• Growing Your Garden from Seeds
• Helping Winter Wildlife
• November Cleanup
• Grandma's Pumpkin Pie Recipe
• Autumn's Vegetable Garden
• Growing Fresh Herbs
• Big and Beautiful Containers
• 7 Tips to a Successful Garden
• The Five Commandments
• Jumpstart the Spring Garden
• Keeping in Shape for the Garden
• Real Life Resolutions
• Poinsettia Care & Selection
• Preparing Roses for Winter
• Make the Little Steps Count
• Autumn Cleanup & Preparation
• Little Effort, Big Results
• Inspired Spaces Photo Contest
• Hummingbirds and May Tips
• Successful Container Gardening
• Spring Cleanup
• The Five Love Languages
• Garden Trends for 2009
• Picking the Perfect Poinsettia
• Bring on the Margaritas!
• Spring Blossoms in October?
• Grow the Juiciest Melons Ever
• Keepin' it Cool - Watering Advice
• The Flowering of Fresh Herbs
• The Smallest Garden
• Soil PH Testing
• Colour Confidential
• How to Plant a Terrarium
• Forcing Bulbs
  
• Top 5 Performers for Autumn
  
• A Sticky Story – Don’t Curse the Trees

Everyone seems to be doing it, these days.  On their balconies, off the fire escape, privately and publicly.  Growing their own veggies, that is. It's a huge trend that's not only good for you, but good for the planet. 

After years of being a perennial gardener, I too, jumped on the veggie bandwagon, and last year I enjoyed the indescribable pleasure of eating fresh produce raised on home turf by my own fair hand. Personally, I've always learned best through trial and error, but to save you from some of the mistakes I've made, here is my oh-so-very serious list of commandments that every gardener should obey in the vegetable patch.  Amen.

The Five Commandments:

1. Thou Shalt Use Good Soil. Just like other kinds of gardening, the better the soil, the better the results.  Use the material from your compost bin, (you are composting aren't you?) to build up your soil.  Your compost is ready to use when it's odourless and has no resemblance to the original material.  In other words, it should look like soil, not your son's grade 10 science experiment.  If you don't have access to backyard composting and you want to improve the quality of your soil, buy bags of mushroom manure, working the contents into your beds with a garden fork a few weeks before you plan to plant.  If you're container gardening, buy the best quality potting soil you can afford.  You'll be rewarded with stronger plants and larger vegetables.

2.  Thou Shalt Create Good Drainage.  I can't think of any plant that doesn't benefit from good drainage.  (Okay, except maybe flag iris, gunnera, and weeping willow.  But you can't eat any of these.)  So choose a site for your veggie plot that allows for good run-off.  Water isn't the only thing that runs downhill:  Cold air also flows downwards, settling into the low-lying pockets in your garden, resulting in cooler growing conditions, and heavier frosts. So always choose the highest point in your garden; it's warmer and drier.

3.  Thou Shalt Plant in Good Sunlight.  If vitamin D makes us happy, why would vegetables be any different?  Well, in truth, it's more about photosynthesis.  Most veggies will do best in 4-6 hours of sunlight a day.  The exception is lettuce which doesn't do well in extremely hot weather, and tends to wilt in extremely harsh summer sun:  While there are some heat-resistant varieties, lettuce thrives in part-shade.  (Kind of like me - give me a parasol and a gin and tonic and I'm peachy!)  For all other veggies, however, ample sunlight is paramount.

4.  Thou Shalt Provide Regular Water.  You don't drink 3 gallons of water in one sitting and then not a sip for the next 3 days. And so it is for the veggie garden.  The key to healthy, well-formed vegetables is sticking to a regular watering schedule.  Early morning is best.  Going away to the cabin for a couple days?  Get to know your neighbour, ask them to help you out, and offer them a share in the bounty.  (Would promises of parasols and gin and tonics be worth mentioning again here?)

5.  Thou Shalt Not Use Pesticides.  Does it really need to be said?  You're eating them, for goodness sake!  Pesticides have no place in the garden, especially around your vegetables.  If unwanted critters appear to be eating them too, there are plenty of natural, non-chemical ways of treating pests that won't harm you, kitty, or the environment.  Here are some suggestions:

• Attract slugs and snails away from your leafy greens by laying wet newspaper on the soil for them to collect under or drown them in a tuna can filled with beer. They love yeast! (Forget the crushed eggshells, my dears. It just doesn't work.)
• Cover tender seedlings with plastic until they've developed into stronger plants
• Spray aphids with a stream of water to knock them off leaves and stem.
• Get acquainted with the beneficial insects and predators such as lady bugs, spiders, and birds that hang out in your garden. The best way to attract beneficial insects is to grow flowering plants that are rich in pollen and nectar. Sweet alyssum, cilantro, dill and parsley (if allowed to go to seed) are good veggies for this. To attract birds, I like to fill a large terracotta plant saucer with water. They're cheaper than birdbaths, and they're shallow, which is what the birds really like.

So there you have it: The five cardinal rules of vegetable gardening which, if broken, will result in a chest-splitting crack of lightening from the heavens, vaporizing you and your gardening boots in a puff of smoke, lost forever in gardening purgatory.  A place where, I'm quite sure, there are no parasols.  And, I'm betting, no gin and tonics either.

 Abby Palmer is definitely not a goody two-shoes, and confesses to committing countless gardening sins.  Among other subjects, she writes about lawn-mowing, grass-stained feet and the joys of happy hour in the garden on her blog, Green Slate. She's always looking to commiserate with other rule-breaking gardeners and invites you to drop by and say hello at www.greenslate.ca.  Lurking anonymously in the shadows on her blog is also welcome.