Vegetable Gardening Read Online Free PDF Page A

20-foot-by-30-foot production garden in Figure 2-1 highlights many favorite vegetables. I also include some plans for succession cropping and interplanting. (See Chapter 16 for more details on these techniques.) When I indicate succession crops, I'm assuming two crops in one growing season. I'm also assuming 8-foot-long raised beds with rows with space to walk between the beds down the center.
    To show you how the garden in Figure 2-1 saves you money, the following list provides vegetable yields and the price per pound of each crop. However, keep in mind that these are general averages. I've erred on the conservative side with many yields. Yields, after all, can vary depending on the location, variety, and growth of your crops. The prices are based on national average prices from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service for those vegetables grown organically in summer. Again, these numbers may vary depending on the year and location in the country. However, even with all these variables, you can see that you grow more than 300 pounds of produce worth more than $600 just by working your own garden!
    Figure 2-1: An example of a vege-table garden that can save big money.

Vegetable
Yields
Dollars per Pound
Value
Beets
12 pounds
$1.50
$18
Broccoli
16 pounds
$2.50
$40
Cabbages
18 pounds
$1
$18
Carrots
16 pounds
$1.50
$24
Cauliflower
8 pounds
$3
$24
Cucumbers
10 pounds
$2
$20
Eggplant
12 pounds
$2
$24
Leeks
10 pounds
$1.50
$15
Lettuce
10 pounds
$2
$20
Onions
16 pounds
$1.50
$24
Peas (double row)
8 pounds
$3
$24
Peppers
30 pounds
$1.50
$45
Pole beans
12 pounds
$1.50
$18
Potatoes
25 pounds
$1
$25
Spinach
10 pounds
$3
$30
Summer squash/zucchini
25 pounds
$2
$50
Sweet corn (50 ears)
17 pounds
$0.50/ea
$25
Tomatoes
80 pounds
$2
$160
Winter squash (bush)
15 pounds
$2
$30
Totals
350 pounds

$634

    If you grew the garden depicted in Figure 2-1, your initial investment of $70 to get started will yield 350 pounds of vegetables. If you purchased the same 350 pounds of vegetables in a grocery store, you'd have to pay more than $600. So, as you can see, you're saving money and getting great food to eat.
    Help the environment
    Your tomatoes, lettuces, and melons from the grocery store cost more than just the price to produce them. It's estimated that the average produce travels up to 1,500 miles to get from farm to grocery store, and that's just vegetables and fruits produced in the United States. Increasingly, produce is being imported from foreign countries, such as China and Chile. The fossil fuels used to transport these vegetables increases air pollution and global warming. So, one of the big-picture reasons for growing your own produce is to fight these effects on our planet.
    Plus, by growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs, you also reduce the amount of pollution that's created on the farm. Regardless of it being a conventional or organic farm, many large operations tend to use lots of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to grow their crops. Unfortunately, some of these additives end up as sources of pollution (and their creation requires fossil fuels). By growing your own produce using a minimal amount of these inputs (I show you how in Chapter 15), you can reduce the amount of chemical and fertilizer pollution that ends up in waterways around the country. For more information on gardening sustainably, check out Sustainable Landscaping For Dummies by Owen Dell (Wiley).
    Increase your quality of life
    A less tangible (but still important) reason to grow your own vegetables is related to quality of life. Vegetable gardening is a great way to unwind after a hard day. You can achieve a simple pleasure and satisfaction in roaming through your garden, snacking on a bean here and a cherry tomato there, pulling a few weeds, watering, and enjoying the fruits of your labors. It's an immediate, simple satisfaction in a world that so often is complicated and complex.
    Also, if you garden with others in a community garden, you'll create new