Edible Gardening
About Growing Edibles in Virginia
Virginia offers a great climate for growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs--and Virginia Cooperative Extension can help! If you encounter pest or disease problems, contact your local Extension office for help identifying the culprit and for treatment options. Many Extension Master Gardener (EMG) units offer gardening seminars, plant sales, and many more educational opportunites for new and experienced gardeners. Find your local EMGs through your Extension office or by searching on Facebook.
Featured Publications
Small Fruits for the Home Garden
Small fruits offer certain advantages over fruit trees for home culture because small fruits require less space for the amount of fruit produced, and they bear fruit one or two years after planting.
Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide
Selecting appropriate planting dates is critical for successful vegetable gardening. Vegetables vary in their preferred growing conditions and tolerance to temperature extremes.
Comparison of Raised Bed Methods, Materials, Costs
Do you really need a raised bed? What's the cheapest way to do it? This publication reviews raised bed necessity and types, including bed construction materials and cost analysis.
Resources for Home Gardeners
Introduction
Start by choosing a location for your new garden bed, for help see: Planning the home vegetable garden
The next major decision is whether to use raised beds, and if you will, how should you make them? See: Container and raised bed gardening
For help deciding how much and what to plant see: Virginia’s home garden vegetable guide
For help mulching your new vegetable garden: mulches for the home vegetable garden
Buying seeds:
Don’t buy too much! Use our Home vegetable garden planting guide to calculate how much you need to grow
- Though this publication is intended for commercial growers, you may find some of these useful: 2020-2021 Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations
When you have planned your garden and selected an appropriate site and you’re ready to dig in and prepare your garden beds, consider the nutrient content of your soil, what kind of mulch you will use on your garden bed (yes, vegetable gardens can get mulch too!), and if you will choose to make your own compost for future gardens.
For soil preparation:
Mulching:
Compost
Staring at an expanse of lawn and wondering how to convert it to beds of vegetables or flowers is intimidating. Here are some tips from our friends in Maryland on removing grass to make way for garden beds.
If you need help starting your garden, please reach out to your local Extension Master Gardeners!
When you’ve prepared your beds, it’s time to plant your vegetables outdoors!
You can use our vegetable garden planting guide to determine what date to begin your plants depending on your USDA plant hardiness zone:
For a full guide to starting vegetables from seed, see: Plant Propagation from Seed
Did you know not all vegetables need to be transplanted? Many garden crops can be grown from seeds you plant directly in your garden. For more information on which plants to start indoors and which to plant directly in your garden, look at the * denoting transplants in our Home vegetable garden planting guide.
Transplants should be hardened off--or gradually acclimated to outdoor weather--before they are planted directly in the garden. For more information on hardening, see “Hardening” in Plant Propagation from Seed.
Herbs: Most herbs can be grown successfully with a minimum of effort. Several are drought-tolerant, some are perennials, and many are resistant to insects and diseases.For information on growing your own herbs:
If you don’t have space for a vegetable garden or if your present site is too small, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers. A window sill, patio, balcony, or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden.
Looking to get the most out of a small yard or garden plot? Learn about methods like vertical gardening and which crops to plant in Intensive Gardening Methods.
For an introduction to becoming a plant-problem sleuth, read Diagnosing Plant Problems. You may also find Integrated Pest Management for Vegetable Gardens helpful.
If you are unable to figure out the source of your plant’s problem, reach out to your local Extension Master Gardeners for help. Many EMG units provide “help desks” or call-in hotlines and can help you determine what might be causing your plant’s problem and what you should do.
Some insects you are likely to encounter in your garden include:
Did you know that some insects are actually beneficial? In addition to pollinating certain crops, many beneficial insects will eat bad insects. If you’re interested in learning more about beneficial insects and how you can attract them to your garden, read Improving Pest Management and Pollination with Farmscaping.
Some diseases you are likely to encounter in your garden include:
Late Blight of Tomato and Potato (VCE publication)
Septoria leaf spot on tomato (EMG + VT Plant Disease Clinic video)
Black rot on crucifers (EMG + VT Plant Disease Clinic video)
We know that, to many people, the idea of “spraying” anything on their landscape is intimidating; however, when used properly insecticides, fungicides, and other “sprays” can have an important place in the home gardener’s toolbox. Here is some more information on pesticides:
Small fruits offer certain advantages over fruit trees for home culture because small fruits require less space for the amount of fruit produced, and they bear fruit one or two years after planting. Success with small-fruit planting will depend on the attention given to all phases of production, including crop and variety selection, site selection, soil management, fertilization, pruning, and pest management.
For information on growing your own small fruit, read Small fruits in the home garden.
For information on growing fruit trees, read Tree fruit in the home garden.
- Winemaking for the home gardener
- Boiling water bath canning
- Freezing fruits and vegetables
- Using dehydration to preserve fruits, vegetables and meats
- Can it safely (printable one page canning guide)
- Safe handling and storing of raw fruits and vegetables
- Pressure canning
- National Center for Home Food Preservation
- National Center for Home Food Preservation Videos
- So Easy to Preserve (can order the recipe book and DVD set for demonstrations)
- Fresh Preserving
- Interested in learning more about home food perservation? Want to help other's learn? Check out the Extension Master Food Volunteer Program!
You can extend your growing season earlier in the spring and later into the fall by sheltering plants from very cold weather.
News
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Article Item
For success in the vegetable garden, spend money wisely and plant at the right time, says a Virginia Tech expert , articleHome vegetable gardeners know that the cost of materials for raised beds, plants, soil, and fertilizer can add up quickly, but how much of an investment is necessary to grow a successful garden? Planning, planting at the correct times, and making strategic spending choices are key to growing a successful garden on a budget, says Shawn Jadrnicek, a Roanoke Virginia Cooperative Extension agent.
Planting Guide Monthly Infographic
For exact planting dates and a complete calendar, please visit Virginia’s home garden vegetable guide, which provides the content in this graphic.
Get Gardening series
Get Gardening is a series of introductory videos that cover common gardening tasks like transplanting, building raised beds, or planning a fall garden. View the full playlist here.
Extension Master Gardener Video Series
Recent Publications
Tags
- Plant Propagation from Seed Sexual propagation involves the union of the pollen (male) with the egg (female) to produce a seed. The seed is made up of three main parts: the outer seed coat, which protects the seed; a food reserve (e.g., the endosperm); and the embryo, which is the young plant itself. When a seed is mature and put in a favorable environment, it will germinate, or begin active growth. In the following section, seed germination and transplanting of seedswill be discussed.
- Propagation by Cuttings, Layering and Division
- Gardening and Your Health: Power Tool Safety
- Home Hydroponics
- Care of Specialty Potted Plants
- Annuals: Culture and Maintenance Annual flowers live only for one growing season, during which they grow, flower, and produce seed, thereby completing their life cycle. Annuals must be set out or seeded every year since they don’t persist. Some varieties will self-sow, or naturally reseed themselves.
- Flowering Bulbs: Culture and Maintenance “Bulbs” is a term loosely used to include corms, tubers, tuberous roots, and rhizomes as well as true bulbs. This publication will refer to all of the above as bulbs. Many vegetables are propagated from or produce edible organs of these types (e.g., tuber, Irish potato; tuberous root, sweet potato; rhizome, Jerusalem artichoke; bulb, onion).
- Perennials: Culture, Maintenance and Propagation
Home Garden Information Center
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If you have questions, please contact your local VCE office.
