If you want to start your own vegetable garden, just follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to growing your own yummy vegetables—right in your own backyard!
1. Select a site for your garden.
• Vegetables grow best in well-drained, fertile soil (loamy soils are the best).
• Some vegetables can cope with shady conditions, but most prefer a site with a good amount of sunshine— at least six hours a day of direct sunlight.
2. Remove all weeds in your selected spot and dispose of them. If you are using compost to supplement your garden soil, do not put the weeds on the compost heap, as they may germinate once again and cause more weed growth among your vegetable plants.
3. Prepare the soil by tilling it. This will break up large soil clumps and allow you to see and remove pesky weed roots. This would also be the appropriate time to add organic materials (such as compost) to the existing soil to help make it more fertile. The tools used for tilling will depend on the size of your garden. Some examples are:
• Shovel and turning fork—using these tools is hard work, requiring strong upper body strength.
• Rotary tiller—this will help cut up weed roots and mix the soil.
4. After the soil has been tilled, you are ready to begin planting. If you would like straight rows in your garden, a guide can be made from two wooden stakes and a bit of rope.
5. Vegetables can be grown from seeds or transplanted:
• If your garden has problems with pests such as slugs, it’s best to transplant older plants, as they are more likely to survive attacks from these organisms.
• Transplanting works well for vegetables like tomatoes and onions, which usually need a head start to mature within a shorter growing season. These can be germinated indoors on seed trays on a windowsill before the growing season begins.
Label your garden rows as soon as you plant the seeds or seedlings so you’ll remember what you planted where.
6. Follow these basic steps to grow vegetables from seeds:
• Information on when and how deep to plant vegetable seeds is usually printed on seed packages or on various Web sites. You can also contact your local nursery or garden center to inquire after this information.
• Measure the width of the seed to determine how deep it should be planted. Take the width and multiply by two. That is how deep the seed should be placed in the hole. As a general rule, the larger the seed, the deeper it should be planted.
7. Water the plants and seeds well to ensure a good start. Make sure they receive water at least every other day, especially if there is no rain in the forecast.
In the early days of a vegetable garden, all your plants are vulnerable to attack by insects and animals. It is best to plan multiples of the same plant in order to ensure that some survive. Placing netting and fences around your garden can help keep out certain animal pests. Coffee grains or slug traps filled with beer will also help protect your plants against insect pests.
If sowing seed straight onto your bed, be sure to obtain a photograph of what your seedlings will look like so you don’t mistake the growing plant for a weed.
Weeding early on is very important to the overall success of your garden. Weeds steal water, nutrients, and light from your vegetables, which will stunt their growth and make it more difficult for them to thrive.
