Finally spring comes, which is the perfect time to start planting some vegetables in your garden or balcony. Nothing will prevent you from rolling up helping you for some time and performing your favorite activity, even if you are isolated in the house. Anyone who has grown vegetables will tell you before it's a great way to overcome boredom and stress. But the head of the beach club at the "Monte-Carlo Beach Pascal Garrig" hotel, gives you four easy tips to grow your own vegetable garden:
1- Location and design
Choose the most sunny or flat spot, or have a slight slope in your garden. Make sure this spot is close to home for easy access, with a water source nearby for irrigation. Plants need daily sun exposure for at least six hours to grow. After you've found the right place, use a pen and paper and create a garden design. For my garden, I made raised streaks 1.2 meters long and bordered by planks, which is enough room to grow two rows of vegetables. In between these two rows, walking paths of 60 centimeters were set up for follow-up and maintenance. Now determine the type and amount of vegetables you plan to grow. You should keep a distance of 70 centimeters between the seedlings, and a distance of 50 to 60 centimeters between the rows.
2- Preparing and irrigating the soil
It is best to turn the soil in the fall. Use soil conditioners, such as compost, humus or organic matter, or horse manure. After spring comes, be sure to till the soil before planting.
Light, humus-rich soils help the roots grow and give a good crop. I chose to irrigate plants with a dripping irrigation system that uses less water. The system is programmable, thus making it easier and ensuring regular daily watering.
3- The right timing
Grow your crops in different seasons, so you can harvest the crop throughout the year. For the spring crop, sow beans and peas at the beginning of autumn, and strawberries in November. By early March, you should grow lettuce, leafy vegetables, spinach, chard and green onions.
And in early May, when the soil temperature reaches 15 degrees Celsius, you can grow anything, such as tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, pepper, watermelon, beans and beans. I plant basil buds among the rows of tomatoes, because it is not preferable to expose them to direct sunlight, as it protects tomatoes from agricultural pests.
At the end of August, plant cabbage and leeks for harvest in the winter, and artichoke for harvest at the end of March.
4- Maintenance and soil coverage
The surface of the soil can be covered in two different ways: organic covering and often straw is used, or mineral coverage and plastic sheets or geotextiles are used. The soil is covered with fiber brushes, it prevents weeds from spreading and keeps the soil moisture. There are no damages if you choose not to cover the soil, all there is is that you will have to cut weeds and water the lawn at lower intervals.
Vegetables cause a lot of stress to the soil and deplete the nutrients. This means that you have to fertilize the soil regularly, to ensure it can nourish the plants. Be sure to use organic fertilizer, because it lasts for a longer period, and do not use a chemical fertilizer that does not add any organic material to the soil and damages it.
To install vegetables, then use the cane stems I collect from the areas around my house. Press them to hold them in the ground before planting the seedlings.
Garden on the balcony of the house
If you don't have an outdoor garden, you can create a vegetable garden on your balcony. You can buy vegetable garden supplies that are often accompanied by square wooden containers lined with waterproof fabric.
To prepare the containers for planting, place an amount of "pozzolana" on the bottom of the container (pozzolana is a type of gravel made of volcanic stones, and it helps drain excess water). Then put at least 30 centimeters of humus / compost mixture.
You will be able to grow any plants you want, such as strawberries, herbs, tomatoes, eggplant and lettuce, as desired.
nali@ey.ae
Use soil conditioners, such as compost, or other alternatives.