With everyone spending more time at home these days, many people have realized that it’s a great opportunity to try a new hobby. And one of the easier and more fulfilling hobbies to try is gardening!
From indoor containers to large outdoor gardens, deciding to grow your own vegetables is fun, easy, and saves money on your weekly produce bill! Wondering how to get started? Use these tips as a starting point!
Finding a Location
The first step in starting a garden should always be finding the perfect space. Decide if you prefer to do your growing indoors or outdoors, then determine how much space in those areas you’re willing to dedicate to your garden.
If you want to increase your growing season, check out options for greenhouses or small covered carts that will let you start more plants early.
No matter what space you do choose, ensure that it gets ample sun throughout the day and has easy access to water if possible.
Soil and Seeds
High-quality soil makes a world of difference when it comes to growing vegetables. If you’re gardening indoors, choose a soil that’s labeled for fruits and vegetables. Outdoors, see if you can find an area with dark soil, a sign of high nutrients.
Next, it’s time to choose vegetable seeds! Make a list of the vegetables you eat most often and research their zones and growing times to ensure they’ll work for your area.
Then, check out a companion planting guide to plan what seeds will go in which rows. Once the seeds are in the ground, the fun really starts!
Maintenance
There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing those first shoots peek through the ground after planting seeds. To get to that point, make sure your garden gets plenty of water in the first week or so!
Watering in the morning or evening is the best choice for outdoor gardens. The lower temperature means that less water evaporates and more is used by the plants for growth. Once seeds have sprouted, watering once or twice a week is usually enough.
To control weeds and keep the soil at a good temperature, consider using mulch around plants as well. And if your soil quality isn’t the best, adding fertilizer can help ensure a bumper crop of vegetables.
Once they’ve started producing, harvest and store your vegetables for all your favourite recipes!
Whether you start small with a tomato plant or two in a little pot, or go all out by tilling a huge outdoor space, there’s nothing more rewarding than choosing to grow your own vegetables.
Give it a try and see how delicious and nutritious your own home-grown food can be!
I’m going to start to grow with an Aerogarden as I can’t seem to get anything to grow outside, hopefully this works.
We just got an Aerogarden and so far its been working great! The Thai basil and cherry tomato plants have gotten out of control.. haha. We are moving them into bigger pots this week. Good luck with your Aerogarden!
This summer I grew tomatoes. That was my first attempt at growing a garden. I am planning to try a few different veggies next year.
I would love to grow a garden but sadly I am not an outdoor person and I don’t like the dirt and bugs, and my back would kill me trying to weed and what not, but it would be nice
I would love to have my own veggie garden! hoping we can put one in next year
I love fresh produce from the garden
My husband has a green thumb while I have a black thumb
We did a garden this year turned out ok except for the deer eating all our berries.