1. Yes. See link below for many discussions on fertilizers. I use semi-annual additions of manured compost. Anything else depends on the particular vegetable's needs and the condition/type/amending done of your soil. A basic beginning soil test should be done so you know what you have to work with in your native soil.

2. No. All plants have different needs at different times in their growing cycle. Many gardeners will do a blanket application of a good balanced 10-10-10 or similar granular fertilizer prior to planting. But supplemental feedings will be different for different plants. Miracle Grow ads would have you believe that all you have to do is water the entire garden once a week with their product. That is a good way to quickly create trouble for many of your veggies IMO.

3. Yes. Naked soil should never be allowed in the garden. ;) I use straw and hay predominately as well as leaf mold with some landscape fabric under it around the tomato plants. But many other options are available. See all these discussions on mulching for more ideas.

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Hope this helps.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Fertilizer discussions

Thanks Dave. I checked with my local garden center about buying some hay for mulching. The owner said he has some but would not recommend it as it is mixed with weed seeds. SO, I bought some cypress mulch instead.

Well I wish you luck then. ;) If you do some reading of the many discussions available on GW I fear you'll find the hay, even with the few weed seeds it may contain, is far preferable to using cypress mulch in the vegetable garden.

Basically he convinced you to spend more money on a product that is just a decorative mulch intended for flower beds and such, provides minimal insulation, and offers no soil improvement. Wood mulches are usually NOT recommended for use in the vegetable garden.

Keep the cypress away from the base of the plants by at least 3" and if you till or turn it in this fall be sure to add supplemental nitrogen to the bed as it will use up the existing nitrogen as it decomposes in the soil.

Hay, especially old hay or what is called 3rd mowing hay, contains very few viable weed seeds and if applied thickly what few do sprout are easily pulled.

Dave

I just wanted to say that I agree with Dave 100%.

EG

Dave; how about pine bark mulch to use in the vegetable garden?

Thanks Dave. Good to know. I bought the mulch from Walmart and have not put it down yet. I can take it back and buy some hay instead.

Also, what is the least "toxic" method of preventing/controlling bugs?

Also, what is the least "toxic" method of preventing/controlling bugs?

Use a dustbuster to suck the bugs right off of the plants.

EG

Ladybug

Per dave in another post, only about four percent of insects that you'll find in the garden are pests or will damage what you grow. The rest are benign or beneficial, predatory insects that are drawn to the ones you don't want there to dispatch them.

Maybe we should all have at least one book on identifying garden insects, or a couple of insect ID internet sites to turn to. You really don't need to destroy all the bugs you see, and you couldn't anyway -- there are many more that you won't see. Even with insects that can chew up some of your plants, like flea beetles, the damage will be cosmetic and won't affect production unless you are totally overwhelmed with them.

Eventually, you'll be able to quickly ID the bugs that regularly visit your garden, know which ones might cause a problem and which ones won't. Once you reach that stage, you'll also know which ones you need to get rid of. Then it will be much easier to find IDs for the occasional stranger-insect that shows up. Many are just passing through!

I wouldn't pull out the insecticide unless I know what insect I'm aiming for and if the insecticide will kill or repel it. If you can't find an ID, post a picture here, and we'll help all we can.

Dave; how about pine bark mulch to use in the vegetable garden?

Same problems as other wood mulches. Pine bark is better than the usual shredded pine mulch and in limited amounts works as a good container soil amendment according to folks on the container gardening forum but not as a mulch.

The best vegetable garden mulches are ones that will suppress the weeds, retain the soil moisture, AN slowly break down over the season so that they can easily be incorporated into the soil in the fall or following spring to improve the soil tilth and nutrient levels. They include: straw, hay, shredded leaves, grass clippings, newspaper, cardboard, compost, etc.

what is the least "toxic" method of preventing/controlling bugs

Anney covered this point exceptionally well. Suggest some research into IPM (Integrated Pest Management) - lots of web info and sites to help. The least toxic way is to learn to recognize the real pests and learn to tolerate some damage that is purely appearance not a threat to the plants. Learn to do egg patrols, leaf monitoring, hand picking, use plain water or soapy water sprays, NEEM oil, row covers, etc. Then let nature take its course. In some locations that may mean buying some beneficial insects to release in the garden.

Unlike some believe, Sevin dust is one of the MOST toxic. If you feel you must bring out the big guns then use the Sevin liquid spray instead.

Dave

Thanks for everyones input. Having been a rose gardener I do recognize some of the pests and beneficials. The whole point of growing at home is to avoid the pesticides.

When I grew tomatoes several years ago, I would get hordes of horn worms which I would pick off and the plants and flush down the toilet. I know lot of folks love to rear them, but I have seen them eat the tomatoes once they are done with the leaves and don't care for them too much. Now, if I had a huge garden and grew 200 tomato plants, I might ignore them. If I see white eggs on them, I will be sure to leave them alone since they would be larva of the brachonid wasps. If I see aphids I usually watch out to see if the ladybugs come around.

This is the first time I am growing this many different vegetables. I guess this will be a growing experience.

Ladybug

Apparently daddy longlegs (harvestmen) love aphids, too. This one was hanging out on my deck last summer to devour a few.

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Ladybug, if you haven't mulched yet I highly recommend pine straw! I use it in all my beds ... including the kitchen garden.

4.23.10...

I do composed/humus addition to garden along with a organic 10-10-10, some blood/bone meal to prep my veggie garden. I till it all in. Plant a couple days later. That is for an existing well conditioned garden. In the beginning, I added a LOT of compost,peet moss as we tend to have clay soil in CT and this area had grass previosly.

For tomotoes, I also add crushed leftover dried egg shells to the bottom of the hole which adds much needed calcium to prevent inrot.

I have mulched with coco mulch (we can buy it at our local garden center - or try Agway if you have it near you) last year since I could not find staw. It worked fine but you have to be careful a bit sine it adds acidity to the soil so I did add garden lime when I conditioned the soil before palnting. I found straw this year by asking at the local nursery about it and it turns out they have steralized (minimal weed seeds in any) in a large plastic box bag that kind of look like peet moss bags. It's compressed/shredded and so far works great to prevent weeds in my lettuce, radishes, peas, sorrel. One $14 bag covers up to 250 ft^2. I used about 1/2 the bag in 1/3rd of garden as I mulch heavily. I have yet to plant summer veggies.

Thanks for all the advice. I bought some straw and mulched with it. There were a lot of seeds in it, so I shook it out on concrete to get rid of as many as possible and then mulched. One $7 bale goes a long way. I will look for sterilized hay.

Another risk to cocoa mulch is that it can be toxic to dogs who might eat it (if you have dogs, you know they will sometimes eat inexplicable things).

It sure is pretty and smells nice, though.

I also add crushed leftover dried egg shells to the bottom of the hole which adds much needed calcium to prevent inrot.

Sorry but just to clarify for future readers, there is no evidence whatsoever that adding crushed eggs shells to your planting hole deters BER - blossom end rot - in any way. It is an old wives tale that persists despite all evidence to the contrary.

Lack of calcium in the soil, if indeed the egg shells could provide any (which they can't as they take years to break down), is not the cause of BER anyway. And that point is well documented.

Dave