Whenever possible, plant your crops in wide rows or bands instead of single file. Vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, green beans, peas, and Swiss chard can all be grown in this manner for bigger harvests. Sunshine is essential for healthy vegetables. Locate your garden where it will receive at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. If you have a partially shady location you'll probably have more success with leaf crops such as lettuce and spinach than you will with sun worshipers such as tomatoes and melons.
Healthy soil is the key to a successful vegetable garden.
Improve your soil by adding generous amounts of rotted manure, sphagnum peat moss, compost, leaf mold, or other organic matter. If your soil is primarily clay you may want to add some sand to improve drainage. Till or spade all materials into the soil in the early spring or late fall. A thick mulch helps eliminate weeds, maintains important soil moisture, and improves soil structure as it rots. These seeds can easily germinate in your garden.