Making your own vegetable garden can be a great, sustainable way to get fresh vegetables on the regular.
There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing your garden grow and flourish, and what’s more, you get to eat those nutritious plants afterwards!
Though making your veggie garden can be a little tough at the start, knowing the right tips will get your garden thriving and growing before you know it.
Start small
Even if you plan on expanding your garden to a big veggie patch brimming with greens, always aim for small goals and perfect the little patch first.
Pick the easy veggies first
Choose vegetables that are high and long-yielding, grow quickly, and that you know you’ll eat. Radish, lettuce and spinach all grow quickly, while other leafy vegetables have much longer yields. Heirloom variety vegetables are also less resource-intensive, so they’re perfect for beginners.
Companion planting
Certain plants make excellent companions to others, leading to better growth and quality. A lot of companion planting is trial and error, but there are a few companions that have been known to help. Cabbage works well with beets or bush beans, and carrots go great with onion or lettuce. Browse a companion planting chart to get an idea of which plants work well together.
Location and soil
Make sure you plant your seeds in location suitable to their variety. The seed packets often tell you how much sun the plant will need. Many vegetables need half a day’s worth of direct sunlight to thrive. Ensure the soil you’re planting them in is soft soil, and use compost to get those extra nutrients. Drainage should also be considered — make sure water doesn’t drain too quickly, but that it also doesn’t collect on top.
Composting/worm farms
Recycle organic waste and scraps by building your own compost bin – the earth will thank you for it! Once compost has broken down, you can add it to your garden soil, thereby helping to provide your veggies with essential nutrients and moisture. Worm farms and bokashi buckets are also great for those who are space-poor.
Space your crops
Make sure you’re giving your plants plenty of space to grow. Clumping plants together — particularly ones that may antagonise one another — will only be wasted effort.
Maintain
Nothing kills your veggie patch faster than poor maintenance. Even if you’ve only got a small patch, you should make sure you’re sticking with upkeep, pruning, weeding, trimming grass surrounding the patch, regular watering and soil analysis.
James’ Home Services offers quality gardening maintenance — we can help beginners with keeping their lawn looking fresh and trimmed as well as checking on any veggie gardens in the making.
