How To Make a Home Vegie Patch

A tractor and a few implements can make light work of preparing a home vegetable patch. All you need is an area with good exposure to the sun, access to water and a bit of soil preparation.

CHOOSE A LOCATION

Sunlight

Plants need sun to grow. You need to choose a location with a minimum of 4-5 hours direct sunlight per day – the more the better. Where possible choose a location facing north to north east to capture morning sun. Avoid shadows from trees, buildings etc.

Drainage

Good drainage is essential for a successful vegetable garden. Select a location that is well drained or it may be necessary to install some ag pipe drainage.

A level site is easier to work on. If it is necessary to set up on a slope, run the beds across the slope and build a simple retaining wall on the low side to prevent loss of soil from erosion.

Wind

Shelter from wind will protect plants against damage and also minimise evaporation. Be careful though that your sheltered location still has access to sun.

Water

You'll need water too! Ideally you can choose a location which will enable water to gravity feed from a tank. Otherwise a pressure pump may be required.

WHAT TO PLANT WHEN

Some vegetables grow better in cooler conditions and some others in warmer conditions.

Plants that grow better in cooler months (10 – 20°C) include cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, turnips, peas and broad beans.

Plants that grow better in warmer conditions (20°C or above) include tomatoes, capsicum, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet corn and eggplant.

Other plants grow best between 15 and 25°C. Examples include lettuce, cabbage, celery, silver beet, radish and parsnip. This group of plants are more sensitive to being planted too early or too late. It is best to consult a gardening guide to find the best time to plant for your area.

A handy hint – don’t plant your entire crop at once. By spreading your planting over time you will enjoy a crop over an extended period rather than getting too many vegetables all at once.

PREPARING THE SOIL

First you will need to kill off the grass and weeds. This is often done with a glyphophosphate based product. Or if you prefer an organic approach simply cover over the area with old sheets of metal / cardboard or newspaper until the grass is dead.

Next you will need to break up the soil. A variety of implements can be used to do this. As a relatively small single bed was going in, a ripper and rotary hoe was used here. (If you plan a large area of multiple beds a disc harrow would be useful to heap up the beds.)

The ripper came in handy to scratch up the ground first as it was quite hard. The desired depth to dig is around 25 – 30 cm without bringing the subsoil / clay to the surface.

Then the rotary hoe was used to further break the soil up. A number of passes are required. Initial passes are done with the rear flap raised. This allows soil to pass through the rotary hoe in relatively large pieces so the equipment is not overloaded.

In subsequent passes the rear flap can be lowered. This retains the soil in the implement for longer so it is broken up more finely.

The addition of organic material such as manure or compost will benefit most soils to add nutrients and improve soil structure.

The application of a general purpose fertiliser containing nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium will help most plants. For best results consult a gardening guide.

The rotary hoe makes it really easy to add fertiliser and organic material. Simply throw the desired amounts on top. One pass with the rotary hoe – job done.