Before supermarkets became the norm, most families in the rural South grew huge vegetable gardens and canned whatever they couldn’t eat during the growing season.

The practice fell out of fashion, but vegetable gardening is again becoming the “in” thing. Some are choosing to grow more of their own food because they prefer organically raised vegetables. Rising prices are a factor for others. But many of us simply enjoy the taste of vegetables right out of the garden and receive satisfaction from the effort involved in growing them.

Healthy soil is the first step to a healthy garden. It is full of microscopic organisms, humus, trace minerals and oxygen. Organic gardening advocates encourage gardeners to add compost continuously to food crops and ornamental beds. Organic fertilizers that contain trace minerals in addition to the nitrogen, potassium and potash found in most commercial fertilizer are said to feed the soil instead of the plants. Add them at a rate of three times per growing season: in early spring and summer and in the fall. The most widely used include cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, fish meal, composted manure and manufactured organic fertilizers.

If commercial fertilizers are used, choose a slow-release type, the National Wildlife Federation suggests. Most commercial fertilizers boost plant growth rapidly and are often used in excess, ending up as pollution in ground water and small streams, poisoning aquatic life and creating severe oxygen deficiencies.

Carefully choose plants and seeds recommended for humid Southern growing conditions.

Look for young transplants and try to purchase them as soon as possible after they are delivered to the nursery or garden center. Freshly- arrived seedlings suffer less from transplant shock than those that have been at the nursery too long.

Plan to plant transplants soon after purchasing. Never let the soil dry out completely before you get around to planting them. Moisten the root ball before placing it into the soil and, using folded newspaper, wrap a collar around the stem to prevent damage from cutworms. They cannot chew through the paper.

After planting, water well and frequently for the next few weeks. Mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds from crowding out transplants. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants need to be caged or staked at planting time rather than later, when roots can be easily disturbed.

Learn to recognize natural pest controls and invite them to your garden. Ladybird beetles, beneficial wasps, birds, toads, parasitic and predatory flies are some examples.

Biodiversity is the best way to prevent most pests and disease problems. One family of purple martins will eat over 15 pounds of insects in a growing season. Insects not only chew on plants, they also carry disease from one plant or garden to another.

Blooming annuals near the vegetable garden serve as attractive lures for beneficial insects. Strategically plant herbs — their strong scents can distract and confuse many harmful pests. Dill is a great herb to plant near tomatoes. The tomato hornworm likes dill even better than it likes tomatoes. Baby hornworm caterpillars are green with white stripes. Dill is also the host plant for our native swallowtail butterfly, whose caterpillars are black and yellow. Remove the hornworms, but let the swallowtail larvae enjoy the dill.

Look carefully for insects and their eggs on vegetable plants. At first, try hand-picking or spraying plants with water to dislodge pests before considering any type of chemical treatment. Outwit squash borers by planting squash as early as possible, sheltering seedlings from cold by setting them in a trench under a bucket, recommends Dave Bradshaw, a North Carolina gardener, in a 2008 article in Organic Gardening.

As a last resort, use the least toxic type of pesticide you can find, such as insecticidal soap. Pesticides will kill not only the pests, but also beneficial insects.

Vegetables grow well in pots, too. They just need to be watered more frequently and receive additional fertilizer.

Home-grown vegetables are definitely worth the effort. There is nothing tastier than tomatoes or cucumbers picked minutes before they are sliced and served at the dinner table.

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Miriam Jabour, a Master Gardener and Master Flower Show judge, has been active in the Openwood Plantation Garden Club for over 35 years. Write to her at 1114 Windy Lake Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39183.