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How to Have a Vegetable Garden and Travel

By julia dimakos.

This gardening year is turning out to be unlike any I’ve had since my passion for gardening began.

Nasturtiums in your travellers veggie garden.

Here we are in early spring and by this point, my grow shelves would be filling up with seedlings of onions, leeks, celery, celeriac, kohlrabi, peppers (both hot and sweet), eggplant, lavender, flowers, herbs and many others. However this year, our basement is being renovated and my grow shelves have been tucked away and stored until the work is done. In addition, our family has plans to travel this summer, so I won’t be around to check on and tend to my garden as I have in the past.

Will these challenges stop me from having a vegetable garden? No way! This year will be filled with learning experiences and adaptations, as I look forward to this challenge.

Read on to see what I will do differently this gardening season and learn how you too can have a garden and travel.

Grow dry beans in your traveller’s garden.

The first thing you want to do, when planning your traveller’s garden is to decide when you will be travelling and for how long. This is an important step. The period of time you will be away will determine which vegetables are appropriate for growing during that time, based on crop maturity, harvest period, watering needs and more. In addition, some crops require more attendance than others.

Then decide how much work you would like to take on, after you return. Do you want to be inundated with a large harvest, that keeps you grounded in the garden? Or would you like a smaller more easy harvest, which is not time sensitive or you risk your crops going to seed or passing maturity. If your garden is large, you may choose to limit how much you grow in your space. If your garden is small, you may choose to fill the space with a variety of different crops, or only plant a few large, space hogging crops, like pumpkins, squash or cabbages.

If you decide to plant less and have garden space left over, don’t leave your beds unplanted and unattended. Instead, select a mulch and cover any unused beds to create a weed barrier and protection against soil erosion. Any exposed soil may be vulnerable to penetrating sun, winds, rain and the spread of weed seeds. Some examples of mulches may be straw, biodegradable plastic film, shredded leaves, and grass clippings.

Once you decide on the size of your garden, sketch out your garden either on a grid , blank sheet of paper or garden planner app. Be sure to label all of the beds with their corresponding crop.

Here are a few vegetable ideas to consider, when planning out your traveller’s vegetable garden:

• Vegetables with a long window until maturity, considering the time period you will be away (early summer, mid-summer, late summer) – beans, squash, pumpkins, ground cherry, popcorn, luffa, gourds, cucamelon, carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, leeks, garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, celeriac, celery, herbs like parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, lavender and flowers .
• Plants that don’t require a lot of work and attention after planting – pumpkins, squash, ground cherry, parsnips, popcorn, beans
• Plants that don’t require a lot of watering after planting – pumpkins, squash, onions, garlic, leeks, beets, parsnips, carrots
• Plants that don’t require a lot of attention – squash, pumpkins, onions, leeks, popcorn, beans, garlic, ground cherry, luffa, gourds, carrots, beets, celeriac, collards

Rainbow carrots are a great vegetable to consider

Cucamelon growing in my traveller’s garden.

Keep in mind the time period you will be away. If you will be away the first half of summer, some vegetables may mature before your return and become damaged. For example, garlic is typically ready for harvest towards the middle to end of July. If you miss this window, then the garlic bulbs will become overripe, causing the skins to thin out and split. Garlic that is harvested late won’t store well. Also, the garlic scape needs to be removed from each garlic stalk, or your garlic bulbs won’t reach their optimum size. Early potatoes also need to be harvested during the first half of summer. If you plan on being away, plant late maturing varieties.

Squash growing in a traveller’s garden.

If you plan on being away the second half of summer, different vegetables need to be considered. Salad greens, peas, asian greens, green onions and other late spring/early summer varieties may be planted and harvested before leaving for your holiday.

Don’t forget to add flowers to your traveller’s garden. The pollinator’s will appreciate it, helping your crops with their pollinating needs. Certain flowers varieties mature during the first half of summer and other ones during the second half. Consider your travel schedule and plant the appropriate flowers. It’s so lovely to return home to a garden filled with colour and ready to pick bouquets to brighten your home.

What shouldn’t you plant?

Vegetables that reach maturity quickly and go to seed if the crop isn’t harvested regularly. There’s nothing worse than working so hard to plant your garden, then leaving on a trip, to come back to an overrun garden, filled with crops that have gone to seed. It’s important to have realistic expectations when travelling. You can’t plant everything you’d like, but you can plant many things, based on your travelling schedule. Vegetables like lettuces, spinach, mustards, asian greens, claytonia, radish, cucumbers, zucchini, peas, basil, dill, chervil and cilantro , all mature quickly and go to seed if they’re not harvested. It’s best to leave these crops for another gardening year, when you will be around and able to harvest them.

What to do to prepare your planting beds?

Directions:

• Create your garden plan – which crops will you be planting?
• Map out your garden on a grid , garden planning app or blank sheet of paper.
• Set up a drip irrigation system on a timer, which will run once a week for several hours, in all your garden beds.
• If you started your seeds indoors, be sure to harden off your seedlings prior to transplanting them into the garden.
• Transplant your seedlings into their designated garden beds/locations. (see my post “The Ultimate Guide to Seed Starting” , for specific instructions on starting your seeds indoors)
• Mulch all beds to protect them from moisture loss and weed growth.
• Tend to your beds until you leave for your holiday and harvest anything that reaches maturity, before you leave.
• Enjoy your trip, knowing your garden is ok and will be there when you return!

Final Tips: Find a friend to stop by the garden once a week or less often, to observe for any pests, weather damage, plant disease, etc. – Reward: to help themselves to any harvests! Your plants will reward you by producing more.

Mid-summer blooming Sweet Pea Flowers.

I used to think that it would be very difficult to travel and have a vegetable garden. I always put a lot of work into my garden every summer and I couldn’t imagine leaving it. But the time has come for me to step away and enjoy a family vacation. As a result, I’ve had to shift my mindset and find another way to have a successful vegetable garden while travelling.

As my father always taught me, “Life is not a rehearsal”. When opportunity presents itself, we need to take that opportunity to make memories with the ones we love. Although I love my vegetable garden, I need to sacrifice what I will be growing. I may not be able to grow all that I want, but my mind is open for a change this year. My modo is gardening should be fun and an escape. If it becomes stressful, then we need to make it less stressful. I’m excited about the change this year and I look forward to learning from the experience. You too can have a garden and travel. Whatever grows is better than not growing anything at all. Just enjoy the experience!

Happy Gardening!

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Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience. Honestly learned a lot from it. I have bookmarked it. But Pumpkin, ground cherry, popcorn, beans these plants don’t need a lot of attention but it takes me a long time to grow these plants what kind of problem?

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Julia Dimakos

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When to Start Planting Vegetables in Your Garden, a Month-by-Month Guide

Here are the best times to plant, water, harvest, and enjoy.

Madaline Sparks is a landscape and garden designer with over 20 years of experience. She is also a home and garden freelance writer who wrote for Real Simple starting in 2000. Madaline is the principal and owner of New York-based Madaline Sparks Garden Design. Highlights: * Over 20 years of experience in landscape and garden design * Owner and principal of Madaline Sparks Garden Design * Former contributing garden editor at Real Simple, for 14 years * Garden columnist at Rural Intelligence * Vice President, Board of Directors for Spencertown Academy Art Center

As the saying goes, timing is everything—and that's certainly true when it comes to vegetable gardening. Unless you are utilizing a year-round indoor garden system to grow your vegetables, determining the right time to start seeds and to plant outdoors is essential. Following a month-by-month to-do list can mean the difference between a happy harvest and a heartbreaking one. One important note: Since the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map divides North America into 13 separate zones —each zone is 10 degrees higher (or lower) during an average winter than the adjacent zone—the correct start dates vary for different parts of the country. (The timeline featured here is roughly based on the timing for zone eight.) The best way to determine the exact timing for your garden is to ask the county cooperative extension in your area for a localized calendar. (Contact info is available at extension.org .) Now, get growing!

