Choose what to grow

What would you like to see growing in your garden? You could plant leafy greens for salads, herbs for cooking, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini (courgettes) – even giant pumpkins. Identify a handful of crops that can be grown in your area and that you, your family and friends would most enjoy – foods that you’ll feel satisfied to collect, consume and share when the time comes.

Take into consideration when you plan to start growing. Cool-weather crops can take a frost and like being planted in early spring or in the fall. Some plants in this group are radishes, lettuce, spinach, kale, collards, peas, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Warm-weather crops are best planted in late spring and early summer. These include tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, melons, beans and okra.

Plants mature at different rates. Lettuce, cucumbers and zucchini plants can begin producing in about 50 days. Tomatoes and peppers can take about 70 to 100 days. Each plant variety grows at its own pace. The key is to start counting the days once the seed germinates and breaks the surface. In as little as 30 days after germination, you could be pulling up and eating your first homegrown radishes.

Plants that take longer to mature and produce, such as pepper or tomato plants, are often introduced to gardens as transplants, or young plants that you can purchase from a nursery. But most of the vegetables I’ve listed can be planted as seeds. A pack of seeds is inexpensive, and they last for years if placed in a sealed container.

Decide what kind of garden you want

If you have some open space, you can get started planting on a spot right in the ground, also known as an earth bed or in-ground bed. Over time, you can use amendments – things you add to the growing area, such as composts, peat moss or other organic matter – to improve the soil structure, but that is not necessary for getting started.

If you don’t have space on the ground for a garden or just want to start smaller, you can also grow in containers – placed on a deck, patio, balcony, windowsill or even in a driveway. These can be used to grow just about any vegetable, provided they are large enough for what you want to grow (I’ll discuss this further below).

A raised bed, or a framed structure that sits on the ground with an open bottom, has some advantages over other types. It addresses potential drainage issues by raising the growing area above the ground, and it allows you to concentrate any amendments. A taller raised bed can also be helpful if you have back or knee issues. That being said, creating a raised bed can be a more involved process, so for the purposes of this Guide, I will focus mostly on earth beds and containers.

Choose a location

Garden plants need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight for optimal growth. The easiest way to ensure they will get this is to test a location where you’re thinking of placing your garden. If you can, check that location hourly from 8 am until 6 pm, making note of whether the sun is directly shining on it during that hour. If the sunlight exposure totals more than 6 hours, you will have enough.

If you’re going to plant in the ground, you also want an area that drains well. After a hard rain, check the area you’ve identified. If there is no prolonged period during which water is pooling and sitting there, that spot will be just fine.

Create a planting area

If you’re creating an earth bed: you can start with an area that measures about 4 ft wide and 4 ft or more lengthwise (roughly 120 cm x 120 cm). Later, it will be important to avoid walking in the planting area and compacting the soil, and these dimensions should allow you to tend the entire garden without stepping in it. You can extend your planting area anytime during the season.

Do you already have grass and weeds growing in the space you’ve identified for your garden? If so, that space will likely grow food. Each year, as your garden develops, you can build up and improve the soil in your garden beds and replace nutrients. But these are skills you can learn over time. To keep it simple, you can plant your crops right in the ground you walk on.

This typically requires that you take a shovel and dig out the top layer of grass, removing the grass roots. Then, you can create a simple row of mounded soil, using soil from your yard or bagged garden soil, which you can purchase. When you form the mound shape, the middle of the bed should be about 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) taller than the edges of the bed. In this video, I show what a basic earth bed looks like – one that I used to plant cherry tomatoes – and share additional, optional steps for preparing the soil. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to create a bed without digging into your ground, you can use a layer of cardboard as the foundation for a ‘no dig’ bed, as I illustrate in this video.

If you’ve decided to use a container: you’ll want to choose the right size. Smaller containers, 3-5 gallons (13-22 litres), are perfect for herbs and leafy greens. If you get a container that holds at least 20 gallons (90 litres) of soil, you can grow peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans and much more. The key is having one that is large enough to match the needs of a fully mature plant. Containers can be made out of plastic, metal, fabric, clay (terracotta pots) and even concrete. You can find these at any store that has a garden centre. Look for a container that has a drainage hole in the bottom, and choose the type that best fits your own style. Then, fill your container with potting mix, which you can purchase in bags. To save money, when planting in containers, I have also used a half-and-half combination of potting mix and regular soil.

