Tips to Get Your Vegetable Garden Started

Are you ready to get your vegetable garden started? There’s nothing quite like growing fruit and vegetables yourself.

You might have a tiny patch in your garden where you grow a few vegetables to supplement your groceries, or you might have an entire homestead or even farm to run.

Even if you live in an urban area with no outdoor space, you can still keep a herb garden on your windowsill, which allows you to add some freshness to every meal. 

However, it’s not always easy to get your vegetable garden started. If you’re just starting a garden, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of you and the initial financial cost.

If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might waste hours of work and some money and not even see a single clove of garlic for your efforts. However, when it does work, it’s more than worth the effort and you’ll soon see the savings from your weekly shop. 

Plan Ahead

First, you need to decide on what you’ll grow and where. Your climate will also determine how well things will grow, as will the time of year.

Use a seasonal produce guide to figure out when you can plant, but remember to bear in mind your climate. You can’t grow all of the same crops in Minnesota as you can in Florida, and vice versa.

Once you know what you can grow, you need to figure out where you can plant them. Some people like to draw out their plans, working out what space they have available and where they can fit their plots.

Vegetables need a lot of sunlight, so pick a sunny spot to get your vegetable garden started. While weeds are generally your enemy, a lot of weeds can indicate fairly fertile land, although it’ll take more work to clear it.

Get the Right Tools & Supplies

Now, you need to stock up before you get your vegetable garden started. You will need tools, both for preparing the area and for keeping your plants going. If you have a lot of land, you may need machinery to clear your fields. Otherwise, you should start with at least a shovel, a garden fork, and a trowel.

However, you might find a dutch hoe very useful for digging over plots, and a ground rake is good for leveling soil. Finally, more overgrown gardens may call for a strimmer or even a machete. 

You’ll also need a way to water and harvest your plants. A watering can or hose, when combined with a nearby water source will work, as will an irrigation system. You’ll need secateurs to harvest any produce that you can’t just pull up.

You will also need some supplies to make sure that your soil is ready for planting. A wholesale fertilizer distributor can help you increase the fertility of a lot of soil, which will improve the yield of your harvest. 

Clear and Prepare the Area

You can do this at any time, but it’s best to clear your plots in spring or fall. In winter. The ground may be semi-frozen and hard to work with. But in summer, the weeds will likely be difficult to cut back and you’ll get easily overheated.

Dig over any plots and mark them with borders (wood or stone work well). If you don’t want to plant yet, cover the soil so fewer weeds crop up. Fertilize your soil to help whatever you plant in there. This way it is ready when you are reagy to get your vegetable garden started.

Plant and Pay Attention

Once the plot is ready, you just have to plant. Follow the instructions on your seed packet, as different plants need different amounts of space.

Crowding your plants can wreck your yield. But if you spread them too far, you’re just wasting space. Keep the care instructions with you when youe get your vegetable garden started.

When plants grow, they do the hard work themselves. But it’s up to you to keep them healthy. Water them according to their needs and feed them. Get rid of any weeds quickly as they compete for space and nutrients.

You should be able to pull small weeds out. You should look out for other pests as well, like insects. 

The Harvest

This is where your hard work finally pays off. Different plants have different growing times. You should be able to tell when they’re ready to harvest.

If you’re growing leafy greens, don’t take everything at once, as you risk killing the plant. Otherwise, feel free to take fruit or vegetables when they’re ready. 

Once you’ve sampled your first fresh harvest, you’ll understand why so many people like to grow their own fruits and vegetables.