Work Out: Vegetable Gardening

If you want a rewarding activity that gives you the benefit of exercise and will make you proud to show off your accomplishment: plant a vegetable garden. 

Planting a vegetable garden requires manual labor, actual hard work, and requires a lot of patience. If you are not able to bend and stoop, you can consider planting your vegetable garden in a raised bed. You can also grow vegetables in a greenhouse and indoors.

The city seems to be a difficult place to plant a vegetable garden because of constrained spaces. But, you can plant a nice vegetable garden equal to the space you have. It is important that you understand the basics of planting a garden.

Soil preparation is the first thing to think about. This is one of the most important things you have to learn if you are new to gardening. It does not matter if your vegetable garden will be planted in a yard or in planter boxes, soil preparation is the key to the survival of your garden. There are three types of soil with which you should become familiar: sand, clay, and silt.

• Sandy soil is loose and lets air pass through it easily which helps the roots your plants breathe.
• Clay soil absorbs water faster and is retained longer. 
• Silt is a fine mixture of sand and clay particles.

You have to prepare the soil before you start planting. This is where the hard work begins. If you are not physically fit, you may want to have someone assist you with this job. You have to dig up the soil and break off the lumps. Remove any rocks, roots, or weeds. Check to make sure you have the mixture of sand, silt, and clay before you begin planting. Ideally, silt and sand should both be 40% and clay should be 20%. This mixture ensures that water is not trapped inside so long that it chokes the roots. Also, the roots will rot if there is too much water in the soil.

To test your soil, scoop out a handful and form a ball with it. If it is the correct mixture, the soil should hold the shape of the ball without too much difficulty. If the soil cannot hold the shape, it may have too much silt or sand in the mixture. If the soil holds its shape but does not crumble easily when you poke it, it might have too much clay in it. You need to balance the clay with silt or sand.

You probably have an idea of what vegetables you would like to grow in your garden. After the soil has been cultivated, you can pick out your seeds or plants. There are some vegetables that should not be grown together because they will inhibit each other's growth such as potatoes planted too close to squash or tomatoes. You can have all three in your garden but not beside each other.

After the seeds have been sown, you have to water your garden. Vegetables need to be watered consistently. If you are planting a large garden, you may want to consider using a soaker hose. This is a hose with a lot of holes along its body from which water seeps into your garden.

Plant a vegetable garden in your yard and you will receive two benefits: outdoor exercise and beautiful food for your table. If you plant your garden indoors, you will still reap benefits.

Enjoy your new workout!