The bottom line: The more prep work you do now, the better your plants will fare.

Whether you're gearing up to plant a new vegetable garden or make improvements to one you already have, start by creating a map with the outline of your beds. Sketch out your arrangement for the coming season; remember that crops need to rotate every year. Get in the habit of saving and dating the maps from year to year: You'll have a convenient record of what was planted where and when. Jot down notes on the back of the maps as reminders of successes and failures to help steer you on what to plant the next year.

Starting plants from seed? Peruse catalogs and order early, because popular varieties can sell out. Keep an eye out for words like "new" and "improved"—in this case, not just a marketing gimmick—to take advantage of research advances in disease resistance, flavor, and fruiting.

If you want to begin with seedlings that are ready to be transplanted, make a shopping list of what you'll buy at the nursery when the time comes. Newbies should ask for recommendations about which vegetables are easiest to grow; begin with a small assortment and add to the selection as you gain confidence and experience.

The bottom line: While it's too early to start planting most vegetables, there are tasks you can take on inside and outside.

Finish up your seed orders. When the seeds arrive, read the instructions on the packets and make a chart of what date to start each variety, working backward from the last frost date for your area. Germination rates—how long it takes a plant to go from seed to the first sign of leaves—vary, and in order to have the little guys ready to plant, you must start them at the right time. To keep your information straight, write down your ideal planting day for each seed on a sticky note, attach it to the individual packet, and organize the seeds in chronological order in a card file.

To prep for seed starting, hit the stores and stock up on enough of the right growing mix, seed trays, and peat pots (or whatever other method you plan to use). It's also a good time to explore different outdoor planter options.

Make sure you have the necessary tools; fill in any gaps in your collection and clean and sharpen the tools you already own. The essentials: a round-headed shovel, a garden spade and fork, a scuffle hoe, a dirt rake, a bypass pruner, a trowel, a garden thermometer, and a wheelbarrow. Invest in a new garden hose if your current one looks worse for wear. Gloves and—c'mon, you know you love 'em—garden shoes complete the list.

Outside: If the ground is workable, plant bare root perennial vegetables like asparagus, artichoke, horseradish, and rhubarb.

Inside: Start seeds for cool-season vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, and onions.

The bottom line: Since this month's weather tends to be unpredictable, have row covers ready for any late-season frosts or freezes that might damage perennials.

Outside: Most vegetables prefer slightly acidic soil (6.0 to 6.8 pH); pick up a pH test kit at a garden center to make sure yours is in the right range. No such luck? Make adjustments as recommended on the package, using organic matter to increase or decrease the soil's acidity. Even if your test is good, you should amend the soil—e.g., add conditioners, such as compost, peat moss, or coir (coconut fiber), that improve its texture—yearly, and give perennial vegetables a boost by "side dressing" it with organic compost or aged manure. (Scatter the fertilizer along the sides of a row of plants; turn it into the existing soil with a spading fork and rake it smooth.) If you're stuck with soil that's beyond saving, consider building raised beds instead and filling them with good soil.

Inside: Start seeds of warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, pumpkin, snap beans, squash, and sweet corn.

Use a garden thermometer to determine if the soil temperature is at or above 40 F. When it gets there, start planting (or "setting out," in garden lingo) the seeds you've started for cool-season crops: kale, lettuce, spinach, and onions.

At the end of the month, plant peas. If the ground is wet and muddy, hold off so you don't destroy the soil by working in it too soon.

The bottom line: The weather can still work against you—keep those row covers handy in case of a nighttime cold snap—otherwise you should be getting into full swing.

Check soil temperature regularly with your thermometer. When it consistently registers at 60 F or above, you have the go-ahead to plant some warm-season crops.

If you didn't start your own seeds, buy transplants and seedlings of early-season crops like radishes, spinach, onions, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, beets, peas, Brussels sprouts, and carrots.

Begin setting out your early-season crops. Try to pick an overcast day to minimize transplant shock—the stress that occurs when plants are moved from a cushy greenhouse environment to the harsh real world. Be sure to water well at planting time. When finished, add a two- to three-inch layer of mulch to suppress weeds and keep in moisture.

For greens, sow seeds directly in the garden where they'll grow. Plant them in succession, every few weeks, for a continuous harvest through the season.

Until newly transplanted seedlings develop root systems, make sure they don't dry out or you'll lose them. And stay on top of weeds, catching them before they begin to spread. Use a natural weed killer for vegetable gardens.

The bottom line: Take advantage of higher temps, longer days, and moist soil to do the bulk of your remaining plantings. But resist the temptation to plant more than you can reasonably take care of as the season advances.

Check soil temperatures for readings consistently above 70 F to know when to plant heat-loving crops like tomatoes and peppers. Confirm that you have the gear you need, such as a good watering can , to water the garden: As temperatures rise, consistent moisture will be of the utmost importance.

You can continue (or start) planting any early-season crops, plus tomatoes, squash, melons, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, cucumbers, potatoes, and herbs. Water and mulch any new transplants with care.

If choosing to sow directly in the garden, start your carrots, beets, and radishes. Don't mulch these areas until seedlings are up several inches and have been thinned (you've sorted out the small, damaged, or overcrowded seedlings).

Follow packet instructions for proper spacing of the crops that were direct-sown and thin the seedlings accordingly.

Watch for insect damage on leaves (missing notches, holes, pits, or stripped stems). When you spy signs of trouble, control the situation by removing the affected leaves, employing a row cover to create a barrier, or spraying or dusting with an organic pesticide. Consult a garden center or extension service for a recommendation of the best action.

Cool-season plants like asparagus, peas, and spring greens will be getting ready for harvest. (P.S. The more you harvest, the more they produce!)

The bottom line: Full speed ahead! Through the next few months, your focus will be on maintenance and harvest.

Early in the month, finish getting any warm-season vegetables into the ground. Direct sow the warm-season crops you plan to grow in place. Continue to thin seedlings of direct-sown crops that were planted earlier.

As your plants shoot up, be prepared with staking materials; you'll need plenty of bamboo stakes at different heights to keep your crops from succumbing to gravity.

About one month after planting, side-dress crops with organic compost. If you didn't use mulch, get out there with a scuffle hoe and attack the weeds.

Harvest during times of the day with lower temperatures—early morning or evening—when plants are least stressed. Continue to pick greens, peas, beans, and herbs. Stop harvesting asparagus and rhubarb, which need to rebuild their food reserves to produce a good crop again next year.

The bottom line: You can't slack off completely, but get ready for the big payoff.

Extend the season with a late harvest of beans, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, and other cold-season crops. Where you have room, cultivate and amend the soil with compost before direct sowing seeds or planting seedlings.

Remove suckers—the growth between the main stem and the leaf—on tomato plants and pull out any finished early-season crops. Continue staking tomatoes and other plants as necessary.

Water in the early morning—the best time to reduce evaporation. Try to water the soil, not the leaves, to reduce fungal disease. Be sure to maintain consistent moisture so fruit develops successfully. (Drought-stressed plants are more susceptible to fungi and insect trouble.) Check mulch, topping off areas that have thinned. And weed away; weeds rob plants of water and nutrients.

Harvest daily. If there's too much of a good thing, share your bounty. Use an old plastic laundry basket to collect produce that is ready to be picked, and hose off the contents outside—it'll act as a giant colander.

The bottom line: It's the dog days of summer, and both you and the garden need a break. Kick back and enjoy.

Make some notes about your successes and failures. (You may not remember those ravishing radishes or sickly heirloom tomatoes come January when you start to plan next year's garden.)

If you haven't planted for the fall harvest yet (see July), it's not too late to start now.

Monitor moisture, insects, and disease; if there's an issue, deal with it right away. Pick up and discard fallen or decaying fruit—leaving it encourages diseases and insects.

