Vegetable garden: a tasty harvest from a 600 m² plot

Nine steps

1
Know your soil
A soil test is the cheapest investment a garden can make: pH, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Use your region’s agrochemical lab or a quick field kit.
Without a test, fertilizing is a shot in the dark: the excess washes into the water, and what’s missing stays missing.
2
Plan your beds and crop rotation
Permanent beds 0.8–1.2 m wide with paths between them: nobody walks on the beds, so the soil doesn’t get compacted. Crops swap places every year: root crops after cabbage, tomatoes after legumes.
3
Raised beds and mulch
A 25–40 cm frame warms up earlier, and a mulch of straw, grass or wood chips holds moisture and feeds soil life. Keep bare soil to a minimum.
4
Water drop by drop
Drip tape under the mulch and a timer on the tap: water goes to the roots, the leaves stay dry, and there is less disease. A rain barrel gives you free soft water.
The numbers on water savings from drip irrigation are in the “Trends” section.
5
Compost and worms
Three bins: fresh, maturing, finished. Within a season, kitchen scraps, leaves and grass become the best fertilizer on your plot. Worm compost is faster and great for seedlings.
6
Your own seeds and local varieties
Regionally adapted varieties and hybrids for your climate. You can save local varieties and swap them with neighbors — that’s how a seed library of your own begins.
Selling seeds is regulated by law; swapping them for your own gardens is another matter. Details are on the “Russia” page.
7
Greenhouse and seedlings
A polycarbonate greenhouse extends the season by one to two months at each end. Seedlings under a grow light come out short and sturdy, not leggy.
8
Protection without needless chemicals
Prevention first: crop rotation, healthy soil, insect netting, flowers for beneficial insects. Biologicals when needed; chemicals only by the label and only when there is a real reason.
9
A little smart tech
A soil moisture sensor, a watering timer, a weather station, a camera in the greenhouse: you can see the garden from your phone, and the watering turns on by itself.

What it looks like in real life

A raised bed in Essex — Photo: Acabashi · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

A vegetable garden with raised beds in Norfolk — Photo: Kolforn · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Beds in a community garden in Vallejo — Photo: Pacific Southwest Region 5 · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Calendar by region

A starting point: exact timing depends on the year and the plot.

Central Russia

February–March: Pepper, tomato and onion seedlings; soil test
April–May: Early greens, potatoes, planting out in the greenhouse
June–August: Drip and mulch, feeding, harvest
September–October: Green manure, compost, planting garlic

Southern Russia and Sochi

January–February: Seedlings, pruning the orchard, greens under film
March–April: Sowing outdoors, planting out seedlings
May–September: Drip and mulch are a must: it’s hot
October–December: A second crop of greens, planting trees

Southern Vietnam

Dry season, December–April: Vegetables and greens on drip; water is the key resource
Rainy season, May–November: Net houses and raised beds against downpours
Year-round: Greens, herbs, peppers, fruit
Always: Shade and mulch against overheated soil

Tech for the garden

What pays for itself on a 600 m² plot.

In use

Soil sensors and a weather station

Soil moisture, temperature and salinity, the weather and disease risk — on your phone; irrigation switches on by sensor.

GardenFarmAgribusiness