A: Most herbs and vegetables like a steady supply of moisture, but they don’t like standing in water. Water when the top inch of soil in your garden is dry. About an inch of water per week is usually plenty, provided by you or Mother Nature. For gardens in the ground, that means making sure your plants are watered once or twice a week. If you’re using a raised bed or container, you might need to water every other day.

Feeding your vegetables and herbs is important to achieve the best returns at harvest time. Organic gardeners find that adding high-quality compost when planting is all their veggies need. Most gardeners, however, will be successful with a packaged all-purpose vegetable fertilizer, following the directions on the bag or box. Be careful not to over-fertilize because that can actually reduce your yield.