09/12/2020
Everyone should learn how to grow their own food!
HOW TO START A GARDEN IN 10 EASY STEPS - TL,DR
Want to learn how to start a garden, but not sure where to begin? In this post we'll cover the basics of gardening so you can garden with confidence and have fun doing it. Get ready to enjoy some of the best tasting fruits, vegetables and herbs you've even eaten.
How to Start a Garden – 10 Basic Steps
#1 – Decide What You’d Like to Grow in Your Home Garden
#2 – Choose a Location to Start Your Garden
#3 – Plan Your Garden Beds, Vertical Gardening
#4 – Invest in Basic Garden Tools
#5 – Test Your Soil
#6 – Build Your Soil
#7 – Choose the Right Seeds or Transplants
#8 – Plant with Care
#9 – Nurture Your Garden
#10 – Enjoy Your Harvest!
#1 – DECIDE WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO GROW IN YOUR HOME GARDEN
Rule #1 – If you won’t eat a crop, don’t grow it in your vegetable garden. (You can break this rule for flowers. Edible or not, we like to see at least a few in every garden.) Focus on the fruits, vegetables or herbs that your family enjoys the most.
Make sure your top choices make sense for your area. If possible, talk to successful gardeners in your area to find out which crops grow well and which don’t.
If you only want a small garden, don’t attempt to grow something like a giant pumpkin, which will spread over a very large area.
Do you want to plan for storage vegetables, or only enough to eat fresh? It’s probably best to start your garden mainly with fresh eating in mind, but some vegetables are extremely easy to store.
#2 – CHOOSE A LOCATION TO START YOUR GARDEN
Most fruits and vegetables need full sun, with a minimum of five hours of direct sunlight per day for fruiting. Greens, herbs and root veggies will grow in partial shade.
Think about how you will access the garden for picking, watering and caring for your plants. Out of site often equals out of mind – and a neglected garden. Avoid high wind areas and frost pockets (low areas where frost is likely to settle).
Watch out for wildlife, pet damage and children’s play areas.
#3 – PLAN YOUR GARDEN BEDS
Once you know where you want your garden, decide on the type and size of garden bed(s). Raised beds are attractive and may make it easier to work in your garden, but they also dry out more quickly. In very dry areas, sunken beds can be used to gather available moisture.
Think about planting your garden in blocks or beds of plants instead of single rows. Beds should be 3 to 4 feet across – narrow enough that you can reach the center from either side. Beds should be roughly 10 feet long or less, so you’re not tempted to step into the bed and compact the ground.
Within the garden beds, place plants in rows or a grid pattern. The goal is minimize walkways and maximize growing space. You only add fertilizer and soil amendments to the planting area, which saves time and money. Work with companion plants to attract beneficial insects and improve yields.
Start small, and make sure to give each plant enough room to grow. The seeds and transplants are tiny, but full grown plants can get huge. Overcrowded plants have difficulty thriving. A small, well-tended garden can produce as much or more than a large, poorly tended garden.
Rectangular or square beds are the most common, but you’re only limited by your imagination and building skills. Most raised bed kits are rectangular, but you can also plant your garden in found items like old livestock water tanks or sections of drain pipe.
VERTICAL GARDENING
If you grow vertically, you can squeeze more crops into less space.
I trellis/fence or otherwise grow vertically my tomatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers, and occasionally other crops.
What if you have a yard with limited growing space? Consider grow bags or containers to start your garden.
#4 – INVEST IN BASIC GARDEN TOOLS
The right tools make working in your garden a pleasure instead of a chore. You don’t use a butter knife to chop up raw carrots, and you shouldn’t use dull or flimsy tools to work in your garden. Basic gardening equipment includes:
Garden hoe
Scuffle hoe
Dirt rake
Leaf rake
Garden Shovel or D handle Shovel
Hand tools
Don't buy cheap plastic tools if you can avoid it. Get tools that are the right size for you to reduce the risk of injury.
Good tools will save time and effort, and your back. Keep tools clean and sharp, just like you should treat a good knife.
#5 – TEST YOUR SOIL
Before you start building your garden beds or planting, you need to know something about your garden soil.
Is your soil acidic, alkaline or neutral pH? Do you have sand, clay, silt, rocks, or a mix of all four? Is there a risk of soil contamination from nearby structures, roadways or other sources? Does it have a good amount of basic nutrients?