Keep picking! Cut fresh herbs for freezing or drying to use over the winter.

The bottom line: With the weather getting less predictable, your priority is to protect tender plants such as tomatoes from frost with sheets or covers to keep them ripening on the vine as long as possible.

As temperatures lower, this is a good time to dig and prepare new beds for the spring or build additional raised beds and fill them with amended soil.

Pot up selections of your favorite, healthiest herbs in planters to bring inside for the winter. Continue planting cool-season vegetables for winter harvest.

Keep pulling up finished plants and discarding fallen or rotten fruit to discourage overwintering of insect larvae (meaning they stay alive underground through the cold months ahead). Check that the mulch is layered thick enough on cold-season crops.

Some plants will keep producing even through light frosts. Others will continue only if protected overnight with covers. Green tomatoes can be picked and wrapped individually in newspaper and stored in a cool spot (55-60°F) to ripen. If frost is predicted nightly and your tomato plants are covered with unripe fruit, you can pull the whole plant up by the roots and hang it upside down in a protected place like a garage, where the fruit will continue to ripen on the vine. Promptly remove any tomatoes that go bad.

The bottom line: Mother Nature will dictate what you can accomplish. If the weather holds, then, by all means, plug away. But if winter-like weather is upon you, prioritize and do what you can.

Continue planting cool-season crops like beets, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, chives, celery, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce, turnips, and Swiss chard.

Protect new seedlings and winter crops from weather extremes using floating row covers, which are made of lightweight polyester that "floats" on plants. Pull out and rake away garden debris; rake leaves out of beds and add to a compost pile. Compost anything that is not diseased or infested with insects. Store garden supplies and potions in a dry place. Remove, dismantle, and store stakes and cages that were erected for plant support.

Dig up potatoes and store in a dark place with low humidity, and pick winter squashes and pumpkins before a hard freeze. Keep harvesting fall crops like beets, cabbage, chard, and leeks.

The bottom line: Weather permitting, you may still get in some garden time. The more you do now, the easier it all becomes in the spring.

Order seed catalogs for January planning.

Continue watering cool-season vegetable plants if rainfall isn't enough. Feed vegetable plants with a water-soluble organic fertilizer (like fish emulsion) every two weeks.

Cut asparagus plants to the ground as soon as the foliage has turned yellow or brown. Spread a few inches of aged manure or organic compost over the bed.

Harvest greens and other cool-season vegetables that are produced.

The bottom line: If you planted a winter garden, keep harvesting, weeding, and watering as needed. If you didn't, enjoy the holidays.

Frequently Asked Questions

Radishes, asparagus, leaf lettuce, garlic, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers are the best vegetables for beginners to grow. The first five veggies listed are cool-season vegetables, which can tolerate a bit of frost, so they can be planted earlier in the season. The warm-season vegetables—zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers—should be planted after the last frost in spring and harvested before the first frost in the fall.

Yes, climate is an important factor affecting when you should start a vegetable garden, because the growing season is dependent on your local climate. To determine when to start a vegetable garden, find out the first and last frost dates in your area and check the hardiness category of the vegetables you're planning to plant.

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16 Backyard Vegetable Garden Ideas for Beginners

If you’re on the hunt for vegetable garden ideas, look no further. Sowing vegetable garden ideas is an easy DIY project—whether it’s an herb garden or an edible flower garden —and you don’t have to have a green thumb to be successful.

There are plenty of beginner-friendly projects that make it easy to nurture and harvest your favorite foods, like lettuce, tomatoes, or cucumbers, in a matter of months. Just think, if you plant tomato seeds in May, you could be eating delicious salad by late summer. “There is nothing in the world as fresh, crisp, and tasty as a vegetable plucked and devoured in the same minute,” says Allison Vallin Kostovick , gardener and founder of Finch + Folly Farm in New Gloucester, Maine.

Still, before you start digging up soil and thinking up other backyard updates , consider these quick tips for best results.

Beginner gardening tips

“When starting off, look for bush, baby, or dwarf varieties as these are petite and grow great in beds and containers,” Vallin Kostovick recommends. It’s also good to be mindful of the season and temperature in your area as veggies, like peas and lettuce, adapt to cooler temperatures and are better suited for early spring. If you start planting in early summer, focus on beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers, Vallin Kostovick says.

To keep critters from getting into your crops, plant garlic or onion bulbs around your vegetable bed. “The green stalks emit an odor and a taste that bunnies and squirrels stay away from,” explains David Angelov, CEO and founder of PlantParenthood in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

Now that you know the basics, gather inspiration with these backyard vegetable garden ideas.

Small garden ideas

“For any new gardener, my best advice is to start small no matter what kind of garden you plant,” Vallin Kostovick says. This way, your garden will be more manageable as a first-timer and give you the opportunity to learn as you go. A small space in your backyard—about four-by-four feet or four-by-eight feet—is a perfect location for a raised bed and a great way to start growing all of your favorite veggies. If you’re planning to build your own beds, avoid pressure-treated woods, which are woods that have had water and preservatives forced into the lumber using high-pressure systems. “The chemicals seep into the soil and water that the plants drink,” Angelov warns.

1. A small single-variety garden

A small raised garden bed, about four-by-four feet, is the ideal size for four tomato plants. This should give the plants plenty of room to grow and allows you to add tomato cages to help the plants climb. Caring for a single-variety garden works great for a novice since you don’t have to worry about different sun and watering requirements.

2. Expanded raised-beds garden

When selecting your vegetable garden location, consider the landscape design the project could eventually become. As you get more comfortable with vegetable garden ideas, you can build more beds and expand the garden layout and types of vegetables each bed holds. With this layout, consider companion planting, which is the idea that you grow garden plants next to each other that benefit the other in some way.

Follow the old adage of “what goes together well in the kitchen, grows together well in the garden,” Vallin Kostovick says. For example, plants like lettuce and tomato grow well next to each other because as the tomatoes grow taller, they provide necessary shade for the lettuce.

3. A slender garden

Get the most out of every square foot and use more vertical or horizontal space to create a slender garden along a fence, wall, or other tighter area of your backyard. These types of gardens are suited for climbing plants like cucumbers, zucchini, and squash.

Easy to grow garden ideas

“Most veggies need full sun to grow happy,” Angelov says. If you’re new to the plant and vegetable world, know that some crops—tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, for instance—will grow easier than others.

According to Vallin Kostovick, some other beginner-friendly produce include beans, lettuce, peas, carrots, radish, herbs, summer squash, zucchini, and beets. Planting a garden with any of these vegetable plants can be a simple and stress-free way to start growing your own food.

Themed garden ideas

Vallin Kostovick suggests growing a garden with a specific theme, and it’s one of our favorite gardening tips. To get you started on some potential options, consider these veggie garden ideas:

1. A salad garden

Plant things like lettuce, peas, carrots, radish, cucumbers, and bush cherry tomato.

2. A culinary herb garden

Basil, oregano, thyme, sage, parsley, dill, and rosemary are all great choices for beginners, Vallin Kostovick says. Mint is another easy-to-grow herb, but it’s best to keep it in a separate container, like a window-sill box, since it can spread really easily.

3. A salsa garden

Salsa fans can plant hot peppers, bush tomatoes, cilantro, and onions. You’ll be churning out jars of homegrown salsa in no time.

4. A sauce garden

“Plant a sauce garden to take your pasta game to the next level,” Vallin Kostovick says. For a tasty sauce, grow a combination of bush tomatoes, basil, onions, and oregano.

5. Edible flower garden

Edible flowers like calendula, borage, violas, and nasturtium can be the perfect way to combine aesthetics with utility. Vallin Kostovick explains these plants can “add instant whimsy to anything from ice cubes to salads to baked goods.” Bonus: Flowering plants and herbs attract pollinators needed for a bountiful vegetable garden.

