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Any gardener will tell you that gardening is one of the most absorbing and rewarding occupations you can undertake. Any gardener will also tell you - probably loudly and at length - that gardening requires patience, resilience, hard work, and a lot of planning.

Paperwork is probably the last thing you have in mind when you think about growing your own vegetables. More likely you see yourself leaning contently on your spade as all sorts of lush, healthy plants shoot up in front of your eyes. The fact of the matter, though, is that gardening begins not with seeds and a spade but with paper and a pencil.

A successful vegetable garden begins with a well organized plan of your garden space. Drawing a plan may not sound as exciting as getting outdoors and planting things. But if you don't spend the necessary time planning what to grow in your garden and when and where to plant it, you may spend the rest of the growing season correcting the mistakes you made because you didn't have a plan. It's a lot easier to erase a bed when it's a few lines on a piece of paper than when it's an expanse of soil and plants.

Your plan should include not only the types and quantities of vegetables you're going to grow and how they'll be positioned in your garden, but also planting dates and approximate dates of harvest.

Making a plan may seem like a lot of work to get done before you even start gardening, but careful planning will help you make the best use of your time and available space and will result in bigger, higher-quality crops.

This article discusses all the questions you need to take into account when you're planning your garden - the hows, whats, whys, whens, and wherefores.

Come prima attività prendi carta e penna e disegna lo spazio che hai a disposizione. Un bel disegno in scala, dove indichi anche l'esposizione. Questi sono i limiti spaziali che hai e che devi tenere presente.

THE FIRST DECISION: WHAT TO GROW (AND HOW MUCH)
The first step to planning a successful vegetable garden is to decide which vegetables to grow.
Per aiutarti qui ci sono una serie di domande a cui rispondere ... rispondendo ti darai ulteriori limiti (non solo limiti le colture, ma anche limiti di spazio perchè, per una data coltura servono tot cm2 di area/pianta, il che va a definire il numero di piante che è possibile far crescere in un determinato periodo, nello spazio inizialmente definito)

What vegetables do you like to eat? The first decision to make in choosing what to grow in your vegetable garden is simple: What vegetables do you and your family like to eat?

What are you going to do with it? How do you plan to use your vegetables, and what are you going to do with the part of your crop that you don't eat as soon as it's harvested? Do you want to freeze, can, dry, store, or make preserves with some of your crop?

How much do you need? How you plan to use your vegetables directly affects how much of each vegetable you want to grow, and will influence your decision about the kind of vegetable you're going to plant - all carrots aren't alike, and there are hundreds of different tomato varieties.

Questa in verità è la domanda base di tutto il processo. Comunque penso che questo sia un'altro punto su cui lavorare: se prendo nota di quanto compro in un anno, dovrei avere piu o meno individuato il fabbisogno ed il tipo di coltura ...

Can you grow it? Not all vegetables grow satisfactorily in ail climates.
Qui mi sembra che l'autore dell'articolo sia un po' ... beh, mi sono capito! Basta andare al negozio all'angolo e guardare cosa vendono. Normalmente è quello che i clienti chiedono ed è quello che piantano ... quindi dovrebbe anche crescere!

Do you have room for it? There are plants that are rather like large pets - they're very endearing, but you just can't live with them because they're too big.
Qui si torna al discorso delle decisioni ... quale coltura per quale spazio ...

Una buona domanda, invece è
Is it worth the bother? Some vegetables require very little nurturing, and you can grow them with a minimum of toil. Others require special attention and need to be babied. Celery and cauliflower, for example, have to be blanched - blanching is a process that deprives the plant (or part of the plant) of sunlight in order to whiten it and improve its flavor, color, or texture. Before choosing a crop that's going to need special handling, be sure you really want to give it that much attention. Some crops, too, are bothered a lot by insects or plant diseases - corn is one of them. If you're not willing to deal with these problems as they occur, this type of crop is going to cause you more disappointment than satisfaction.

Che è anche legato a quest'altra
Are you trying to save money? Another factor to consider when you're deciding what to plant the practical matter of economics - is the vegetable worth growing, or would it be cheaper to buy it? Some vegetables are readily available and inexpensive to buy, but would produce only low yields from a large space if you grew them in your garden. Corn, for instance, is inexpensive to buy when it's In season, but in your garden it needs a lot of growing space and often only gives you one harvestable ear from a whole plant. You may decide not to grow corn and settle instead for a crop like endive, which is expensive in the store but as easy as leaf lettuce to grow.

How much is enough - or too much?
Your initial decision about the vegetables you'd enjoy growing and eating-and that you think you can grow successfully In the conditions you have to deal with - is the first step to planning a well-thought-out, productive vegetable garden. But this is the point where you discover that you still have very little Idea of how much of each vegetable to grow. You know you want to eat some of your crop and freeze, pickle, or preserve some. But how many seeds should you plant to enable you to achieve those ends?
Se la matematica non è un'opinione, dato una certa superficie e data la superficie pro pianta, ottengo il numero dei semi che posso piantare contemporaneamente su quel pezzo di suolo. Il che non vuol dire che non ne posso, successivamente, piantare altri .... per arrivare alla quantità "fabbisogno" di cui sopra ....

Plan how to use your crop
Do you want to freeze, can, dry, pickle, or store?
There's more than one way to preserve a crop. You can freeze, can, dry, or make preserves and pickles.
Qui andiamo un po' sul filosofico della spesa per la conservazione ... comunque può essere uno spunto.

fonte: http://garden-design.webgardenguide.com/Planning_your_garden___what_to_grow_and_how_much_5283_567_2.html