Life Café is going green! Some of our more observant customers may have noticed our relatively new vegetable garden located just outside, near the kiddies’ play area. Currently, Life Café’s little garden boasts lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spinach, string beans, rocket and rosemary plantlets.

We so enjoyed the overall experience of planting a vegetable garden, but watching our seedlings grow has been even more rewarding. Four months have passed since starting our vegetable and herb garden, so we haven’t quite reached the stage of harvesting – but we can’t wait to garnish our burgers and toss our salads with Life Café’s very own freshly grown, hand-picked ingredients.

For anyone who has felt an inclination to start a vegetable garden, we’ve put together a few helpful tips to encourage your green fingers and get you on the road to planting and nurturing. Look out for our follow-up posts which will look at some of these aspects in more detail.

Tip 1: Planning an Area with Light and Shade

Before you head off to the local nursery and purchase every type of vegetable and herb you can get your hands on, consider what each of these plants require. Sunlight is absolutely essential for a vegetable garden, even if you have plants that are of a shaded variety.

If you’re a first time vegetable gardener, consider purchasing some varieties that are more productive and require less attention – like tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, spinach, peppers, snap peas, green onions and green beans. Steer clear of veggies like asparagus and green peas which don’t yield great results. Look into the requirements of each variety that you buy and ensure that you are able to give these seeds and saplings what they need in terms of sunshine or shade before you plant them.

Tip 2: Do the Groundwork and Prepare the Soil

Preparing the soil for your vegetable garden is a three week process, at least. The first thing you need to do once you’ve decided on a location is remove all debris and spend some time raking and weeding the ground until it is smooth. Using a rototiller (ideally), begin to loosen and aerate the soil in stages.

By the second week, you should add amendments like peat or compost and till these into the ground, while making several passes. During the third week, examine the soil and remove any debris that may have surfaced. By this stage, the soil should take on an earthy texture which is fairly crumbly. Finish off your soil preparation by raking the area and dampening the soil with water.

Tip 3: Caring for Your Vegetable Garden

Moisture is key – but not too much. About 25 millimetres of water per week is usually enough. Check the top 25 millimetres of soil, and if you see that it’s dry, water your garden a bit. Usually twice a week is enough, depending on how hot the weather has been. Fertilizer should also be added from time to time. A store bought vegetable fertilizer usually does the trick, but make certain that you follow the instructions with regards to quantity, as too much fertilizer can stunt your plants’ productivity.

Ensure that you weed as frequently as possible, as these nasty buggers will compete with your lovely vegetables for water and nutrients.

Tip 4: Keeping Those Pesky Pests and Disease Under Control

To avoid chemicals, rather pick caterpillars, snails and any other hungry insects off by hand. This is usually an effective way of keeping limited infestations under control. If you must use chemicals, be sure to read the instructions properly and use them sparingly.

In terms of disease, prevent fungal infections by watering the soil, not the leaves. If a plant does succumb to any sort of ailment, yank it out quickly and dispose of it as soon as possible. This will usually prevent the disease from spreading through the rest of your vegetable patch. Furthermore, make sure that you find varieties of plants that are more disease resistant.

If you’re interested in gardening or have thought about starting a vegetable garden of your own, look out for the rest of our series on vegetable and herb gardening. We’d love you to share any tips that you may have with our readers in the comment box below.