6. Companion planting garden

Companion planting is the idea that you grow garden plants next to each other that benefit one another in some way. Though there are plenty of combinations that could work, like non-competing radishes and carrots, consider picking your produce based on what will thrive together.

Alternative bed ideas

When you’re thinking about your garden design, don’t forget about alternative planting vessels. “I personally love using galvanized tubs,” Vallin Kostovick says. “Wooden crates and whiskey barrels are a great alternative as well.” She mentions you could even grow your vegetable crops in an old wheelbarrow or sink.

In general, look for larger pots or vessels since small ones will dry out quickly. You’ll want to make sure there is good drainage, and you have to consider the depth of the container depending on the type of veggie you’re growing. For example, root vegetables like carrots will need cavernous pots, usually 12 to 14 inches deep, but something like lettuce only needs 6 to 12 inches.

1. Galvanized tubs

One of Vallin Kostovick’s favorite vessels, this farmhouse aesthetic backyard garden leans heavily on rustic roots.

2. Vertical garden

If you don’t have a lot of space, but still want a home garden, consider a vertical design. This herb garden uses hanging planter bags to maximize space.

Two points for sustainability if you make a small vegetable garden like this one that recycles old water bottles to plant smaller leafy greens.

3. Container garden

For limited outdoor space, try a container garden. Perfect for balconies or backyards with little soil. Tomatoes, eggplants, and lettuce are just a few of the vegetables that can grow easily in pots.

4. Grow bags

Grow bags air-prune the plant’s roots, which means strong roots and healthier plants, Vallin Kostovick says. “Unlike terra-cotta pots, they’re more forgiving if you forget to water your vegetable garden.” Grow bags typically come with handles, should you need to move your plantings toward sunlight. They are also a favorite garden hack if you’re low on storage space. Emptying the bags is easy, and you can store them flat.

Decorative vegetable garden ideas

Spruce up your vegetable garden with decorative elements to enhance all the greenery. “A vegetable garden can be more than a plot of dirt or pot or two,” Vallin Kostovick says. “It can transform your yard with edible landscaping.

1. Chairs and seating

“Sitting in my garden and simply taking it all in is my favorite thing to do, so creating a nook to do just that is a must,” Vallin Kostovick says. A few outdoor lounge or deck chairs can quickly elevate your garden into a more intentional and relaxing space. Vallin Kostovick suggests keeping your seating moveable and non-permanent, at least until you have a chance to really live in that space for a bit, she notes.

String lights around raised beds add charm to a vegetable patch. Solar string lights, in particular, create an environment that beckons come evening.

A trellis, or an arbor, for vine growing plants like grapes and cucumbers add a “visual wow,” while being useful, Vallin Kostovick says. “It’s best placed on the north end of your garden,” she advises, noting that placement is important because the structure will cast a shadow.

How to Plan a Vegetable Garden: Perfect for Beginners

By: Author Courtney

Posted on December 29, 2023

Sharing is caring!

Are you ready to turn your patch of soil or empty patio space into a flourishing vegetable garden? Whether you’re a green thumb in training or a seasoned gardener, learning how to plan a vegetable garden is the first step towards growing a bountiful harvest. I’ll guide you through the process, providing easy-to-follow steps and tested advice that’s perfect for beginners because I was once a beginner, just like you. Get ready to dig in and discover how to transform your space into a thriving vegetable garden that can help you grow your own food right at home. 

“A failure to plan is a plan to fail,” are those words attributed to Benjamin Franklin and planning a vegetable garden requires just as much planning as the next task. Overall, making a vegetable garden plan will save you time, money, and sanity. 

Assess Your Space and Resources

Many gardeners want to jump into planting right away, especially if plants and seeds are already on hand. But it’s important to take a step back and assess your space and available resources. Understanding the unique characteristics of your garden area will help you make informed decisions when it comes to plant selection, layout, and maintenance. Factors you want to consider when starting to plan a garden, especially if this is your first year, include:

• Sunlight : Start by evaluating the amount of sunlight the area you’re planning for a garden receives. Most vegetables thrive in full sun (6+ hours). Observe your garden space throughout the day to identify any shady spots or areas that may be blocked by trees or structures. This information will be essential when deciding which vegetables to grow and where to place them within your garden.
• Soil Quality:  Next, consider the quality of your soil. Rich soil is the foundation of a successful vegetable garden. Take a handful of soil from different areas of your garden and perform a simple soil test. You can do this through your local Cooperative Extension office and many times of year this is free. You can also test to see if the soil has good drainage by following the instructions here. 
• Water Availability:  A nearby water source is another important factor to consider. Growing your own vegetables typically requires consistent moisture to produce a bountiful harvest. Evaluate your water source and determine if you have access to a reliable irrigation system or if you’ll be relying on manual watering methods. 
• Your Time:  Finally, don’t forget to consider your available time and energy when planning your garden. Vegetable gardens require regular care and maintenance, including watering, weeding, and pest management. While some of these tasks can certainly be streamlined and reduced with good gardening practices, be realistic about how much time and effort you can commit to your garden, especially if you’re a beginner. Starting small and gradually expanding your garden as you gain experience is a smart approach.

Another recommendation I have for planning a vegetable garden space is to create a Sun Map of your yard. This allows you to know exactly what areas get more sun and have the best access to water. Check out my post with full instructions of  How to Make a Sun Map . It’s easy to do and can pay off in dividends if you select the best spot for a garden the first time. 

This post may contain affiliate links, which simply means I may earn a commission off of links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my site!

​The Best Garden Type for You

If you already have a garden space going, then skip this section. For those who are planning a garden for the first time, you’ll want to figure out what type of garden space works best for you. You’ve already identified the space you have for gardening and what the planting area looks like. Now, you can figure out what style of garden beds would work best for your new vegetable garden. Here are some great options:

• Classic Row Gardens:  These in-ground gardens are the cheapest way to start gardening, as long as you have the space and decent soil. This is definitely a great way to start a garden on a budget using a simple tiller or going the no-dig method using cardboard and compost. (Check out Charles Dowding’s No Dig Gardening book as a helpful resource for what I think is the best way to start a row garden.) Traditional rows are also easy to organize and plan. 
• Raised Bed Gardens:  If your soil is challenging or you’re looking for less weeding and maintenance, then a raised bed garden may be an easy way to start a vegetable garden. Many new gardeners opt for a simple raised bed as a way to try out gardening before expanding. Raised beds can be made at home using simple tutorials like this DIY Garden Bed Tutorial or by purchasing easy to put together kits like these from Garden in Minutes. This is a great option for a small garden or those working with a small space.
• Container Gardens:  ​If available yard space is an issue or your back deck or patio has the best sunlight options, then a container garden may be the best best for vegetable gardening. There are a variety of container types out there and any number of plants can be grow in containers year round. 

Now that you know the best garden type for planning your vegetable garden, let’s talk about what you’re actually going to want to grow. 

Choose the Right Vegetables

For many of us, choosing seeds and plants may be the funnest part of starting a garden, but it’s also one of the most important. Now that you’ve decided where your garden will be, let’s dive into the exciting world of vegetable selection and discover the perfect crops that will thrive in your home garden.

When it comes to choosing the right vegetables for your garden, it’s a good idea to consider a few key factors. 

• Grow what you will eat:  First and foremost, think about your personal preferences. After all, the ultimate goal of your vegetable garden is to enjoy a bountiful harvest of vegetables that you and your family love to eat. Consider the vegetables that are staples in your kitchen and the ones that you find yourself buying most often from the farmers market or grocery store. By all means, try new things, but steer away from vegetables and herbs that you know you don’t enjoy.
• Consider the Climate:  Next, take into account your local climate and growing conditions. Different vegetables have different temperature and sunlight requirements, so it’s important to choose varieties that are well-suited to your region. Also, consider when you’re starting your crops. Grow seasonally appropriate vegetables, fruits, and herbs that will have enough time to mature before the season changes. 
• Consider Space:  Another crucial factor to consider is the amount of space you have available in your garden. Some vegetables, like sprawling pumpkins or melons, require a lot of room to spread their vines. If you have limited space, focus on compact or vertical varieties that can be grown in containers or trained to grow on trellises. This way, you can maximize your harvest even in small gardens or balconies.
• Maintenance:  Take into account your available time and energy for caring for the garden. Some vegetables require more maintenance than others, such as regular pruning, staking, or frequent watering. If you have a busy schedule or prefer low-maintenance gardening, choose vegetables that are more self-sufficient and require less hands-on attention. (See my article on the Low Maintenance Fall Garden .) 

