Customize your gardening experience.  Think about what produce you and your family enjoy and want to eat and what you might want to use to can or freeze for later use.  In the spirit of “one person, one vote”, consider asking each person in the household to make a plea for vegetables that they like to eat.  Your gardening will be the most effective and enjoyable when you love the end product.  This can also help with planning what to grow and how much space you need.

For example, if you have 3 salad lovers in your group, start thinking about what goes in a salad, such as leafy greens, cucumbers, carrots and radishes.  Of these specific vegetables, only the cucumbers are space hogs.  A 10 ft. by 15 ft. space should do just fine.  You’ll even have room for a tomato and maybe a pepper plant if that fits your preferences.  A word of caution: rabbits like salad gardens too – plan on installing some chicken wire fencing around the garden, perhaps fastening it to the bottom timber in a raised bed planter or burying it 4 inches deep in the soil in a traditional arrangement.

John Fech

Horticulture Extension Educator at Nebraska Extension

John Fech is a horticulturist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture. The author of 2 books and over 200 popular and trade journal articles, he focuses his time on teaching effective landscape maintenance techniques, water conservation, diagnosing turf and ornamental problems and encouraging effective bilingual communication in the green industry. He works extensively with the media to extend the message of landscape sustainability, making over 100 television and radio appearances each year.