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Most people would put good soil at the
top of the list of essentials for making a good vegetable garden. You
can improve poor soil but you cannot change the position of the sun!
Sunlight is the most important factor in
successful vegetable growing.
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Full sunlight is ideal - sun for half to
two-thirds of the day is essential. A few crops such as rhubarb,
parsley, mint and, to some extent, chives will grow quite well in
indirect light but they do even better in the sun. Cress and mushrooms
are the only vegetables which prefer shade.
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Choose an open part of the garden which,
preferably, should face north or north-east roger the best of the sun,
and arrange to have the vegetable beds or rows within the beds running
from north to south. If you have a sloping site, terrace the bed across
the slope in step fashion, retaining the soil with a wood, brick or
concrete but making sure that seepage holes are left at the base of the
retaining material so that water can seep away down the slope.
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Drainage is important. If your soil is
heavy clay it might be as well to take the initial trouble of laying
drains. Otherwise lighten the soil by adding plenty of well-rotted
compost or other organic material. The water-holding properties of
light, sandy soil will be improved in the same way.
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Make certain you have easy access to
water; vegetables have to be grown quickly without setbacks to be able
to enjoy them at their best. A fixed hose and sprinkler or a perforated
hose which can be laid along the ground will give the best
opportunities for the slow, gentle, thorough and regular watering which
gives the best results.
More about Vegetable Garden Preparation:
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