Starting A Vegetable Garden

The first step in growing your own vegetables is to choose a location that gets enough sunlight. Most veggies need at least 6 hours of direct sun a day to thrive.

Next, select a space that is near your water supply. This will make watering your garden easier and avoid carrying a heavy hose across your yard every time you need to do it.

Dan Wells, whose large Saluda garden produces consistently abundant harvests, taught a three-hour session on vegetable gardening on Saturday morning at the Saluda Center. An eager group of gardeners, intent on improving their vegetable gardening knowledge and skill, were the beneficiaries of Dan’s extensive knowledge.

His presentation ranged from the fundamentals of soil preparation to extensive details regarding fertilizer, control of insects and disease, plant selection, seed germination and multiple other keys to successful gardening. Dan brought an impressive array of gardening aids and devices, and gave useful instruction and demonstrations on how to use them effectively. Each participant received a thorough multi-page handout Dan had prepared, containing extensive useful information about almost every aspect of vegetable gardening.

Asked by one of his “students” how he had acquired such an amazing body of knowledge about gardening, Dan attributed it in part to his having taught chemistry and biology. That was evident in the way he explained the science of plant nutrition.

A very pleasant addition to the morning was a delightful array of pastries, fruit and coffee which Dan’s wife Marti had prepared for the attendees.

Bruce Jayne

Saluda

Source: tryondailybulletin.com