Vegetable gardening is a rewarding experience, because you end up with a delicious vegetable harvest at the end.

A successful vegetable garden starts out with a plan. Planning your garden is one of the most important parts of vegetable gardening, and it's quite simple.

1. Decide what you want to grow.

2. Determine how much space you have.

3. Take a sheet of paper and draw a small scale model of your garden plot, and decide where the vegetables will go.

4. You can determine the proper distance between seeds and between rows on most seed packets. This garden measuring page shows a great way to figure out how to measure distances with your hands and feet.

Why not complement your organic yard by growing organic vegetables and herbs? Just imagine treating your taste buds to nature's own food. What do you like? Tomatoes and potatoes, cucumbers in large numbers, peas and peppers, thyme at the right time?

If you have a small yard, you can use containers for your vegetables and herbs. Containers can be found in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. You will undoubtedly be able find just the right containers for your needs.

Companion Planting

You probably already have a place in mind for a vegetable plot. Perhaps your herbs will have their own little section of the plot, or even a plot of their own. If you are thinking about container gardening, you probably plan to plant rosemary in one container and thyme in another. This sounds great, but there is a better way. It is called companion planting.

Companion planting is another way of working with nature. Some dissimilar plants have developed a symbiotic relationship-they help each other survive. Of course plants that have a similar pH should be planted together, but many symbiotic plant relationships go much farther than pH.

The most famous symbiotic relationships are 'Carrots Love Tomatoes' and 'Roses Love Garlic,' both titles of books written by Louise Riotte. There are many other plant relationships that you can use to enhance the beauty and health of your organic yard. Symbiotic relationships are not limited to vegetables liking vegetables, but include relationships between many different plants. You can use these relationships to enhance your vegetables and herbs, as well as other plants in your yard. Your imagination is your only limit.

There are several kinds of plant relationships that you can use. Understanding them will help you to choose the best companion choices for your yard.