Dickerson recommends mapping out your garden on paper, noting where rows will be located. Then determine which crops you will grow and how much of each your family will need. In small gardens, training vine crops such as cucumbers to climb up a fence will conserve space, he said. The same spot can be used to grow several crops in succession during the growing season. For example, plant radishes in the spring, replace them with beans in the summer and grow garlic in the fall.
Compost increases the water-holding capacity in sandy soils and helps aerate clay soils.
To fertilize vegetables, add phosphate fertilizer for root development and nitrogen for vegetative growth. Whether you use drip systems, sprinklers or furrow irrigation, keep small-seeded vegetables such as carrots and leaf lettuce moist until the seedlings emerge, Dickerson said. To get an early start in your garden, plant cool season crops like crunchy radishes, tender peas and crispy greens. Radishes are fast-growing and almost foolproof, Dickerson said. Thin seedlings as they emerge, leaving plants one to two inches apart.