Some of these characteristics can be determined just from looking at the soil. Others may require home tests or professional lab tests. For instance, lead contamination from old house paint or nearby roadways with heavy traffic is a problem in some areas.
Most garden crops prefer soil with a pH around 7 (neutral), although some like conditions that are slightly acidic (potatoes, for instance) or slightly alkaline (brassicas). Balanced nutrient levels are also important, as is the presence of organic matter.
We will do a post, tomorrow, on soil testing with easy home test options.
#6 – BUILD YOUR SOIL
Most plants prefer a deep, well-drained, fertile soil rich in organic matter. Plant roots need good garden soil to produce good vegetables and fruit.
Once you start a garden, you’ll gain a new appreciation for healthy soil as it improves year after year. Healthy, vibrant soil = healthy, vibrant plants with built in disease and pest resistance and more nutrition.
Each year add a combination of different types of organic matter, including compost, worm castings and mulch. This is how you feed your plants.
#7 – CHOOSE THE RIGHT SEEDS OR TRANSPLANTS
Starting your own transplants is a great way to save money, too.
If you’re not ready to tackle growing transplants for your garden, here are some tips to help you spot the best plants at the nursery:
Look for pots that are roughly equal in size to the plant. Big plants in tiny pots are more likely to be root bound (with roots tangled and growing in circles inside the pot) and suffer from transplant shock when planted in the garden.
Watch for signs of stress such as insect damage or yellow leaves. Ask whether or not your plants or seeds were treated or sprayed with potentially harmful chemicals such as neonicotinoid pesticides. Pollinators are critical for fruit set in the garden, so you don’t want to buy plants that may harm them.
#8 – PLANT WITH CARE
Most seed packets and transplant containers come with basic planting instructions. Once you've done the ground work (literally), you just need to jump in and plant. Just give it a try and you can learn the rest as you go.
Rules of thumb for planting in your garden:
Plant seeds roughly 3 times as deep as the diameter of the seed, unless otherwise directed on the package. Some seeds require light for germination.
For transplants – most transplants are planted at the same depth they were growing in the pot. The exception is tomatoes, which can be planted deeper or trenched in. Wait until danger of frost is past to plant heat loving plants such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, okra, etc.
Young plants are easier to damage than older plants, so they may need protection or hardening off when they are planted outside.
#9 – NURTURE YOUR GARDEN
There's an old saying that says, “The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow.” If you're not prepared to make time in your schedule to tend to your plants, you may be better off hitting the farmer's market, or sticking with extremely low maintenance items like sprouts or herbs. Depending on the size of your plantings, time requirements may range from a few minutes per day to a full time job.
Nab weeds when they’re small with a scuffle hoe – or use them as groundcover, food or medicine.
A rule of thumb for watering is that plants need around one inch of water per week during the growing season. If rains fail, you'll need to water your garden.
Over watering is as bad as under watering, so always check the soil before turning on a tap or hitting the rain barrels. Soil that is too wet can cause seeds and roots to rot. Foliar feeds like compost tea can be added to give plants extra nutrition and a dose of healthy microbes while watering.
Bugs are more attracted to plants that are stressed or in some way deficient. If you have healthy, well-nourished plants, your pest problems should be minimal. If you have a problem, chances are there's an organic solution. If you're going through all the effort to grow your own food, why would you want to put toxins on it?
#10 – ENJOY YOUR HARVEST 🤗
As crops mature, make sure to harvest promptly for best quality. Leafy greens like lettuce are typically “cut and come again”, which means you can clip off the leaves and they will regrow for another harvest.
Pick beans and peas every two to three days. Harvest sweet corn when cobs are well filled out and silk is dark. Harvest tomatoes and peppers green, or allow them to ripen to full sweetness and flavor.
Flavor is typically at a peak when the morning dew has cleared, but before the afternoon heat has settled in. Sample and decide what tastes best to you.
One of the reasons to love gardening is because if things don't work out right the first time, there's always next year. There are dozens of different ways to do just about everything, but you won't know what works best for you and your garden until you try. If a plant/crop does poorly the first time you plant it, try again. Try a crop for at least three years before I give up on it, because different varieties grow best under different conditions.
Gardening is also good for your health. It can fight depression, reduce stress and improve your diet.
SHARING IS CARING 🙂
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