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Grow your own
Many are taking the next step and growing more of their own vegetables and fruits.
The National Gardening Association estimates a $70 investment in a vegetable garden will yield about $500 worth of produce for the year, but most experts consider that figure too low. George Ball, the chairman of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. and a former president of the American Horticultural Society, contents that there is about a 25-to-1 return on a food-gardening investment. He said that a packet of butterhead lettuce containing 350 seeds costs $3. At the grocery, a single head of lettuce on sale would cost $1.75. A $2 tomato plant can provide you with 10 pounds of fruit over the season. Seed specialists like Burpee report vegetable seed sales are up 25 to 30 percent, and local garden centers support that claim. Lavalette Nursery and Garden Center has already helped many customers who want to start vegetable gardens. You’ll find all the popular plants for backyard gardens, as well as a large selection of seeds at Lavalette.
As with all new projects, it’s best to start small. Vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and squash keep producing throughout the season, so you may not need many to serve your needs. Carrots, radishes and corn produce only once, so you may want to plant more of these. A vegetable garden does not have to take up a large space. An area 25 feet square should be adequate. And if you grow in containers, you can have a vegetable garden on a deck or balcony. No matter how big your vegetable garden is, there are three basic requirements for success:
When deciding on a spot for your garden, consider putting it close to your house. This makes it easier to harvest fresh produce or pick some herbs while you’re cooking. The traditional vegetable garden contains rows of plants in single file, with a walking path between each row. This method is best for large gardens, where it’s easier to use mechanical equipment such as tillers to battle weeds. The downside of row cropping is that you don’t get as many vegetables in a small space because much of the soil is used for foot paths.
A specialized version of intensive cropping is the “square-foot method.” This system divides the garden into small beds (typically 4 x 4 feet), that are further subdivided into one-foot squares. Each one-foot square is planted with one, four, nine or 16 plants, depending on the size of size of the mature plant. The garden should be surrounded by a sufficiently high fence with close mesh to keep out dogs, rabbits, deer and other animals. A fence also can serve as a trellis for beans, peas, tomatoes and other crops that need support. If you leave some areas of the garden unplanted at first, you can plant a second crop to harvest later in the season. Lettuce, radishes, green onions, carrots, and bush beans are commonly planted several times during the season. If your soil doesn’t drain well or if your yard is heavy clay, your might want to install raised beds. You can build raised beds on an existing lawn by lining the bottom of the frames with several layers of newspaper, then filling it with soil.
Fertilizer should generally be applied before or at planting time and mixed into the soil to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. To keep garden vegetables growing continuously, apply extra fertilizer to the soil in the form of a sidedressing. Once you have harvested your crop, put the spent plants and other vegetable matter into a compost pile to recycle into your garden again next spring. Basic information about getting started with your vegetable garden and how to deal with pests and diseases can be found at web.extension.uiuc.edu/vegguide The Ohio State University Extension Service offers numerous “fact sheets” providing advice on growing specific vegetables at extension.osu.edu/lawn_and_garden/vegetables_herbs.php For more information on square foot gardening, visit www.squarefootgardening.com
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But safety and nutrition are only a part of the reason for this trend. Economics is playing a huge part in the revival of the Victory Gardens, an early 1940s campaign that helped people put more food on the table during hard times. 
Besides saving money, growing your own vegetables provides wonderful exercise and can be a fun family experience. Growing vegetables is probably easier than you think, and with proper planning, you can enjoy a beautiful garden full of the fruits of your labor without having to spend too much time tending it.
Full sun, which means at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun. If vegetables don’t get enough light, they won’t produce as much and will be more susceptible to insects and diseases.
Home gardeners usually prefer a form of intensive cropping -- planting in wide bands, generally 1 to 4 feet across and as long as you like. Intensive cropping reduces the amount of space needed for paths, but the closer spacing of the plants usually means you have to weed by hand. 
The most difficult part of vegetable gardening is selecting which varieties to plant. Read the description on the tag or seed pack. Some varieties produce smaller plants that are ideal for small gardens or containers, others offer greater disease resistance or improved yields. Many experts recommend planting two types of each vegetable, then comparing the results. 