10 Steps Towards a Better Vegetable Garden

Step one – Soil test. Yes, this may be getting repetitious for anyone who follows Penn State Extension but getting handle on basics soil fertility is so fundamental that is really needs to be Step One. A Penn State soil test will provide information about soil pH as well as the levels of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and potassium. These four elements are most likely to be lacking in typical Pennsylvania soils. pH influences the uptake of these nutrients and also influences soil biology. So, don’t guess, soil test. Cost is nine bucks. You can’t beat that. You can download the forms needed at or stop by our office for a pre-addressed “kit’ to submit samples.

Step 2 – Build soil organic matter levels. Organic matter is a soil textural cure-all. Organic matter creates large pore spaces that improves soil aeration. That’s good for root growth. In addition, organic matter increases beneficial biological activity, adds essential nutrients and improves “workability” or tilth of the soil. Manures and compost are the most common ways to add organic matter. Green manure and cover crops, too. Good gardeners never miss a chance to add organic matter and actively seek it. High organic matter levels are probably something all great gardens have in common.

Step 3 – Study the requirements of the crops you grow. Each species that we grow has a unique set of cultural requirements …cold hardiness, heat tolerance, spacing requirements, ideal planting date, optimum harvest time, etc. Seed packets provide the basics. For a more complete story find a good reference such as Vegetable Gardening, a new publication from Penn State.

Step 4 - Study the lives of garden pests. You are not the only one interested in those tomatoes, squash and your first born strawberry. In fact, for many garden pests this is a matter of life and death… shear survival. You will share your production with them. Question is.. how much. Get to know the insects, diseases, weeds and mammals that are sure to take a bite out of your garden. Learn which ones are most likely to take the biggest bite and plan strategies to manage them. In some cases this will be simple. For instance, choosing disease tolerant varieties solves a host of fungal problems. A no-brainer! Cabbage worms… Bt! On the other hand, some pests require so much attention that it may not be worth the battle. Sweet corn worms… I’ll leave that to Farmer Brown to handle. Visit any .edu websites for solid pest management information.

Step 5 - Use insect and disease resistant varieties. We mentioned this in step 4 but it bears repeating. Plant breeders have performed miracles by incorporating natural resistance to key pests in virtually all of the crops we grow. Early blight, late blight, powdery mildew, wilts, rots spots… become minor issues rather than devastating losses for many crops. Take advantage of this free form of pest control!

Step 6 - Mulch, Mulch, Mulch. Both organic and synthetic mulches do wonders for gardens. They conserve moisture, control weeds, moderate soil temperatures, and improve soil quality. Straw, tree leaves, wood chips and many other organic mulches have great uses in the garden. Plastic mulches, in my opinion, are under-used by home gardeners. Heat loving crops such as tomato, eggplant and peppers as well as the vine crops love the heat. Try some. Bio-degradable and paper mulches are also available if that suits you better. Similar results.

Step 7 – Plan and record your garden activities. What was that great bean variety I grew last year? I know I planted 3 kinds of garlic out there, which is which? Are the Japanese beetles going to arrive when we go on vacation? A garden journal or notebook provides useful information and is fun off-season reading.

Step 8 – Try something new each year. How about those floating row covers? Can I really grow onions from seed? Can I plant shallots in the fall? Are figs hardy around here? There is only one sure-fire way to find out. Give it a try. Over time, your experiences become rich garden knowledge.

Step 9 – Start composting. Composting is a simple way to recycle garden and kitchen refuse. Doesn’t need to be elaborate. A simple “heap” of decomposing stuff does the trick. Type the word composting into the search box at www.agsci.psu.edu for more details.

Step 10 – Read and study a wide range of garden folklore and science-based reports. We garden for pleasure so it’s a great way to explore the unknown, experiment and learn. Garden magazines, blogs and associations of specialists are easy to find. Did you know there was Pennsylvania Nut Growers Association? A garlic newsletter? Several huge tomato tasting events every year within easy driving distance? Subscribe, visit and learn.

Can I Compost those Diseased Tomato Plants?

Yes. That’s the short and simple answer to a question that is on many gardeners minds. The disease that concerns most gardeners this year is late blight, Phytophthora infestans, which plagued so many gardens and farms this year. I have spoken to too many gardeners who are wasting time solarizing tomato vines, planning elaborate crop rotations or sending tomato debris out with the trash. Compost them. It’s also good to know that most diseased plants can be composted without the fear of aggravating the disease situation next year.

Let’s take late blight first because it is easiest. The late blight organism requires a living host to survive. Since tomatoes cannot survive our winters, any late blight fungus will die along with the plant. May as well compost the diseased plants. Or you could simply turn them into the soil. For that matter you could let the dead tomato skeletons hang out all winter on their stakes. Dead tomatoes = dead late blight. Late blight does not form overwintering spores in Pennsylvania that could cause new infections next year.

Potatoes are another story. Late blight infected potato foliage can be treated like tomato foliage. But infected tubers should not be put into the compost pile. Tubers may survive the winter and start up new infections next spring.

