Grow Your Own Food – Helpful Tips For The Beginning Garden
Growing your own food at home
If you’ve never gardened before, it can be simultaneously exciting and intimidating to grow your own food. Sowing seeds does require some knowledge, some time, and heaps of patience. But here’s the good news: Whether you have a spacious backyard or a tiny balcony, you can grow your own fruits and vegetables. (You can even grow your own mushrooms!)
The best way to start is by choosing veggies and fruits you enjoy eating, and then figuring out when their growing seasons are. Start with what you love.”
If you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply want to ease into gardening, learn how to grow your own herbs. They’re low maintenance and a great way to start playing in the soil to get comfortable gardening.
Benefits of growing your own food
There are many reasons to consider growing your own food. Here are some benefits of having a backyard or container-produced garden.
It’s good for the environment
Fruits and vegetables are seasonal produce, but grocery stores offer almost everything under the sun year-round, which means a lot of produce must be transported across the globe.
There are no pesticides
One key benefit of learning how to grow organic food is being able to avoid chemical-based pesticides, which are harmful to the body and can also get into the water and soil.
You’ll eat more fruits and vegetables you grow your own food, you have easy and quick access to homegrown produce.
You’ll eat healthier and more nutritious foods
Homegrown produce is tastier and more nutritious because you harvest and eat it at its peak—when it is meant to be enjoyed.
It’ll save you money
Growing your own food is a way to save money on the rising cost of fruits and vegetables.
Pick the Right Location
Picking a good location for your garden is key. A subpar location can result in subpar veggies! Here are a few tips for choosing a good site:
Sunny spot:
Most vegetables need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily. A few veggies (mostly leafy ones) will tolerate some shade.
Drains well and doesn’t stay wet:
If you have poorly drained soil where water pools, plant veggies in a raised bed or raised row for improved drainage. Wet soil means wet roots, which can turn into rotted roots. If you have rocky soil, till and remove the rocks, as they will interfere with root growth and make for weaker plants.
Stable and not windy:
Avoid places that receive strong winds that could knock over your young plants or keep pollinators from doing their job. Nor do you want to plant in a location that receives too much foot traffic or floods easily. Plant in a location that would make Goldilocks smile—somewhere “just right.”
Nutrient-rich soil:
Your soil feeds your plants. You’ll have poor, unhealthy plants if you have thin, nutrient-poor soil. Mix in plenty of organic matter to help your plants grow. See how to prepare your soil for vegetable plants.
Our top four picks for money-saving vegetables
Kale
Kale is nutritious, low in calories, and suitable for a wide range of dishes. A packet of seeds only costs $1.09, and it grows quickly in just six weeks. Compare this to the price in shops, and you can see how you’ll be saving money!
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a perfect plant for little gardens or even balconies because they don’t need much area to thrive. It takes 12 weeks for tomato plants to mature and be ready for harvest.
Furthermore, the plant can continue to produce fresh tomatoes every day for up to six years after this rather rapid growth period.
Lettuce
Five months’ supply of lettuce can be obtained from one seed package. You’ll save on average about $43.52 a year compared to grocery store prices.
Lettuce can be started inside for transplanting or directly sown in your garden plot. One of the few crops that may be cultivated year-round in the UK, it should be sheltered and harvested at reduced sizes during hotter months.
Broccoli
It takes broccoli eight to twelve weeks to mature and become suitable for harvest. You will save money and receive two pounds of broccoli from each plant.
Here are 10 important tips to get you started:
Location Matters
Most vegetables grow best in full sun– especially fruit-bearing crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. Pick a spot that gets at least 8 hours of direct sun daily.
Invest in the Soil
Few gardeners are blessed with such good soil that they can just dig and plant. Some soil is clayish, causing poor drainage and difficult root growth. Some soil is sandy, which dries almost as fast as you water it.
Consider Raised Beds
Growing in beds that are 4’ wide, and built up 4″ – 6″ above grade level ensures good drainage and encourages good root growth. Most people build boxes of stone, blocks, brick, recycled plastic timbers, or rot-resistant wood to contain the soil.
Plant in Blocks, Not Rows
Traditionally vegetable gardens are planted in straight rows with room between to walk. This layout requires season-long hoeing to keep the rows free of weeds. A better idea, especially on a small plot, is to plant in blocks with the same spacing in all directions.
Varieties Make a Huge Difference
The fancy names you see on seed packets (‘Big Boy’ tomatoes, ‘County Fair’ cucumbers, ‘King Arthur’ peppers, for example) aren’t just cutesy variations of the same thing.
It’s Not Just a May Thing
Many beginner gardeners think “planting the vegetable garden” is a one-day affair, done right after the threat of frost is gone in spring, earlier in warm winter zones. That’s good timing for season-long warm-weather crops including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons, but it’s too late for crops that prefer cool weather.
Consistent Water
Water is the magic ingredient in vegetable gardening. Lack of it causes the intense growth of vegetables to short-circuit, and if the soil gets dry enough results in wilting. The plants may die of thirst or at the least yield will be compromised. Water is often enough that the soil is always moist, but more is needed that it becomes soggy. Add sufficient water so that the soil is damp to the root zone.
Control Those Weeds
Weeds compete for nutrients and moisture in the garden. Yank them as soon as any emerge and definitely before they go to seed. Better yet, put down a light layer of mulch of chopped leaves or straw between plants to suppress weeds and conserve moisture.
Control Bugs and Disease
Assorted bugs and diseases target different vegetables, lessening yield or rendering them inedible. The most effective pest strategy is to select seeds or plants of natural bug and disease-resistant varieties in the first place, so do your homework.
Be Prepared for Animals