Now that summer is fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about all the great things that come with it, like fun, sun and fresh food from the garden. With environmental concerns and the economy on American’s minds, many are turning to home vegetable gardens for their summer fare. Southern Marylanders are no exception, and many are ready to establish their own gardens.

“In St. Mary’s County, the last frost date is May 15,” says local Master Gardener Tara Duarte. “Now is an excellent time to plant warm weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers, beans and corn.” 
For the novice or those with limited space, a container garden can be easy and practical. By purchasing one plastic pot for each plant, filling it with vegetable potting soil and transplanting small, already established plants to the container, one will soon have a thriving container garden. Ready-to-transplant vegetable plants can be purchased at home improvement stores or nurseries. Placing the containers in the sun and remembering to water is key, as is providing a large enough container for each type of plant. For instance, a one gallon pot is sufficient for herbs such as basil, thyme and cilantro, while a Better Boy tomato plant will do best in a ten gallon pot.

A more experienced gardener may prefer to build raised garden beds. This allows better soil drainage than traditional in-ground gardens, but does take some planning. Many raised gardens are built using railroad ties, concrete cinder blocks, landscaping blocks or cedar boards, but anything that will hold dirt will work. The area to be used should be tilled, then framed and filled with a fine organic soil and compost. Once the bed is filled, seeds or small plants can be planted. The location of the raised bed must be taken into consideration as well. Most vegetable plants need full sun for most of the day in order to thrive, and should be watered daily.  Specific plants vary in their needs, so be sure to check the seed packet or information card that comes with each plant.

For those interested in attending classes on gardening, St. Mary’s County libraries have Master Gardening Clinics.  Dates, times and locations at:  http://www.stmalib.org/events.html#stuff

For more information on vegetable gardens specific to our region, visit: http://www.hgic.umd.edu/content/vegetable.cfm