capping:

• soil particles in the seed bed are too fine
• large droplets of water (heavy rain, or a coarse watering can)
• kitchen gardens with clay soils are particularly at risk from capping

Avoid capping by:

• keeping small crumbs of soil on the surface - do not overwork the seedbed. Fine soil is needed around the seed, but the rest of the soil between the vegetable rows should be made up of small crumbs

• watering with small droplets - do not water the seeds in with a bucket, or strong hose. Use a gentle spray from a rose with small holes

Renovate capped soil in the vegetable garden by:

• gently keeping the cap damp, to enable the vegetable seedlings to push through
• carefully hoeing either side of each vegetable row, to break the cap. Then the next lot of water will be able to drain into the soil, & will not sit on the cap & spread the crust over a larger area of the vegetable patch

                

Drainage is the passage of water through the soil. The drainage in the vegetable garden will differ from one soil type to another. Sandy soils drain quickly, clay soils drain slowly.

Gardeners should do everything possible to help drainage. If the drainage is restricted, the water will not be able to get away. Water will collect on the surface of the soil. The fruit and vegetables will die and the soil structure will be ruined. This means that it will be difficult to create a seedbed in the future.

To encourage drainage in the kitchen garden:

• avoid walking on the garden, particularly when wet. Make narrow beds, which can be worked from the path. Use a wooden plank to stand on if on the bed.
• keep drains clear and free, so that they take water away
• do not overwater

The water holding capacity of the soil is the ability to hold the water in the soil. It is held by surface tension around the soil particles. The water holding capacity of each soil will vary. Sand is not able to hang onto the water as easily as the clay. So sandy soil drains easily & will need watering more often.
If the gardener understands his own soil he will know when it needs more water to bring it back to its full capacity. He will be able to recognise the state of the soil by the colour, texture and feel of the soil.

Fruit and vegetables need a constant supply of water, so that they can continue to grow happily. If water becomes short (below full capacity), the plants will become stressed, growth will slow down and the plants will be more susceptible to disease

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The Science of Watering Vegetables
Watering the vegetable garden is not a simple task. Firstly the needs of the plant must be considered. Then the soil properties must be understood.
1. The plant needs:
a. Water
Water enters the plant at the roots, & is sucked up to the top of the plant.
The water is used:

• Â by every cell in the plant for respiration.
•  to convert sunlight into food. Â
•  for transpiration - when water evaporates through the leaves & is lost.

Transpiration (& water loss) increases:

• in hot weather because water evaporates faster at high temperatures. The plant does compensate by closing the stomata (little holes through which the water is lost) - even so, more water is lost & the plant wilts.
• in windy weather because the evaporated moisture is blown into the atmosphere, away from the plant, allowing more water to evaporate & fill the space. This is rather like washing drying quicker on a windy day.

b. Oxygen
Oxygen is used by every cell in the plant for respiration.
Oxygen enters the plant through the leaves & also through the roots.
The roots take oxygen from the air spaces in the soil. If soil is waterlogged, it is full of water and all the air including oxygen has been squeezed out. So the roots & then the whole plant will die.

2. Soil properties Read More »