Finally, don’t forget to consider the compatibility of different vegetables when planning your garden. Some plants thrive when grown together, benefiting from companion planting, while others may hinder each other’s growth or attract the same pests. Check out these helpful articles all about companion planting:

• Best Vegetables for Companion Planting
• The Best Companion Plants for Kale

Design Your Vegetable Garden Layout

When it comes to planning your vegetable garden, it’s not just about choosing the right vegetables and understanding their needs. You also need to think about how to design your garden layout for optimal success. The layout of your garden will determine how efficiently you can access and care for your plants, as well as how well they will grow and thrive. So, let’s dive into the process of designing your garden layout, and what planting method may work best for you:

• Square Foot Gardening Method:  ​This planting method works especially well with raised bed gardens, and it dictates how many vegetable plants can be grown in one square foot. The garden space is divided up into square feet (either physically with string or simply visually) and planted accordingly. See my article on How to Start Square Foot Gardening . I used this method for years when I was just learning how to plan a vegetable garden. It’s very helpful. 
• Intensive Gardening:  If you aren’t interested in the structure of square foot gardening, and want to make the most of your space, then intensive gardening may be a good way to grow what you want. This method maximizes the space you have for growing a variety of vegetables.  See this post from Gardenary  for more info on intensive gardening and why it may be the best choice for you. 
• Row Gardening:  If you’re using an in-ground garden, then consider the traditional method of planting in rows. Each row can be dedicated to one or two vegetables, or you can ​alternate down the row, placing companion plants near each other. 

Also consider the height of each respective plant. Don’t plant tall vegetables, such as okra or corn where they will eventually shade out lower plants (unless those plants do well in part shade). Let’s move onto soil as we talk about planning your vegetable garden.

Garden Planning Inspiration

​Here are some great layout ideas for planning your home vegetable garden. 

• Victory Garden Plan for a Family of 5  (Growveg.com): See this full victory garden which is planned out in a traditional row garden style.
• Fall Square Foot Garden Plans : See my printable set of square foot garden plans for the fall garden. There are multiple to choose from depending on the types of vegetables you enjoy. 
• Small Spring Vegetable Garden Plans : This article from Better Homes and Gardens includes a detailed layout of a small spring vegetable garden and tells you exactly what to plant. 
• Spicy Salsa Garden Plans :  Use these plans to grow everything you will need for spicy and flavorful salsa all summer long!
• Summer Vegetable Garden Plan :  ​Designed for a raised bed, this summer vegetable garden plan from Better Homes and Gardens is an easy plan for anyone looking to grow a lot in not much space. 

More Vegetable Garden Planning Helps

If you are looking for more helps with planning your vegetable garden, check out these resources that will help you put ideas on paper and get that garden growing:

• Free Printable Garden Planner :  This free printable planner will help you get all of the ideas down (where you hopefully won’t forget them), and allow you to reference them all year long. 
• Spiral-Bound Kitchen Garden Planner : If you’re looking to make your garden planning longer lasting, check out my spiral-bound Kitchen Garden Planner in a convenient 6×9 size that’s easy to take into the garden to plan and record anything you might need. This is a helpful resource full of tips and places for recording everything from garden layout to fertilization, pests, and watering to reflections on that season. 
• How to Start a Vegetable Garden Guide: This printable step-by-step guide will take you through all of the above steps in a helpful format. Print it out and keep it in a binder for year-round use or send it off to your local print shop to be spiral bound.
• Digital Garden Planner:  This Google Sheets doc is perfect for the digital garden planner. Easy to use and keep track of seeds, plans, results, and more! Easy access to this is just a click away and can be used during any growing season year after year. 

I hope this helps you plan a vegetable garden at home whether this is your first garden or one of many you’ve grown. There is just such joy that comes from growing your favorite vegetables at home, and I’m happy to help you along in your gardening journey. Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter for helps and tips that come straight to your inbox! Happy Gardening!

MorningChores

19 Vegetable Garden Plans & Layout Ideas That Will Inspire You

Are you ready to plant your garden, but are feeling a little unsure of how to lay it out?

Well, it seems everyone faces that dilemma each year. The reason is that there are so many different ways to layout your garden.

Then you have to consider what your goal for your vegetable garden is. Do you want it to give some produce but also care about aesthetics? Are you more interested in getting the most produce possible from your garden?

After you decide what your primary goal for your vegetable garden is, then scroll through the vegetable garden plans I’ve gathered from all over the internet and see which options work the best for you.

Simple Vegetable Garden Plans

Here are the vegetable garden plans:

1.  Raised Garden Bed Gardening Plans

These plans are amazing. The reason is that they take each raised garden bed into account and lay it all out to scale.

Then you can see that they incorporate the purpose of each vegetable as well. For instance, you’ll see they are growing multiple beds of tomatoes.

However, they label the tomatoes that are meant for sauce, the tomatoes meant for sandwiches (or slicers), and also incorporate the other vegetables they plan to grow in smaller amounts.

This is why this thorough layout would be a great place to start if you are planning on gardening in raised beds this year.

2. Pallet Garden Plan

If you want to grow a smaller garden, then you might want to consider this method. You have one raised garden bed.

Then you put a pallet on the backside of the bed to allow vegetables to grow up it for support. This should be a frugal option as well.

From there, you’ll need to know how to make the most of your garden bed. This layout gives you a square for each vegetable grown.

As you can see, you can have quite a variety of vegetables growing in one bed . This would be an excellent option for those who live in suburban areas with smaller yards.

3. The Multi-Bed Garden Plan

This garden plan is another exact layout. It incorporates multiple beds. This means that you can grow a ton of food and different varieties, too, because they won’t be in the same bed.

Which is great because you can grow everything from vegetables, to flowers, to large sunflowers in one garden.

Also, it offers a plan for companion plants as well. You’ll notice that when you see a mixture of vegetables and flowers. People usually do this to keep pests at bay, but be sure to do your research to check for accuracy.

4. 5,000 Square Foot Vegetable Garden Plans

Do you need to grow a lot of food? I understand because I have to produce a ton of food every year to feed my family.

However, it can be challenging to plan out where everything should go. Thanks to this layout , it doesn’t have to be complicated this year.

In fact, you can see where she has made room for everything from vegetables to fruits to nuts. You name it; you can probably find a way to make it work in this garden.

5. Garden Planner #3

I am in love with this garden plan because it looks neat and tidy. It also doesn’t waste any space when filling in the garden.

However, it doesn’t look overcrowded. It has a nice balance to it and seems like it would be easy to maintain.

When you need a garden plan that will hold a lot of food and look good too, then you’ll want to consider this layout.

6. Intensive Garden Plan for Maximum Harvest

This is another garden plan that I love. The reason is that it has the garden layout for spring, summer, and fall.

Also, I like how it can fit a lot of variety into one medium-sized garden space.

However, the drawback is that the image has a key that you must translate. That isn’t all that difficult, but it isn’t as simple as some either.

7. 4×4 Foot Square Foot Gardening

Square foot gardening is a great way to be able to fit a variety of vegetables into one vegetable garden space. Which is why I love this layout.

Also, I love how plain the design is. It is easy to follow and see what is going on. It makes planting a small garden very simple.

