Steve's guide to starting your own organic veggie garden

[stevesmi]

veggies are the most important part of bodybuilding that people do not get enough of. Its been said all our lives that you need to eat your veggies, but did you know that to build muscle you NEED the vitamins and minerals that they have?

lets go through the list of minerals that veggies contain

Potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and there are more

vitamins

Vit A, B1-2-6, C, K, E, Niacin, folate, panthothenic acid and even more.

the thyroid gland depends on getting an ample amount of veggies to function properly.. many people who have thyroid problems could solve the problem from eating dark green veggies, but choose to go on pills the rest of their lives instead. want to lose weight? eat more veggies.. want to be healthier? eat more veggies.. want to have organ health? eat more veggies. its as simple as that.

but steve veggies go bad so fast! organic veggies are expensive! see next post on how easy it is to grow your own veggie garden..

this is my garden below, it took me an hour to construct it and plant these veggies and now i enjoy fresh veggies daily

 

[stevesmi]

things you will need to construct your garden square:

wood, tools, cardboard

place a piece of square cardboard on the ground with small holes in it, this will keep the weeds from growing up into your garden. next you will need to get pieces of wood (many garden stores sell easy to assemble garden squares like in the picture in the previous post) make sure the wood is high off the ground so you have room for deep roots. once your garden square is assembled now its time to grow your veggies.

I recommend organic soil, its about the same price as regular soil.. soil is extremely important with veggies, use poor soil and your veggies will not do well and will not taste good. you can buy it from any garden or home improvement store.
in the pics above i used 6 bags per square.

now as far as the veggies, this is dependent on where you live. those of you in colder climates will have to grow hardier veggies.. spinach, brocolli, kale, parsley, chard, most lettuce, most all herbs are very hardy veggies for example.. your local garden shop will sell veggies that are in season and they will come in pots to make it easy to plant (i recommend you grow them as plants and not as seeds)... you can also plant from seed certain veggies.. beans, peas, root veggies such as radishes/carrots/beets/onions are easy to grow from seed and grow fast.

if you have frost warnings you should cover the plants with sheets.. the hardy veggies i listed can withstand overnight temperatures as low as 18F as long as they are covered and the weather warms back up during the day.. unfortunately if you live somewhere where the temps stay under 35 for the duration of the time you will have to wait till springtime to start your garden, otherwise start it right now to get a jump on the growing season!

you will need to water daily and make sure the soil always stays moist.. veggies love water.. and of course you should plant your garden in an area where they will recieve ample sunlight.. if you live in a warmer climate you should plant them in a spot with partial sunlight as the hot summer sun will hurt them.

this garden will allow you to eat from it and save a boatload of money.. its easy to do.. and you don't have to worry about your expensive veggies going bad the next day. so now you have no excuse not to eat your veggies!

any questions, concerns, opinions please share.

 

[Mh48500]

Nice post! Great idea and fun hobby and stress reliever.

 

[motorcyclegiant]

Great thread! I prepared mine this past fall. This weekend having organic soil brought in. Already have strawberries, rasberries.
Planting tomatoes, squash, spinach, zuchinni, romaine, cucumbers, etc.
Also have a smaller bed for herbs.

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[stevesmi]

nice!!! cucumbers are fun to grow.. i think squash flowers are awesome when they open up. its fun watching them.

if anyone has veggie garden tips please share on this thread.

 

[motorcyclegiant]

have you used those upside down tomato planters? I see them every year, and pass on them, but considering trying one or two out to save some space. Seems I have way more things id like to grow than I have space for.

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[stevesmi]

^^^no i haven't tried them.. what i did try which was new was these seeds that come in this type of fabric and you can just put them down and cover them with soil. wasn't sure if it was legit but the carrots started popping up after 10 days.

 

[motorcyclegiant]

nice...im still behind on the early veges..i think I need to take a look at stuff...never thought about carrots...sort of a plant and forget vege? I love peas, and the green leafy stuff...ill post up after I put things in place...(plants to add)

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[motorcyclegiant]

Im going to get some zoo poo from our zoo...hear its good stuff

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[JRSAC]

This thread was the straw that broke the camels back... I finally went out and picked up some veggies to start my first garden today. I'm starting small but may get more stuff in the next couple weeks. For now I have: 6 spinach, 6 red romaine lettuce, 6 garlic, 2 squash, 2 red bell peppers, 1 golden bell pepper, 6 swiss chard, and 4 tomato plants. Hopefully I don't kill em all before I can eat em! lol thanks for the motivation steve