Where to put your Vegetable Garden

Today is an exciting day for me and my mother-in-law, we're going to our local FFA chapter's green house to get some vegetable plants and annual flowers!  But before I buy my plants, I better figure out where to put my garden!  See, this will be the first year of having a garden at our current acreage.  We always had one at our old acreage and it was easy to decide where to put it because we knew where my husband's grandfather had kept his.  But at our new place, we're starting from scratch.  I'm sure at one point in time the former owners had a garden but there is no evidence of a garden now.  So deciding where to place my vegetable garden was exciting and a little nerve-racking at the same time.  So after some research and personal knowledge from my past experiences, I have decided to place my garden here:

My garden's future home

Many factors played into me making my decision on where to place my vegetable garden and I thought I'd share these factors with you to help you when deciding where to place your vegetable garden:

• Place your garden in a well drained soil.  You should pick a level area to help with drainage and also to limit erosion.
• Pick an area with full sunlight.  Most vegetables need at least 6 hours of sunlight.  If you garden is going to be close to a building structure or your home, consider placing it on the south side if available or on the east or west side.
• Be sure to place your garden away from trees and shrubs.  Trees and shrubs will compete with your garden plants for water and nutrients.
• Also, make sure to think convenience when planning your garden's location.  Make sure it is near your home where you'll see or walk by it daily.  Also, it is a good idea to make sure you can reach your garden at least within two hose lengths, otherwise you'll be carrying water a long ways (which might sound like a good exercise plan at the beginning of the season, but by the end of the summer you will most likely have wished the garden was closer.)
• Now at the same time you'll need to keep your garden away from high traffic areas.  Don't place your garden where your kids like to run around and play and don't put it where vehicles (and tractors if you're like me) drive.

This year, similar to past years, I'll be planting a salsa garden.  I love canning salsa and pizza sauce, plus I think salsa garden vegetables are relatively simple to take care of.  Below is an outline of my garden this year.  I'm going to intercrop my garden between long-season vegetables (i.e. tomatoes, peppers), next to short-season vegetables (i.e. radishes, onions).  The short-season vegetables will be harvested before the height of the summer and will be removed, allowing more room for the long-season vegetables.

Do you plant a garden?  What plants are you including in your plan for this year?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

I went to the #IAblogger meet-up last week and was inspired to try setting up my own Linky Party.  So here we go!  Link up your garden posts (tips, plans, recipes, etc.) here:

An InLinkz Link-up