Plus, it also shows you the proper placement of vegetables to keep everything from overlapping or stunting growth.

8. Summer Vegetable Garden Plans

Are you working on a smaller plot and need to know how to arrange everything? This plan is for you then.

This design includes everything from vegetables to herbs. It also looks nice, since you have the shorter items in the front.

Followed by the taller and cascading items in the back. It would add some charm to your yard.

9. Fall Vegetable Garden Plans

If you are stumped as to how you should arrange your fall garden , then check this plan out. It is easy to read and includes all of your necessary fall vegetables.

But my favorite part about this design is that it includes everything in a lot of detail. You have the trellis where you are supposed to grow peas.

Then you have lots of fresh greens and carrots thrown in the mix as well. It is a great design that embraces simplicity.

10. Spring Vegetable Garden Plans

This garden design has a lot of detail included in it as well. You can tell that the creator had the thought of aesthetics and not just production.

But if you live in a suburban area, then you know how your garden looks can often matter to those around you and your HOA.

Which is why this layout might be conducive to many. Also, it includes lots of fresh vegetables that are spread out uniquely.

11. Auntie Dogma’s Garden Design

Auntie Dogma knew what she was talking about when she created this garden layout. It is effortless to read, and she explains why she chose to place items in certain places.

But if you are also looking for a helpful resource on growing and planning your first garden, then this could be a useful resource.

Whether you need background or just a garden design idea, most will find this a valuable resource .

12. Companion Planting Layout

I already mentioned a little above that many people plan out their garden using companion planting. This is when you plant certain plants together that will compliment or protect each other just by being in close quarters.

Well, this is what this layout is all about. They tell you which vegetables they are growing this year and where they will plant.

Then they show which plants compliment each other (or are companions) and build an entire layout from that standpoint.

13. High Yield Veggie Garden

This resource doesn’t give you an actual layout to work from. It does, however, give you tips on how to properly plan your garden layout.

With that in mind, I felt it was still worth including in this post because many people want to create their own layout, but need some pointers are where to start.

If that is you, then you’ll want to check out the tips and begin building a layout that works for your location.

14. Hip Chick’s Garden Plan 2013

This layout (the way it is illustrated) looks like the first garden plan I shared. It is different in some ways.

First, many more vegetables are included in this garden design . This is great news if you are someone that wants to grow more variety in your garden.

Then I like that the tomatoes are included in multiple beds, instead of lumped together. It all depends upon your gardening goals and preferences.

15. Small-Space Vegetable Garden

If you have limited planting space in your garden or you are simply just looking for a small, easy to follow plan, then this garden layout is for you.

There are a few plans to choose from with each designed for a 2’ x 4’ raised bed. The layout provides you with a recommended number of plants in each square-foot of the design.

You can basically plant any vegetables of your choice or try one of the five garden suggestions, which by the way, looks quite colorful and tasty. Whatever you choose to plant, this layout will make it easier for you.

16. 15 x 15 Veggie Garden

This layout is ideal because not only is it easy to understand and make, but it also has multiple raised beds.

Multiple beds give you an opportunity to plant different kinds of vegetables, resulting in more food for you and your family. One other thing to note is the plant list that details how many vegetables you should plant, and also advise you on planting times.

One thing I would have preferred with this layout is for the large tomato bed to incorporate carrots in it because tomatoes benefit from companion planting with carrots.

17. The Great Small Garden Layout

This layout is more difficult to read, in my opinion. You can see the names of the vegetables, but it just isn’t as apparent as some of the other plans shared.

However, the layout itself still should work quite well. You should be able to fit a variety of vegetables into a small gardening space .

Then you can have a beautiful and productive garden this summer.

18. Small Garden Layout

I’m a fan of this type of garden design. I think it is easier to read for those that are looking to duplicate the idea.

This means, if you need a design that will be easy to follow , then you’ll want to check this one.

Also, I love the fact that they have marigolds going all the way around it. It adds protection to the plants and an additional element of beauty to the garden.

19. The Flower/ Vegetable Layout

This garden design is quite cool. If you like to add flowers to your vegetable garden plans, then you’ll love this design.

They plant a variety of vegetables in the center of the garden. This is great because then you can have more options throughout the growing season.

Then they add sunflowers on the ends and marigolds on the sides to add protection for the vegetables and a splash of color too.

Well, you now have 19 different vegetable garden plans that could help you to grow a beautiful garden this year.

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Our Complete Guide to Starting a Vegetable Garden, From Planting to Harvesting

Having your own vegetable garden will ensure your kitchen is always stocked with home-grown produce.

Melissa Ozawa is the features editor at Martha Stewart Living.

• Getting Started
• Gather Your Tools
• Choose Your Growing Method
• Pick Your Plants
• Seeds vs. Seedlings
• Group Like Vegetables
• Tend to Your Vegetables
• Harvest Your Vegetables

The Martha Blog

There are many great reasons to grow your own vegetables at home, but we’ll stick to our favorites: You know exactly where the food comes from; working the soil organically helps the environment; and vegetables taste infinitely better when you cultivate them yourself. No matter if you have a big plot of land or just a few pots, you can start your own vegetable garden. Ahead, we're walking you through the entire process, from sowing by seed to harvesting your crops.

1. Getting Started

Before deciding what you want to grow, map out a space and consider how much time and effort you can put into your garden.

Find a Location

Look for a spot that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day. If planting in the ground, choose a well-drained area where no big puddles form after rain. To prevent critters from accessing a new vegetable garden, fence it in with wire.

Know Your Soil

The foundation of any garden, your soil should contain plenty of nutrients and organic matter. Contact your local cooperative extension and send in a sample for analysis. Prior to planting, enrich your plot with a layer of compost . If you're using containers, get organic potting soil.

2. Gather Your Garden Tools

You'll need a few essentials if you're planning on establishing a vegetable garden.

• Hori Hori knife: Also known as a soil knife or weeding knife, this tool digs and cuts and is especially helpful for removing weeds with deep taproots (like dandelions).
• Clippers: Invest in a pair of sharp, fine-pointed garden scissors for harvesting cut-and-come-again greens and herbs.
• Cultivator:  This is the go-to tool on Martha's farm for digging out weeds quickly.
• Trug: You'll want a long, shallow basket, like a trug, to carry your vegetables from the garden to the kitchen.

SbytovaMN / Getty Images

3. Choose Your Growing Method

There are three basic ways to grow edibles: in containers, raised beds, or in the ground. When deciding which to go with, weigh these options.

Containers are perfect for small spaces. Just make sure they're deep enough for roots to grow. Vegetables grown in containers require frequent watering—almost daily when it's hot and sunny. Since space is limited, stick with herbs, dwarf varieties, and greens that don't require a ton of room.

Raised Beds

When you choose to grow your vegetables in a raised bed, you're in full control. You can customize soil and bed size and easily correct problems. Since raised beds are contained, the soil heats up faster, so you can plant earlier. An important note: Use only untreated wood to prevent unwanted chemicals from leaching into the soil.

There are a few cons with this method—since you need to fill beds with soil, initial costs can be higher than growing in the ground. You may also have to water and feed more frequently because they drain so effectively (but usually less than with containers).

This method is most economical and requires less work in the beginning. You can water less frequently than with pots or raised beds. But you do have to work with what Mother Nature has provided, which could include poor soil or lots of inconveniently placed tree roots or rocks.

4. Pick What (and When) You Want to Plant

Talk to fellow gardeners, visit your local nursery, and look through seed catalogs to learn what grows well in your area. Then think about what you love to eat and be open to branching out from the basics, like mixing in 'Green Zebra' tomatoes with your beefsteaks.

Sketch out where you want to plant what and record everything you sow in a notebook. And while it may be tempting to put everything in the ground on the first warm weekend in spring, be careful: Some varieties tolerate the cold; others cannot. Before you start, ask your local nursery for the last frost date in your area, consult seed packets and plant tags for growing times, and plan your plantings from there.

