My Veggie/fruit garden is small, it's actually a potted garden meaning all my veggie/fruit plants are in pots.  I noticed with the weather & storms down here, they do better in their pots than on the ground, too much heavy rain during this time of year.  I have bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, apple baby tree, lemon baby tree, oranges & that's it for now, I still have other seeds to plant.

I make sure the soil is moist, but not over watered.  If you stick your finger in the soil about 3/4" in the ground & feel it dry then you need to water it a bit.  It's extremely hot here so I water my plants almost every day, not necessary for other locations though, some do well twice a week. Too much water will kill it. I also use rich soil for veggies & fruits available at Home Depot or Lowes or local gardening center.  Keep critters off.  

Simplegirl!

I love all this info.

Critters are something I'm definitely worried about. I already have one gofer who has popped up into my designated garden space. I'm sure we'll get rid of him pretty soon, but what happens when another one shows up and eats my little baby veggie blooms before I even know he's there.

And what about bugs that want to eat my veggies.

Does anyone know if there are safe pesticides I can get made from things like garlic or something that I can get at Lowes or Home Depot?

How about gofer and rabbit repellent? What do I do for that?

In the past I have made a couple of homemade pesticides that helped.  The first was:

 Soap Spray Insecticide

• 1 tablespoon of liquid soap
• 1 gallon of water
• Mix ingedients in a sprayer and apply to both sides of plant leaves to get rid of aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies. Reapply after rain or as needed.
• 
  
• Baking Soda Spray – treats powdery mildew and other fungus
  • 1 gallon of water
  • 3 tablespoons of baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon of dishwashing liquid
  • Mix all the ingredients in a sprayer and apply to leaves of affected. It is best to remove leaves that are seriously infested if possible. Treat every one or two weeks.
• There are plenty more recipes including the garlic recipe and also how to keep rabits etc... out of your garden click this link it has great info: http://www.veggiegardener.com/12-homemade-natural-remedies-for-the-garden/

Hope it helps.

I started a 4 x8 garden last year and we had to make it fort knox to keep things from eating it.  we are already enjoying cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and green beans.  I like simple girls suggestions for remedies here is what I had to do last year to keep the critters out, so far so good this year.

Good luck the kids love it too, they will eat more veggies knowing they are coming from your garden.

http://stayingclosetohome.blogspot.com/2009/05/critters-in-garden.html

Ladies... this is what I'm talkin' about. Maria, and Simple Girl, you both gave me so many ideas for helping my garden! I'm so excited to try them. I spent several hours outside today raking weeds...yep... there are that many of them.

I'm checking out all the sites and posts you gave me and bookmarking them. Thank you, oh, thank you!

Keep the great ideas coming if there are more out there! I need all the help I can get!

we went to 12x12 this year...we are trying corn for the first time.

The spinach all went to seed.

The carrots haven't been thinned.

The strawberries are spreading.

The zucchini is blooming but not growing fruit.

the onions, chives, and lettuce seem to be doing well.

The snow peas have all bloomed, been picked and the vines are dying away.

The bell pepper plants don't seem to be growing at all.

The tomato plants are growing tomatoes, but none are getting red yet.

Wow Marsha!

What a garden!

When does everyone do your initial planting each year?

I haven't gotten one single solitary seed into the ground yet. Off to a bad start.

I'm starting small this summer and hoping to get some watermelons, pumpkins, sugar peas, and Sunflowers sewn into the ground within the next two weeks.

I just weeded the area yesterday and I still need to rota-till and amend the soil.

Here's to hoping I'm not to late into the year to get a crop before it gets too cold and everything dies! Maybe the fact that I'm in Southern California will give me an advantage in this area of getting a late start on my planting.

Ya think?

We plant a garden every summer. We plant tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini, baby watermelon, bell peppers.

I also plant a herb garden I keep that going all year around.

Ooooh Danielle, 

I am planning my first attempt ever at baby watermelons this week. I have a question... How many feet apart did you plant the mounds with your watermelon seeds? 

Did you have any critters that bothered your watermelon plants?

I'm trying to be prepared!