SPRINGVALE — The weather’s fair, you want to spend some time at home, and perhaps you’re thinking about how nice it would be to serve up a salad made with fresh greens, crisp carrots and juicy red tomatoes from your own garden.

Maybe it’s a yearning to be closer to food production or the thrill of planting seeds and watching them germinate. Maybe it’s both, combined with discovering a pastime close to home now that gasoline costs make people think twice about a weekend excursion.

Those planting their very first vegetable garden should make sure of one thing before anything else, said York County Cooperative Extension Agency horticulture program aide Sue Tkacik: Get a soil test. Gardeners can pick up a kit at the extension office on Bradeen Street in Springvale and send in a soil sample to the University of Maine’s lab in Orono for testing.

“They’ll get a detailed break down of what the soil needs,” said Tkacik.

What’s next?

Find a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight, with access to water ”“ in other words, said Tkacik, make sure the garden hose reaches the spot where you hope to grow those salad greens and cucumbers.

And as for the terrain?

“Level is better,” she said.

Tkacik said the soil has to dry out enough to be worked before planting, and because there’s no snow melt this year, if an area under consideration is wet, it’s not the right spot.

Another key factor in locating your garden is proximity to one’s home.

“The closer to the house, the more attention the garden will get,” said Tkacik, pointing out that with frequent weeding and watering ”“ tasks successful gardeners must employ ”“ the gardener gets to know the plants. Too far away and the garden could suffer from neglect, supporting the old adage of “out of sight, out of mind.”

“First-time gardeners also ought to think about the size,” said Tkacik. “If it’s too big, they can’t keep it up, and it’s discouraging.”

Some might want to consider raised beds, or container gardening.

Julie Tero at Springvale Nurseries, who has grown several varieties of vegetables in containers, said starting with the right soil ”“ preferable “something compost and organic” ”“ is a good first move.

Of all the vegetables found in the home garden, a favorite is tomatoes. Michelle Martin, also of Springvale Nurseries, recommends sungold, a yellow, cherry-sized plant that grows brilliant orange. In years where tomatoes have suffered with late blight, sungolds seems to continue to produce, she said.

And there’s another upside to sungolds.

“They taste like candy,” she said.

Tero recommends a large pot for potted tomatoes, and said she’s had success growing tomatoes, peas, peppers, beans and tomatillos in containers.

“Just pop ’em in and keep them watered,” said Tero, noting that all plants grown in containers tend to dry out faster and need watering more than do vegetables planted in the ground.

While some plants in Maine are best grown from seed ”“ such as carrots, peas and radishes ”“ they’re all seeds that germinate well in cold temperatures, said Michelle Martin, also of Springvale Nurseries. The simple truth, however, is that Maine’s soils don’t warm up enough ”“ or early enough ”“ to successfully germinate tomatoes, peppers or eggplant seeded directly in the garden. So folks either start their own, or purchase plants from nurseries where plants are grown in greenhouses, sometimes with a special mat that keeps the soil at 70 degrees.

Another plant a first-time gardener might consider is rhubarb, Maine’s own pie plant. And while a large harvest is not recommended the first year, snipping a few stalks to tuck into a strawberry rhubarb pie won’t hurt, Martin advised.

What to plant next? Well, peas and spinach and radish could do well, and most seed packets contain sowing information. In Maine, plants like tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and the like shouldn’t go in the ground before the last spring frost ”“ about May 23 in the Sanford area, slightly different along the coast.

Martin said first-time vegetable gardeners should start small, and perhaps consider a container garden or a small, raised garden, “to get the hang of it.”

Tkacik had similar advice.

“Plant what you want to have and think about how much you want to eat,” she said. “If you don’t want to can or freeze, don’t plant 12 tomatoes.”

The York County Cooperative Extension Agency offers free information about home gardening online at http://umaine.edu/york/ and hosts gardening classes and programs at the Anderson Learning Center, 21 Bradeen St. in Springvale.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.