5. Decide Between Seeds or Seedlings

You can either grow vegetables by seeds or seedlings.

Seeds are inexpensive (you can purchase dozens for just a few dollars), and you'll find a wider selection of unusual varieties. However, they do require more effort because you may have to plant some varieties, like tomatoes and peppers, indoors. Since you're starting at the beginning, you'll also have to wait longer for the harvest. Discover some of our favorite places to purchase seeds below.

• Johnny’s Selected Seeds : One-stop shopping for edibles, the go-to for Martha’s beds.
• Hudson Valley Seed Company : Heirloom and open-pollinated seeds in beautiful, gift-worthy packaging.
• Kitazawa Seed Co. : Specializes in Asian vegetables, like shishito peppers, chrysanthemum greens, and shiso.
• Seeds from Italy : Offers traditional Italian varieties, such as borlotti beans, radicchio, and seven kinds of basil, organized by region.
• Seed Savers Exchange : Rare and heirloom seeds from a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing.
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: Offers heirloom southern varieties, like okra and collards.

Get seedlings at your local garden center or farmers' market. They'll carry the varieties that are best suited to your location. However, it's not enough to just plant and go—seedlings need a little extra care as they establish. For example, to keep moisture in and prevent weeds from taking root, scatter a layer of mulch around seedlings (leaving a radius bare around the bases) and over paths after planting. Some common mulches include seedless straw, salt hay, leaf mold, and even nitrogen-packed grass clippings. Avoid regular hay, which can contain weed seeds.

6. Group Like Vegetables When You Plant

To maximize your space and streamline your tasks, put edibles that require similar amounts of water and sunlight in the same bed or container. These are some of the most classic groupings.

• Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, basil, and parsley
• Squashes, beans, and corn
• Carrots and radishes
• Kale and chard
• Peas and cucumbers

Plant blossoms like marigolds, nasturtiums, and calendula among your vegetables to decorate your beds, brighten salads, attract beneficial bugs, and help ward off troublesome pests like nematodes, tomato hornworms, and aphids.

7. Tend to Your Vegetables

After the work of preparing and planting your garden is done, all you have to do is keep up with routine tasks, like watering and weeding. You should also check regularly for signs of disease (such as leaf spots and powdery mildew) and pests (like Japanese beetles and tomato hornworms). Follow these four simple steps to keep your garden beautiful and bountiful.

Add about an inch of compost at the start of the season. Then apply an organic fertilizer, like fish emulsion, or another thin layer of compost as the season progresses.

Water deeply when needed, about an inch once a week. Opt for a soaker hose or drip irrigation system that delivers moisture directly to the roots, rather than sprinkling down from above.

Pull weeds anytime you see them sprouting. This will save you time in the long run, because if you remove them while they're young, they won't spread. Also, remember that you're going to eat what you sow—so skip herbicides.

Fast growers like radishes, lettuces, and other greens can benefit from multiple plantings. Stagger the timing, starting seeds directly in the ground every few weeks so you have continuous salad fixings.

8. Stay on Top of Your Harvest

There's something magical about eating a perfectly ripe tomato just off the vine while it's still warm from the sun. (Martha likes to bring a little salt with her into the garden to do just that!) You'll know when your vegetables are ready by looking at their size, shape, and vibrant color. Tomatoes will give with a gentle tug rather than needing a hard pull. Some plants, like okra, beans, and turnips, are extra-delicious and tender when picked young. Keep up with your harvest to encourage new growth: Cucumbers will slow their production if they aren't plucked when ready, and when zucchini get too big, they aren't as tender and tasty as when they're smaller.

Related Articles

How to Start a Vegetable Garden

Sharing is caring!

Starting a vegetable garden can be fun and an inexpensive way to bring healthy food to your kitchen table. But it can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start.

The secret to getting started with vegetable gardening is to take a little time to make a plan. Take a look at your yard or patio or front stoop; think about what you’d like to grow; talk to the staff at a local nursery or garden center; talk to friends and neighbors with experience, and visit Harvest to Table and other websites dedicated to growing healthy food.

Don’t plan to do too much at first, but plan to have fun. Vegetable gardening is something you can do as a family or a great way to spend time alone enjoying nature.

Good Products for Raised Bed Growing at Amazon:

• Galvanized Raised Bed 8×3
• Cedar Raised Bed 4×8
• Elevated Cedar Planter 4×2
• Walk-In Greenhouse Tunnel 15x7x7
• Row Cover for Freeze Protection 10×30

Table of Contents

Six ways to make a successful vegetable garden

• Choose a sunny site for your garden. Make it convenient—close to a water source and your kitchen; you’ll want to visit every day.
• Prepare and feed your soil. Add aged compost and organic amendments across your planting beds before you plant and lightly rake or turn the compost under. This will ensure healthy plant growth.
• Match the plants you grow to your region, climate, and site. Sow and plant regionally adapted seeds and seedlings in the right season. Choose varieties that are pest and disease resistant. You will find seeds and seedlings adapted to your region at a nearby nursery or garden center or online.
• Keep plants naturally healthy with proper spacing, watering, feeding, and mulching.
• Use safe and natural pest, disease, and weed controls.
• Harvest your crops at the peak of maturity or sooner for the best flavor.

What does a vegetable garden look like?

Here are a few vegetable garden ideas you can plant:

• A porch pot planted with radishes and lettuce.
• A window box planted with a half dozen different kinds of herbs.
• A half wine barrel planted with a tomato, a cucumber, and a zucchini.
• A narrow flowerbed border planted with radishes, leaf lettuce, carrots, and beets.
• Staked tomatoes or snap beans are planted on poles at the back of a flowerbed.
• A narrow planting bed in front of a wall or fence planted with tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, or cantaloupes trained up a trellis.
• A square 3-by-3-foot (.9 m) planting bed in the backyard with salad crops including leaf lettuce, spinach, green onions, and radishes.
• A 3-by-6-foot (.9 x 1.8 m) rectangular planting bed with tomatoes, peppers, and onions—growing your own fresh salsa.
• The same 3-by-6-foot bed grows beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, green onions, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts for autumn soups and stir-fries.
• A 4-by-8-foot (1.2 x 2.4 m) planting bed growing potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and melons—a summer picnic garden followed by cabbage, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, carrots, and turnips for winter stews.

Your vegetable garden can look like whatever you want it to look like and it can grow whatever you want to eat. Look at the ingredients of your favorite vegetable recipes then grow what you need.

What every vegetable garden needs

Here are the basic elements needed by every vegetable garden:

Sunlight is a must

Vegetables need a lot of sunlight to grow well. The most productive vegetable garden must receive no less than six full hours of sunlight each day; eight hours is best. Your vegetable garden should not fall in the shadows of trees, shrubs, walls, fences, or buildings. Take some time to observe the sun and shade patterns in your yard throughout a summer day. If shade is cast on your site for more than two hours a day, pick another spot or plan to grow only shade-tolerant crops, such as salad greens, beets, and cabbages. If the garden is partially shady it is unlikely that you can grow tomatoes and beans.

If trees grow near the garden, plant at least 10 feet from the outer edge of the branches. Tree roots can rob a vegetable garden of water and nutrients. Draw a sun and shade map over the course of the day. Where do shadows fall? Vegetables to best when they get morning sun; that is a minimum requirement for success.

A yield of delicious vegetables is greatly beholden to exposure. Site your garden in an “early” spot–a plot facing or sloping a little to the south or east that seems to catch sunshine early and hold it late–eight hours of sunlight each day is optimal. Make a “sun map” of your yard tracking the sun across the property over the course of a day. Avoid situating your vegetable garden in the shadows of buildings, trees, and fences. Choose a spot that is out of the direct path of chilling north and northeast winds. A building, a fence, or a hedge to the north of your plot can protect your garden from chilling winds. Even low-growing shrubs or young evergreens can protect vulnerable tender vegetables.

