Planting tomatoes, carrots, or cukes for the first time?
Use this guide to help you plan, prepare, and plant a successful plot.
Plus, tending your vegetable garden counts as exercise!
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Dig into these tips and tricks to get your vegetable garden off to a strong start.
Start with a Small Space
If you’re a beginner gardener, start small.
It’s also best to learn a fewgardening basicsbefore investing tons of time and money in this new hobby.
Credit: Helen Norman
You’ll get a feeling for how much time gardening takes.
You’ll find out if you like spending time outside planting, watering, and weeding.
You’ll also learn how much produce you and your family can eat over the course of a summer.
Credit: Brie Williams
A good size for abeginner’s vegetable gardenis 6x6 feet.
Select up to five types of vegetables to grow, andplant a few of each throw in.
With them, you don’t even need a yard; a sunny deck or balcony work fine.
Credit: Dana Gallagher
Grow What You Love to Eat
What do you like to eat?
Your answer will tell you what you should plant in your vegetable garden.
There are also a few other things to keep in mind whendeciding what to grow.
Credit: Blaine Moats
Eachvariety of vegetablecomes with certain characteristics.
Some produce smaller plants ideal for containers or small gardens.
Other varieties offer better disease resistance, improved yields, or better heat- or cold-tolerance.
Start by choosing veggies you like to eat, then look into their sizes and care needs.
Then be realistic about how many seeds or plants you should probably put into the ground.
Many beginners make the mistake of planting too much.
In fall, you’re free to harvestpotatoes,cabbage, andkale.
Lots of Sunlight Is a Must
Like all plants, vegetables need the sun to kick-start photosynthesis.
That’s why you won’t have much success if you plant sun-loving vegetables in shady spaces.
Or if you have a sunny patio, switch to container gardening.
The downside is that space set aside for footpaths cuts down on the number of vegetables you might plant.
Test Garden Tip:Tall plants generally do well on the north side of the garden.
This includes naturally tall plants that can be grown on vertical supports, includingpeas,cucumbers, andbeans.
Save money bymaking your own A-frame trellisfor growing vegetables.
Seeds are sown or transplants are placed so that their leaves will barely touch at maturity.
The downside of this method is thatyou have to weed by handbecause the plants grow so close together.
You’ll need 8 cubic feet of top-quality garden soil to fill such a bed with 6-inch-high sides.
Mix and match at will.
Pick up a trowel’s worth and put it in your hands.
Does it feel gritty?
Is it sticky when wet?
Thattexture affects drainageand the availability of nutrients.
You want soil that is dark, crumbly, and literally full of life.
Take sandy soils, for instance.
They’re made up of large soil particles, so water and nutrients run through gaps relatively quickly.
Clay soils are just the opposite.
Avoid stepping on freshly tilled soil or you’ll compact it and undo all your hard work.
Then rake the surface smooth and water thoroughly.
Allow the bed to rest several days before you plant so the soil amendments can do their work.
That way, you don’t have to do as much digging.
Use a hoe to discourage any weed seedlings that do pop up.
It takes an 8-foot-tall fence tokeep deer from jumping into the garden.
For bigger quantities of insects, try insecticidal soap sprays that you could find at most garden centers.
Whichever pest-control chemicals you use, carefully follow the manufacturers' directions.
If you use a sprinkler, do it early in the day so the leaves will dry by nightfall.
