Who else tried new things in 2020? If ever there was a year to get things done that you always wanted to do! We have lived in our house for nine years and I always said I wanted to have a little veggie garden. I made it happen last April and wanted to share now in case you, too, want to try it this year! I’ll be starting on my garden this year in the next few weeks! Let me preface that I am not an expert and we do a lot of things around here by just DOING! Last year’s veggie garden was a success, and I learned a few things along the way. Here’s how to create a beginner vegetable garden with a few easy steps!
Choosing a Space
First up, you don’t need a huge space for a beginner garden! After assessing our situation, I ultimately decided this little cut out space on the east facing side of the house would be great for morning sun. We don’t really use this side of the yard and it’s kind of tucked away in between two bump outs. It’s also kind of hidden behind a large pine tree in our front berm. This space also didn’t need a lot of prep as there wasn’t any grass left here to dig up. We simply prepped the space by removing any weeds, chunks of grass, and rocks. Steve smoothed out the space using a rake.
Choosing Your Vegetables
After the space was prepped, I headed to Home Depot to shop for what to plant in the garden. We obviously don’t have a huge space, but it surprisingly worked so well! I ended up grabbing kale, peppers, basil, jalapeños, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, cilantro, strawberries, and a watermelon plant (per Kate’s request).
We made two rows and spaced out the plants evenly. Everything grew in so full! I learned last year is that I don’t need multiple pepper and jalapeño plants. These produced more than we could use! I will just grab one plant of each this year! We use a lot of green onions and lettuce, so I might grab two each of those. The main takeaway is that I bought too much last year!
Planting the Veggies
Once we decided where we wanted the plants to be placed, I started digging little trenches for each one with a handheld spade. Take the plants out of the plastic, drop in the hole, and cover with soil. We have a compost bin that produces rich soil, so I knew this veggie garden was the perfect place to use some of it! If you don’t have a compost bin, any garden soil should work. Use this to cover up the plants.
After the plants are in the ground, I added an entire layer of compost soil over the top. You can see some of the egg shells and other items from he compost – all good stuff for your veggies! To water the garden, I hand watered with the hose. We also have a sprinkler system that would hit the veggies too!
I’ve never been a person who wears gloves. Getting your hands dirty is just part of the fun! This is a good place to get your kids in on the action too!
Protecting the Garden
Because we chose to make our beginner vegetable garden in the ground instead of in a raised bed, we know we needed to come up with a way to protect the plants from critters. We live in the suburbs, so deer and other large animals aren’t a problem, but we do have all the bunnies out here! Steve helped me install some tree stakes and chicken wire to keep the animals out. We basically purchased five tree stakes and a roll of chicken wire at the hardware store. He pounded the tree stakes in with a mallet.
After the four corners were staked (with one extra in the middle), we wrapped chicken wire around and secured with some metal clips. The house creates a good backdrop, so we only had to worry about three sides. The chicken wire is tall enough to keep the bunnies out, but short enough to step over to get into the garden, or to lean over to cut and grab.
We never had any issues with critters! I wasn’t sure going into it how that would work, but I’m happy to report it did! Bugs were rarely an issue either! If we ever did see any, I used this product which is safe to use on food.
Harvesting the Veggies
This is the fun part! Seeing your care and efforts produce actual food! It is so satisfying to just head to your garden to grab items to make dinner/apps/etc! Get your kids involved too!
Is this the year you will start a beginner vegetable garden? As you can see, you really don’t need a lot of space! We created this in a few hours time and it was so worth it. We live in Kansas, so I feel comfortable planting a garden in late April/early May. Just be sure to check in your area when is the the best time to plant a garden based on your weather!
One last tip! I kept those little stakes near the plant in the beginning so we could remember what they were! Be sure to follow on Instagram! I’ll take you along on the 2021 veggie garden too! Happy gardening! XO
We started a garden last year too. I learned one cucumber plant is more than enough and we added marigolds in between plants which helped with bugs. After reading this I think I’ll add green onions and cherry tomatoes this year. Our most used items last year were rosemary, thyme and jalapeño
Good idea on the marigolds!! The green onions actually survived the winter and are growing again!