Find out how a pair of beginners started their first vegetable garden on a budget.
Hector Sanchez
Ashlie and Tyler Thomas’s North Carolina backyard is the stuff of DIY vegetable garden dreams.
Nearly everything in itincluding the raised beds, trellises, and greenhousewas built by Tyler.
Credit:Hector Sanchez
Ashlie starts many of theleafy greens,roots and tubers, anda whole host of fruitsfrom seed.
But when the couple started their garden a few years ago, they had almost no growing experience.
Here’s how they went about building their first veggie garden from the ground up.
Credit:Hector Sanchez
“Access to nutritious food is so challenging for so many people,” she says.
DIY Vegetable Garden Beds
When Ashlie and Tyler started out, they had nothing but empty land.
Here’s what they recommend as you start planning and building your first vegetable garden beds.
Credit:Hector Sanchez
Choose a location:Before doing anything, the couple says it’s imperative towatch the sunlight.
They tracked it over months to figure out where to situate theirraised garden beds.
Choose a spot near a water source.
Think also about the breadth of your plants as they grow; overcrowding will affect their growth.
Add a marker to each row of veggies so you dont forget what you planted.
Tyler constructed 11 raised beds out of recycled two-by-fours and fencing picket panels to save money.
While Tyler has a background in construction,building your own bedsis a fairly simple carpentry project.
With little previous gardening experience, they dove into learning and experimenting with different crops.
Tap experts:For your first growing season, Ashlie and Tyler recommend studying up.
Home-grown sweet Sungold tomatoes and deeply colored Cherokee Purple tomatoes made her a convert.
Bonus: You’ll find plenty of ways to use garden-fresh tomatoesthrow them in salads or try anew recipe.
They also lend color and beauty to the beds.
Credit:Hector Sanchez
“Youre not just cultivating a spaceyoure cultivating yourself.
Go vertical:A small deck gives the shed a sense of permanence.
Just-harvested herbs add color and freshness topasta dishesand more.
Credit:Hector Sanchez
They thoroughly clean the space twice a year to keep mildew on the panels at bay.
Documenting this on Instagram allows me to keep track of the journey, she says.
Its a matter of being able to reflect on the process.
Starting a Small-Space Vegetable Garden.
7 Tips to Starting Your First Vegetable Garden.
New England Botanic Garden.
2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
When is the best time to water the garden?
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
