Vegetable gardening in Ohio can prove to be quite a task. Even for those who have a green thumb fighting with the dirt, weather and even animals can prove to be quite a challenge. I love to raise my own vegetables and nothing brings me more joy then having a vegetable garden that produces a lot of delicious and healthy vegetables.
My father had a green thumb, he always had a huge garden and anything he planted was sure to create much more food than our family of six could possibly use. My parents even canned and froze food from the garden and we still always had plenty to give to friends, family and neighbors. I however unfortunately did not inherent my Fathers green thumb and add to my failings, the clay dirt that seems to be plentiful here in Ohio makes for a very difficult job for me trying to get my garden to provide the vegetables that were always plentiful when I was a child.
Over the years I have tried many things to make the dirt healthier for planting vegetables and to conquer the other problems that arise. But for this article I will just cover getting a great place ready to raise your vegetables. If you have clay dirt it is a lot of work getting it ready but it is well worth the extra effort, when you are able to go out and pick most of your dinner fresh from the garden. Not only does it taste better it also saves you a lot of money.
Clay dirt holds water for days on end and then in the spring it dries to the consistency of concrete once the hot temperatures of summer arrive. This takes nutrients away from the roots of the plants. Before I found ways to make my soil more workable planting carrots and radishes was a waste of time because the ground was so hard you could not pull the vegetable from the soil.
Some ways I have found to make the dirt better is to till up a foot of so of the clay soil and mix in some top soil and fertilizer, you can also add in some sand to help in loosening the soil. I also use Miracle grow that I spray over the ground before I plant and once a week after planting.
If you aren’t planning to plant this year you can help get the ground ready for next year by doing the above and also saving your, coffee grounds, egg shells and peelings from vegetables such as cucumbers and potatoes and toss them on the ground that you are going to be using. This helps to make the soil better. I do this every year in the area that my garden is raised in.
Also if I have milk that has gone bad, I pour it on the ground. Another thing that can be done is to simply build some raised beds and fill the beds with good soil and fertilizer. Vegetable gardening in Ohio can sometimes be time consuming because many areas have clay dirt, however with some time and effort it can be a problem that will be conquered.
