Vegetable garden planting involves more than putting seeds in the ground. Preparing the planting bed, selecting seeds, and deciding when to plant come first.

Will you sow seeds—and then thin them—or will you try transplants? This decision, among others, is up to the gardener.

Preparing the planting bed

Before planting any vegetables, prepare the soil. This includes cultivating properly, adding organic matter, and maintaining soil fertility.

Remove sticks, stones, and other trash. Also remove plant debris that may harbor insects and diseases. Pest-free plant debris can be tilled into the soil.

When breaking ground in the spring, do not spade or till when the soil is wet. If worked when too moist, heavy soils become hard, compacted, and will limit growth for the entire season. And,

If a handful of the soil can be pressed into a ball, delay tilling or spading until it is drier.

Using vertical space

Many vegetables, including peas, pole beans, squash, cucumbers, gourds, and melons will naturally climb a support and grow up rather than out, leaving more ground space for other crops.

Support structures include trellises, strings, tepees made from poles, chicken wire, or a chain-link fence. Tomatoes also can be trained to grow upright in wire cages or tied to stakes.

Sowing the seed

As a general rule, plant a seed to a depth of not more than three or four times its thickness. If planted too deeply, the seeds may germinate but die before reaching the surface.

If planted too shallowly, wind or rain may blow or wash the seeds away before they sprout. In sandy or lighter soils, plant a little deeper.

Wide row planting

Scattering seeds across a wide row produces greater yields of small vegetables from a given space.

Seeds of carrot, beet, radish, leaf lettuce, snap beans, and onion plants are planted in a 4- to 24-inch-wide band, rather than in single rows.

The bands reduce the chance of tangled malformed roots. Although scatter sowing means less thinning, some thinning is necessary to ensure quality vegetables.

Square-foot gardening

Like wide-row vegetable garden planting, this method requires extra hand weeding, but it is a very efficient use of garden space.

Instead of planting in rows, the garden is divided into squares that are 1 foot by 1 foot. The number of plants placed in each square depends on the vegetable crop, how big the plant gets, and how far apart they should be planted in order to develop properly.

For example, bush beans require about 4 inches between plants, thus 9 plants will fill one square foot. Sixteen onions, spaced 3 inches apart, can be planted in one square foot.

If you have a family-sized garden, it may be easier to plant four or more squares as a “block” of a particular crop.

Thinning the seedlings

“Thick and thin” is the way to sow seeds. Plant seeds twice as close as the desired plant spacing. After germination, pull out the extras to provide growing space for the remaining plants.

Thin root crops before their taproots become fleshy. When vegetables grow too close together, the plants are stunted, root crops become distorted, and vine crops grow poorly due to self-shading.

Transplants —buy or grow them yourself

Many crops, such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and cabbage, can be started indoors and later transplanted into the garden. This head start permits the long- season crops to grow and mature before frost in the fall.

Other gardeners find it easier to purchase plants from garden centers and greenhouses. Be selective when buying your transplants. Dark green, stocky plants are superior to yellow, spindly ones.

“Hardening” transplants

Whether plants are purchased or grown at home, seedlings should be “hardened” or acclimated to the outdoors before being transplanted to the garden.

About 7 to 10 days before planting, set the transplants in a shady, protected location outside. Gradually expose the plants to longer periods of sun over several days. Also, allow the plants to dry slightly between waterings during the hardening period.

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener