The freshest, best tasting herbs and vegetables are those that are eaten or cooked shortly after harvesting. One way to guarantee that your produce is as fresh as possible is to grow your own. With a little work up front, you can harvest fresh herbs and vegetables in just a few weeks.
Making Your Selection
Choose a site for your garden that gets at least eight to ten hours of direct sun each day. You may need to hang out in your yard over the course of a day and take note of the sunniest areas. Also, choose a site that's not too close to mature trees. The trees' roots will take water and nutrients away from your garden.
Choose vegetables that you like and that you like to cook with. If this is your first attempt, don't overdo it. Start with two or three different plants if this is your first garden.
Because herbs are easier to grow, you will have success even if you plant half a dozen or more different types. Pick out the herbs that you like to use when cooking. You can snip a few sprigs when needed and harvest the whole plant at the end of the growing season and dry the leaves for winter use.
Setting Up the Plot
Dig out the garden bed by turning over the soil with a spade, then rake it smooth. Plants need good fertilizer to produce healthy and abundant plants. Add a two- to three-inch layer of compost to the surface of the bed and mix it with the surface soil using a crab-grass rake.
Put the tallest-at-maturity vegetables on the north end of the garden so they don't shade the shorter ones. Make sure you plant them the correct distance apart. You'll find planting instructions tailored to the needs of each plant on seed packages or on the informational spikes that come with small transplants.
Most varieties of herbs don't need as much water as vegetables, so keep them in a separate part of the garden. Most only grow less than 12 inches high, so the southern edge of the garden plot is an ideal place to put them.
Caring for Your Garden
Provide your vegetables with at least an inch of water per week, either with rainfall, a sprinkler or a soaker hose. Herbs require less water than vegetables. They will not suffer if watered regularly but do not overwater.
Feed the vegetables with granular fertilizer, whether organic or regular, following the manufacturer's directions. Do not overfeed; it can stunt their growth or kill plants outright.
Once you get your garden plot set up and planted it won't be long before you are harvesting vegetables and herbs.
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