Side Dressing the Veggies:

            It’s good to give your garden veggies a nutritional boost about now. But you don’t want to give the weeds that can sprout up in the rows a free meal, or any encouragement to feel at home among your intended residents. This is where the term and tactic of “side dressing” comes into play.

            Side dress your vegetables when they are four to six inches high. Some prefer to side dress again just before fruiting, especially if their soil lacks organic matter and is low in nutrients.

            Sprinkle a thin line of balanced fertilizer, such as 10-10-10 or 5-10-10, or compost, along  the row about four to five inches from your plants.

            Work the fertilizer into the soil with a garden hoe being careful not to get the fertilizer on the foliage or in direct contact with roots.
            Water the area.

            The most common vegitational hogs out there are peas, corn, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers; but all can, and will, enjoy your hand sprinkled Buffet.

            When doing individual plants just sprinkle the fertilizer around the plant 4 or 5 inches out, work it in, and water them.