Why the garden, have you ever asked yourself? How about enjoying the best vegetables and fruits you’ve ever eaten? If you’ve never tasted garden-fresh food, you’ll be amazed by the sweet, juicy flavors and vibrant texture. There’s absolutely nothing like fresh vegetables, especially if you grow them yourself which you can!
Though it can be difficult at first but gardening is a very rewarding hobby.In this topic we’ll cover the basics of vegetable gardening and planning
- How to choose the right spot for your garden?
- How to create the right size garden?
- How to choose which vegetables to grow?
- When to plant what?
Choose a good spot
Choosing a good location for your garden is absolutely critical. A subspace can result in subpar vegetables! Here are some tips for choosing a good place:
- Sunny location: Most vegetables need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Some vegetables (mostly leafy ones) will tolerate some shade.
- Drains well and doesn’t stay wet: If you have poor soil where water pools, plant a raised bed or raised row of vegetables to improve drainage. Wet soil means wet roots, which can turn into rotting roots. If you have rocky soil, remove rocks, as they will interfere with root growth and weaken plants.
- Stable and not ventilated: Avoid areas with strong winds that can knock over your young plants or prevent pollinators from doing their job. Nor do you want to plant in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic or floods easily. Plant in a spot that would make Goldilocks smile & say “just right.”
- Nutrient rich soil. Your soil feeds your plants. If you have thin, nutrient-poor soil, you will have poor, unhealthy plants. Mix in plenty of organic matter to help your plants grow. See how to prepare your soil for vegetable plants
Plot Size Selection: Start Small!
Remember: It’s better to be proud of a small garden than to be disappointed by a big one!
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is planting too soon more than one can eat or want! Unless you want zucchini to take up residence in your attic, plan your garden carefully. Start small, and only grow what you know you and your family will eat.
Garden size
- A 10′ x 10′ garden (100 square feet) is a manageable size if planted in the ground. Pick 3 to 5 of your favorite vegetables and buy 3 to 5 plants of each.
- If planting in a raised bed, 4′ x 4′ or 4′ x 8′ is a good starting size. Check out our raised garden bed guide, which covers the benefits of raised beds, how to build a raised bed, and what type of soil to fill a raised bed with.
- If you want to go big, a 12′ x 24′ in-ground garden is probably the biggest to go for first. For example, a garden that feeds a family of four includes 3 mounds of yellow squash, 1 mound of zucchini, 10 different peppers, 6 tomato plants, 12 okra plants, 12 feet of shrubs. A row of 2 cucumbers per cage. , 2 eggplants, 6 basil, 1 rosemary, and a few low-growing herbs like oregano, thyme, and marjoram.
- No matter the size of your garden: every four feet or so, make sure you have paths that give you access to weed and prune your plants. Just make sure you can easily reach the center of the row or bed without stepping on the soil.
Selection of vegetables
As a beginner, start by choosing simple vegetables that are also productive. Most are started by seeds planted directly in the ground, unless noted.
However, it’s also wise to contact your state’s cooperative extension service to find out which plants grow best in your area. For example, if you live in an area with extremely hot climates, vegetables that prefer cooler temperatures may struggle.
Five Tips for Choosing Vegetables:
- Choose what you (and your family) like to eat. If one doesn’t like Brussels sprouts, don’t bother planting them! But if your kids love green beans, try harder to grow a bumper crop of beans.
- Be realistic about how many vegetables your family will eat. Be careful not to plant too many plants, as you will only spread yourself thin by trying to care for too many plants! (You can always donate extra vegetables to friends, family, or a local soup kitchen.)
- Consider the availability of vegetables at your grocery store. You may want to grow tomatillos instead of cabbage or carrots, which are readily available in your area. Plus, some vegetables are so good when grown at home that it’s almost a shame not to consider them (we’re thinking of garden lettuce and tomatoes). Also, homegrown herbs are much less expensive than grocery store herbs.
- Be prepared to care for your plants during the growing season. Going on summer vacation? Remember that tomatoes and zucchini are at their strongest in mid-summer. If you will be gone for part of the summer, you need someone to take care of the crops, or they will suffer.
- Use high quality seeds. Seed packets are less expensive than individual plants, but if the seeds don’t germinate, you’re wasting money and time. A few extra cents spent in the spring for this year’s seeds will pay off in higher yields at harvest.
When to plant what?
Each region has a different planting time based primarily on the weather, and each vegetable has its own temperature preferences.
- Vegetables are not planted all at once. “Cool-season” vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, and peas grow in the cooler weather of early spring while vegetables classified as “warm-season,” such tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, are planted only in late spring and early summer after the soil has warmed up.
- To prevent them from shading out shorter plants, plant tall vegetables on the north side of the garden, such as sweet corn or pole beans grown on a trellis. If there is a section of your garden that receives shade, plant small, cool-season vegetables there. If certain areas of your garden must have shade, designate those spaces for cool-season veggies that benefit from the shadow as the weather warms.
- Vegetables that grow annually are planted once a year. Provide permanent planting sites or beds if you intend to produce “perennial” crops like asparagus, rhubarb, and some herbs.
- Keep in mind that many crops—such as bush beans and radishes—mature quickly and have a brief harvest season. While certain plants, like tomatoes, produce more slowly, they do so for longer periods of time. The seed packet usually lists these “days to maturity.”
- Avoid planting all of your lettuce seeds at the same, as this will require harvesting the lettuce at roughly the same time.
