Now is a perfect time to start that vegetable garden that you have always dreamed about. It is understandably overwhelming to begin this process if you have never tended to a garden before. Fortunately, doing your research and planning prior to getting started will go a long way in ensuring the success of your garden. Here are five tips for starting your own vegetable garden.
Start Small
When just starting out on your gardening journey, you want to be careful to not bite off more than you can chew. A good size to shoot for as a beginner is 10 feet by 10 feet. This is generally enough room to plant approximately five different types of vegetables, giving you sufficient variety without overwhelming you. Starting small will allow you to keep on top of the maintenance and learn all the tricks of cultivating a flourishing garden. Once you master a season of growing, you can consider expanding your garden in size and in variety.
Grow What You Will Eat
The whole point of starting a garden is to be able to enjoy your own fresh vegetables. This makes it important that you actually grow food that you know that you will eat. Picking foods that you love for your first garden will ensure that it does not go to waste, improving your satisfaction with the whole gardening process.
You need to realistically consider how much your family will eat when deciding how much to plan for a particular crop. Many beginner gardeners overestimate how many seeds they will need to produce a crop. This often leads to too much crop and causes spacing problems in the garden.
Consult with a Professional
If you are unsure about how to get started on your vegetable garden, you may consider consulting a professional. If you live in the Washington area, for example, the landscaping services in Battle Ground, WA are a good choice if you want expert and friendly advice about what specific types of vegetables grow best in your area and how you can nurture them so that you get the most out of your crop.
If you live in a drier climate it would be a good idea to ask landscaping services in your area to know which vegetables will grow in your particular climate. An expert will also be able to look at your unique growing space and provide recommendations based on that specific information. Do not leave the results of all your efforts to chance. A professional is an invaluable resource when looking to grow your first crop of vegetables.
Be Smart with Your Space
A significant predictor of the success of your garden is its location. Factors to consider include its access to water, the amount of sunlight that space receives, and the protection the location provides from weather elements such as wind.
If you are short on space, you are going to need to be creative with the area that you have. Rather than going with traditional rows of crops, you may choose raised beds to maximize your space. Savvy gardeners also understand the role that going up vertically with your crops can provide. By using vertical supports, you can grow exponentially more crops than by simply spreading out.
Track Your Crops
One of the best things that you can do is to keep a record of your gardening progress. Taking notes about what you planted, how much you needed for a particular amount of harvest, tips that yielded good results, and things that did not work will help you for the following years.
Do not rely on your memory alone as the only tool in your arsenal. This careful kind of observation and detailed record-keeping will help you to devise a successful plan going forward into the next planting season. Unlike professional gardening books or advice, your personal experiences are unique to your specific garden, soil conditions, and skill level. This detail makes this approach more valuable than other sources of information.
Conclusion
Growing your own vegetables provides numerous benefits. Not only will you save money by growing your own produce, but you will also see immense health advantages. In addition, gardening allows you to spend time in the beauty of the great outdoors as you tend to your harvest. Once you enjoy the fruits of your labor, you will never want to go back to conventional vegetables again.
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