Planting your own garden is a wonderful way to grow fresh vegetables and put healthy food on the table. But planting a vegetable garden isn’t as simple as putting seeds in the ground and waiting for them to sprout. If you want to grow healthy vegetables, you need to know the basics for planting vegetables.
Let’s check out all the things you need to know to ensure your gardening adventure is a success.
A Step-by-Step Guide for Planting a Garden
If you’re hoping to start your own garden of fresh vegetables, here are a few tips you need to follow.
Decide What to Plant
While you may hope to have a garden full of different kinds of vegetables, you don’t want to jump too far in before you get the hang of gardening. If you start with too many vegetables, you may overwhelm yourself – causing you to struggle to get your gardening off the ground.
It is better to begin small, with just a few different vegetables, and add more as you get comfortable. Planting tomatoes or peppers is a great way to start because they keep re-growing new vegetables throughout the season.
Before you can do anything else, you need to decide which items you’d like to place in your vegetable garden.
Consider Your Space
Again, starting out small is a great way to get used to planting vegetables without causing you to become overwhelmed. Consider what space you have, how much space you need, and how much space you’re willing to dedicate to your garden.
If you don’t have a big back yard or you don’t have a back yard at all, don’t worry. You can still grow your garden in containers that can be left on balconies or porches, as long as you have the proper light.
Prepare Your Garden
When choosing where to place your garden, you need to consider the amount of sunlight your vegetables will get. Because planting tomatoes and other vegetables requires 6-8 hours of sunlight, you want to ensure you’re not placing your new garden in the shade or in an area where your plants won’t get sun.
Your garden will also need the right soil and plenty of water. Be prepared to water your garden every week and use high-quality, well-drained soil. Make sure you test your soil before using it.
Growing and Harvesting Your Vegetables
In order to get your best vegetables possible, you’ll need to frequently water and weed your vegetable garden. In most cases, you only need to water your vegetables about once a week. If your crops are in-ground, you may need to water them a second time. Be sure to be pulling weeds that may steal water and nutrients from your vegetables.
Harvest your vegetables whenever you feel like they’re good enough to eat. Tomatoes, lettuce, and other vegetables like these can grow back after you’ve plucked them, so don’t worry if they’re not quite right the first time around.
Still have questions?
Send us a message or stop by your local greenhouse and garden center. We’ll share lots of ideas and help to get your garden growing.