Starting a garden is easier than most people expect. There a few key things you need to get started.
- Pick a Location
- Choose Your Bed Type
- Enrich Your Soil
- Know Your Zone
- Select Your Plants
- Plan Your Layout
- Plant!
Pick a Location
You have to put your garden somewhere. That somewhere should have:
- Sun – Your garden should ideally get at least 8 hours of sun each day.
- Water Accessible – You’re going to need to water your garden. A lot. So, make sure it’s easy to get water to the garden.
- Critter Free – This isn’t easy – there are animals everywhere. Even in DC, I have possums, raccoons, community cats, birds, and squirrels that visit our backyard. Our wild animals are few and small enough that some natural animal repellant around the garden does the trick. But if you live somewhere with more and bigger animals, you might consider some sort of fencing and/or netting around your garden.
Choose Your Bed Type
Your garden beds are where the magic happens. There are a few options based on your space.
- Directly in the Ground – Classic, simple. The ground is made of dirt. Block out a section and grow things in the ground.
- Raised Beds – Raised beds have a border that lifts them above the ground. They can range from a few inches to a few feet tall. The biggest benefits of raised beds are that they have built-in drainage that keeps plants from drowning and you don’t have to bend over as far to tend them. I have slightly raised beds that are framed by 2×6 pieces of lumber. I recommend getting some pressure treated lumber or another weather resistant material (like corrugated steel) and building your own. You can buy kits, but they will generally be smaller and pretty expensive. I have 3 low beds that cover 100 square feet. I only used some decking screws and 9 pieces of 2x6x8 pressure treated lumber (about $70 – less than the typical $100 I have seen for one 4’x4′ kit), and they have lasted over 3 years.
- Containers – If you have a very small or awkward space that doesn’t lend itself to big beds, there’s a lot you can do with containers. I still do some container gardening for my potatoes, and I just use cheap 5 gallon buckets. If you want something more attractive than that, there are lots of options for containers and grow bags. My first garden in Indianapolis was on a porch in a courtyard using grow bags similar to these. And even in that little garden, I was able to grow tomatoes, zucchini, and other large vegetables.
There are other options like hydroponics and aquaponics that have their own benefits, but my knowledge is limited on these, and for me these would be much more difficult of a lift than growing things in the dirt. Probably not the right fit for a starter garden.
Enrich Your Soil
If you are growing in the ground, you should test the soil to make sure the pH is acceptable for growing vegetables. I don’t have a favorite test, so just grab one at the hardware or garden store or search Amazon. If the soil isn’t rich enough, the cheapest option is to add some fertilizer.
Or if you’re lazy (like me), looking for something quick, and/or you need to fix a raised bed or containers, the best option is usually to source some planting soil that you can add as a top layer of soil to the ground or fill your bed/container. Garden-ready soil is rock free and doesn’t need to be tilled. You can buy bags of soil or you can look for a cheaper local option. I usually buy a few bags at Costco each year to add a top layer. Buying dirt can get expensive though – especially if you are filling new containers or raised beds. When I first built my beds, I made a bunch of trips to the Fort Totten Waste Transfer Station, which provides free mulch and soil to DC residents. Look for a similar option in your local area.
Finally, your soil needs to be loose so your plants can easily extend their new roots as deep as they need to. So, use a hoe, shovel, or tiller to break up the dirt at least 6-8″ down.
Know Your Zone
Climate is critical. When you plant and harvest your vegetables depends on the weather in your area. You can get guidance based on your garden zone. You can consult the USDA site here to learn your zone.
Then, just Google search “zone # garden schedule” and you will find a lot of great information on when to plant in your zone. For example, I am in zone 7. One of the first search results I get is this very helpful schedule.
Select Your Plants
This is where the fun really starts! What do you like to eat? Now that you know your zone number, you can do some googling to get all the info you could ever need about when you should plant and any special considerations you need to know. For your first time gardening, I would pick a few favorite things and focus on those. My garden now contains around 20 different fruits and vegetables, but my first garden only had 4-5 things in it.
If you want, you can make this process really complex (like I did this year with the Reitz Farm Value Index), but it doesn’t have to be. Just pick some things you like and try to grow them!
Depending on the time of year, you can grow from seeds or seedlings. Seeds are cheaper and work best if you are starting early in the planting season (based on your zone). Seedlings are baby plants that you can buy at your local hardware or garden store. They are a little more expensive, but they are easier to grow and have a jump start (which helps if you are planting later in the season). If it’s your first time growing a garden, I highly recommend using seedlings.
In my opinion, some of the best plants for new gardeners are:
- Radishes – They grow super fast! If you plant seeds, you will have radishes ready to pick in 30 days.
- Lettuce & Greens – Also super easy and quick to grow. And you always need fresh lettuce.
- Tomatoes – These take a little more work, but there is nothing better than fresh, homegrown tomatoes.
- Corn – I can’t believe how few home gardeners grow corn! Corn doesn’t really work in containers, but it’s great in garden beds. I usually do a small 4′ x 4′ patch, so you don’t need a lot of space. And one of the highlights of the summer for me is picking a couple ears of corn and throwing them straight onto the grill.
Plan Your Layout
Seed packets and seedlings will come with instructions for planting. Most of these instructions assume you are planting them in long rows. If you have a lot of space, this makes a lot of sense.
If you are planting in small plots in your backyard, I recommend square foot gardening. It’s an easy way to plan and maximize your space. The basic premise is breaking your beds into square foot sections and then planting a maximum number of each plant type in each square foot. You can Google “square foot gardening” to learn more. I liked this simple overview.
Plant!
Now you’re ready. Plant your seeds and/or seedlings! If planting seeds, pay attention to the instructions on how deep to plant them. But don’t worry too much, no need to measure exactly, just approximate.
Water your new plants regularly. For seeds and seedlings the ground should always be damp – don’t let it dry out.
As your pants grow, you’ll need to do things like fertilizing, thinning, harvesting, etc. But you’ll figure it out as you go. And some of your plants will do great! And some might not do so great. But that’s ok – as long as you’re trying, you will only get better with time.
Happy gardening!