Start adding fertiliser

To fertilise your plants and help them grow, you have two general options: slow-release organic fertiliser and water-soluble fertiliser. Many gardeners use both.

Slow-release organic fertilisers: use these at planting time. They are basically all the same with respect to ingredients, so pick a bag that best fits your budget. Fertiliser bags come with instructions to help you get started, but typically these fertilisers get mixed into the planting hole or scattered across the top of a garden bed. Microbes slowly break down the ingredients into forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that the plants can use over the course of the growing season. This type of fertiliser is also sometimes used midway through the growth of the plant.

Water-soluble fertilisers: these can be used throughout the growing season. They are fast acting, immediately providing nutrients to plants. This type of fertiliser is mixed in water (follow package instructions) and usually poured on plants and seeds when they are first planted and again two or three times through the year, in earth and raised beds. For container gardening, water-soluble fertilisers can be used once or twice a month depending on the size of the plants.

Plant your vegetables

The specifics of how you plant a vegetable will depend on what you’re growing, and where. Plant spacing and row spacing, for example, can vary depending on the plant variety that you choose and how you are growing it. A seed pack will come with instructions to assist you. But to give you a general idea, here is a list of 10 popular vegetable plants, along with some information on when and how to place them in a bed or container.

For more details, you can consult plant-specific instructions or check out videos that demonstrate how to plant particular vegetables – such as this video I made on planting carrots in an earth bed, or this one where I start a tomato, pepper and herb garden in containers.

Water your plants

When seeds or transplants are first planted, they should be watered three or four times a week for about two weeks. This ensures that they establish well. Watering after that depends on how big the plants are, how hot it is, and how much rain your garden gets. The bottom line is that you will have to water your plants several times each week, and even more in the middle of summer. When you notice the soil is drying on top, dig down about an inch. If it is dark and damp there, you’re good; if it is a lighter colour and on the dry side, it’s time to water. Containers can give up their moisture quickly, so if you are using one, you might need to water your plants twice daily when they are mature.

The time I spend watering my plants is often time I use to reflect on the growth and success of the garden. This frequent activity is also a chance to exercise mindfulness. I listen to the flow of the water, see it saturating the soil, feel it as it splashes and even taste it. My thoughts focus on newly germinated seeds or plants that are maturing and producing fruit. I notice the colours of what’s growing, the songs of nearby birds or the buzzing of insects. Though watering can seem like a chore on the surface, it is an opportunity to practise being present. Other garden tasks can be used in this way, too.

Mulch the garden

Mulching – adding a layer of material over the soil – keeps weeds down, but more importantly it keeps moisture in the soil. Moist soil not only helps the plant thrive but supports active soil life. Worms and microbes love consistently moist soil, and in return, they help create a suitable growing environment for your plant’s root systems. Wait until your plants are several inches tall, then mulch your garden with grass clippings, hay or straw, or shredded hardwood. All you need is about 1 or 2 inches (2.5-5 cm) of mulch to start. Over the season, if it seems to settle, you can add another inch.

Take notes and enjoy the process

There is a learning curve with gardening, so expect that things won’t go perfectly. As with many pursuits in life, you improve through trial and error. The key is to learn from any setbacks – seeking advice from other gardeners, online or in person, about the issues you notice – and to make changes to your approach as needed. Pests and plant diseases are among the common challenges that you might face at some point. They come to all gardens, so don’t blame yourself when they arrive. Research what the typical problems are in your area and the best ways to address them.

Take note of which plant varieties seem to do really well in your garden and which don’t grow as well as you wanted. It’s also worth noting your planting dates so that you can adjust forward or backward the next year, based on how well the plants do. Referring to these notes will help you improve your garden year after year.

Remember, if only half of what you plant grows, that still leaves you with plenty to enjoy. And it is a wonderful feeling to share the harvest – something you have grown – with others. For me, nothing beats the taste of fresh-picked vegetables, the memories of picking produce with my kids, or the joy and appreciation I’ve seen when dropping off some cucumbers and tomatoes for my neighbours. The benefits extend well beyond the activity of growing food.