Most other tomato diseases do have the ability to survive and infect tomato again next year. Early blight, Septoria leaf spot and anthracnose can survive either on plant debris, in special fungal survival structures, on other plants and even on pots and containers. Crop rotation provides some small measure of control but you can expect these diseases to return each year regardless of crop rotation. And let’s face it, we often have limited ability to rotate crops in our small vegetable gardens. Do it, as a good general pest management strategy, but realize it will not eliminate re-occurrence of disease.

Back to that compost pile… since the environment in the compost pile is much more competitive for fungal pathogens than soil, and these disease organisms will survive thru other means, why not compost those diseased plants?
There are a few garden diseases that surely should not go into the compost pile. Fusarium and Verticillium wilt come to mind, but they are relatively rare these days because of good plant breeding. If you suspect that these are involved then trash them. Otherwise… everything into the compost pile.

Vegetable Garden, Round 2… the Fall Garden

Spots, rots and blights be damned… keep planting! That’s my advice to vegetable gardeners. We are about to enter Round Two of the gardening season and it can be very rewarding. I’m talking about the Fall garden. Sure, it’s still summer but by taking a few simple steps now you can be way head come September and October.

Rip out those blighted tomatoes, monster squash plants, ragged cukes and weedy patches. Then seed ‘em. I’m talking about beets, carrots, turnips (yes, turnips are tasty) lettuce and cilantro. Fall spinach is wonderful and September plantings will overwinter and provide spring crops. Transplant cool weather, cole crops (cabbage family).

The entire cabbage family thrives in the fall garden. Right now you can find six-packs of broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts (yes, Brussels sprouts are tasty) and cabbage in some garden centers. Get these transplants into the ground in mid-August and you’ll be enjoying nice harvests in late September and October. Many years the quality of the fall crops is better than spring.

Because fall air temperatures and day length are moderate and declining, the fall garden is very different that the spring version. Crop growth slows and quality holds very well. Weed growth slows and even stops in some cases, with the first frost. It’s a pleasure to work outside again without working up a sweat.


What to do with all of those dead and diseased plants? How about the wheelbarrow loads of weeds? Compost them! That’s right, compost them. Almost every composting book and manual warns against this. Nonsense! (most of the time). The vast majority of the diseases that affect our vegetable crops will not be spread, enhanced or aggravated by composting the affected foliage. Several reasons. First, the compost pile is a very vicious place. Good fungi destroy the bad. Even simple soil incorporation of dead plants works in your favor. There are a few exceptions but don’t sweat it. Compost that stuff.

Consider the farmers. Do they put diseased plants in the trash? Nope. They plow them down and rotate crop location. Sure, our rotation options in a small garden are limited. Makes composting diseased stuff a smart move. Finally, understand that our most common fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens survive in or near the garden naturally. Even if you tried extreme sanitation, you’ll be visited by the ancestors of 2009 powdery mildew, early blight and botrytis in 2010.

What about those weeds. Two potential problems… weed seeds and the fleshy storage organs of perennials. Yea, it would be nice to eliminate weed seeds but I’d be willing to bet that a lot of those weeds in your garden have already set and dropped a lot of seed. When you pull them up even more will shed. Are you going to pick them up? Didn’t think so. So what’s the dif if they go into the compost pile where they have less chance of survival? The perennials? I don’t know what planet those folks are from that talk about perennials surviving composting. Even a cold compost pile that is turned a few times will destroy perennial roots, rhizomes and stolons. So compost away! I think the warning about not composting weeds comes from the common experience of importing compost or manure from remote locations and discovering new weed species the next year. Yep, this bound to happen…. weed seeds. Some are annuals, some perennials. But the weeds we are pulling in our gardens this year have already taken up residence. Recycling them thru your compost does not make the situation worse. Compost ‘em!

Dan the Chicken Man and His Garden

Last weekend I visited gardening friend, Graham Bell (see previous blog, “Graham’s Garden Inspirations”) in Rhode Island. Our primary mission was to assist his friend, Dan, in the task of processing (killing and cleaning) 85 chickens. It’s kind of a communal thing. Dan raises the chickens. Friends pay a share of the feed costs and get a share of the meat in return. Shareholders pitch in on Chicken Day in October when the birds are ready to harvest. Oddballs like me and my wife go just for the fun of it. So, in four hours about ten of us killed, plucked, dressed (gutted) and bagged the birds.

Since this is a gardening blog, I’ll spare you the details of chicken processing. So here is the gardening part. Chicken Man Dan is also a very good gardener. I sensed this as I wheel barrowed chicken feathers and blood soaked leaves (nitrogen rich) to his compost pile. Dan told me that he’ll add a layer of apple pomace from a cider maker and by next spring he’ll have some killer compost. He adds lots of tree leaves as a carbon source. You read about the value of feathers and blood as compost ingredients but rarely see it. Not many folks are killing their own chickens these days.

I took a detour on the way back from dumping blood and feathers to check out Dan’s garden. I saw fall red raspberries, tomato trellis, raised beds, etc. That’s when I saw the large mail box in the middle of his garden and knew I had found the solution to the maddening task of storing garden tools and other stuff in a handy place. Dan’s big old mail box
holds all of those tools you often need but don’t remember to carry…. lettuce harvesting knives, dibbles, tying materials, labels, etc. Next to the mail box was a box of spoons… flattened to make nifty row-markers. More durable than wood…or even plastic..

Once again, great gardening ideas from afar. It pays to get out of your own backyard once in a while.