A few tips: north, south, east, west—around the garden

• A south or southeastern exposure is warmest and will produce earlier crops.
• Warm-season crops planted near the south side of a building will benefit from heat radiated from walls.
• A north exposure favors cool-weather crops, leafy and root crops—but you still need some sun. Don’t plant closer than 10 feet on the north side of a building or fence; that space will likely be in the shade all day.
• Western exposures are warmer than Eastern exposures. Even so, western exposures are often in shade until at least noon each day.
• The east or south side of the garden is best for low-growing plants; they won’t cast much shadow on other plants.
• Place tall plants on the north side of the garden where they will cast fewer shadows over the course of the day. Tall plants on the west side of the garden will cast shadows across the garden at the end of the day.

Full sun gardens offer vegetables the best growing conditions. A full-sun site warms quickly in spring and will produce through the season. Don’t worry about a full-sun site being too hot or too dry. You will be adding plenty of aged compost and planting mix to your garden; these ingredients will hold soil moisture while feeding plants.

A shady site is not optimal, but it does not rule out growing vegetables. A shady site will be cooler than a sunny site and the growing season may be shorter. If you can’t reduce shade by pruning overhanging trees or moving shadow-casting obstacles then grow crops that don’t mind some shade such as lettuce, spinach, and other salad greens, and also potatoes and sunchokes.

Let’s review garden exposures:

• South-facing gardens are ideal for sun-loving crops; the garden will be warm and bright.
• West-facing gardens will get sunshine for most of the day except for early in the morning.
• North-facing gardens are likely to be shady and cool most of the day; north-facing gardens are not optimal for sun-loving crops such as tomatoes and peppers but may be a good spot to grow lettuce and salad greens.
• East-facing gardens will get morning sun allowing plants to dry out from evening dews; plants get off to a better start when bathed in morning sunshine; but east-facing gardens may fall into afternoon shadows.

Water nearby

Choose a site within easy reach of an adequate supply of water; no further away than the reach of a light hose will be a tremendous help in times of protracted drought.

Your garden needs to be near an ample supply of water.  When possible, locate the garden near a hose bib—you won’t want to lug around a long, heavy hose if you don’t have to. A convenient source of water will make your mid-summer watering tasks much easier.

Vegetables are made mostly of water. Water is essential for seed germination, photosynthesis, and the delivery of nutrients to plant cells. When a plant doesn’t get enough water it will slow or stop growing. A vegetable stressed by lack of water will drop its blossoms and leaves; its fruits will lose flavor; it will be more vulnerable to pests and diseases; it ultimately could die.

Make your garden water friendly by adding lots of aged compost and organic matter to your planting beds; plant in wide rows, and use compost mulches in hot weather.

Good drainage

While water nearby is important, don’t locate your garden where water sits on the ground for more than an hour after a hard rain or after irrigation. Vegetables don’t like wet feet—that is soggy roots. Few crops can absorb nutrients if their roots stay wet, and wet roots may rot. If a wet spot is all you have to work with, raise the garden up; grow on a mounded or raised bed. Always a good policy is to add plenty of aged compost to planting beds no matter where they are located. Aged compost feeds the soil, feeds plants, and ensures good drainage.

You may not have a choice about how good your soil is to start with, but with a little work, you can improve almost any soil by adding aged compost or commercial organic planting mix to planting beds and then lightly forking or turning the compost under.

As a rule poor soil almost always can be improved and good soil can be made better. Choose a planting site free of rocks and stones and one that is easily worked with a garden fork or spade. Choose a site that is level, but if your garden is on a slope you can terrace or run your crop rows across the slope and keep the soil from washing away. Loosen the soil where you plan to plant using a garden fork and remove grass, weeds, and stones. Next, lay aged compost across the planting bed site; sheet composting is the addition of an inch or two or more of aged compost spread across the bed. Aged compost will work its way into your native soil via rain and irrigation and within a year or so, you will have a rich productive planting area—even if the site seemed unproductive when you first arrived.

Almost any site that has been in cultivation for a year or two previous to your starting up the vegetable garden will have an advantage. The soil will have already been turned and aerated and worked to some depth by the roots of plants that have come before.

Close to the kitchen

Select a spot near at hand, easy and quick to get to. Choose, as you can a spot, close to the kitchen. A garden close by will capture your spare moments for tending and for watching the garden. And a garden close by will be greatly appreciated once you have made a dozen time-wasting trips for forgotten seeds or tools, or gotten your feet soaking wet by going out through the dew-drenched grass

Locate your garden as close to the house and as close to the kitchen as possible. Put your garden where it’s easy to visit every day. You will spend more time in your garden if it is nearby and easy to reach. A kitchen garden should be as close to the kitchen as possible. There’s no substitute for salad greens and tomatoes picked moments before they are served. Summer corn is tastiest when dropped in a kettle of boiling water minutes after it has been picked. And if you have no room for a garden in the ground, you can grow almost all vegetables and herbs in pots, barrels, and boxes on the patio, porch, or front steps—very close to the kitchen.

Out of the wind and away from low spots

Choose a site that is protected from the wind–cold winds in the spring and drying winds in the summer. Avoid low-lying spots where cold air or frost can settle.

Even a gentle prevailing wind can draw moisture from vegetable leaves resulting in windburn and even the death of plants. Strong winds can uproot tender seedlings and topple crops that are top-heavy when ripe. If the wind is constant where you live, consider permanent or temporary windbreaks. A windbreak can be a building, a fence,d or a hedge, but it can also be a tall dense crop such as corn or sunchokes planted on the windward side of the garden.

While wind can be destructive, air circulation is important. Don’t plant vegetables in low-lying spots where cold air and frost can be trapped or settled. Cold air naturally drains into low spots. Low-lying areas or areas shielded by shrubs, trees, and fences may inhibit air circulation and become a “frost pocket.” Moderate air circulation is best.

Moderate air circulation and adequate plant spacing will help foliage when the dew settles on the garden reducing the possibility and severity of fungal and bacterial diseases.

Sites to avoid if you can

• Avoid low spots in the garden where water puddles or runs off after rain. Low spots can also trap cold air and frost.
• Avoid steep slopes; water and soil can run off steep slopes unless they are well-terraced.
• Avoid shady spots and areas where the roots of trees or large shrubs will compete with your vegetables for water and nutrients.
• Avoid compacted soil—areas that have been used for footpaths or drives.
• Avoid windy spots—steady winds and breezes will sap plants of moisture.
• Avoid sites next to roads where fumes and street runoff can pollute the garden.

Vegetable garden size

A vegetable garden can be any size and shape.  In one season, a garden as small as just 4-by-4 feet can produce a head of cabbage, a head of broccoli, a head of cauliflower, four heads of romaine lettuce, four heads of leaf lettuce, nine bunches of spinach, nine bunches of Swiss chard, sixteen baby carrots, sixteen full-size carrots, sixteen beets, and thirty-two radishes. All of that during just the cool time of the year. The same garden bed can be planted with tomatoes, beans, peppers, and cucumbers when summer comes. Just think what you could grow in a planting bed twice that size if you planted in both the cool and warm times of the year.

When you are deciding how big your vegetable garden should be—think first about the time you have for gardening. How many minutes or hours do you have in a week to care for your garden? Be conservative. Don’t over-commit. Start small. With experience, your garden can grow and grow. A small garden well maintained is better than a large garden that will leave you tired or discouraged by midsummer.

How large should your vegetable garden be?

The answer to this question will come by answering a few other questions:

• How much time can you spend in the garden? You don’t want a garden larger than you have time for.
• What vegetables do you and your family like? Keep a family food diary for 2 to 4 weeks. Record all of the vegetables, fruits, and herbs you eat fresh—or would like to eat fresh.
• Would you like to store or preserve vegetables for the off-season, for winter? If you plan to freeze, dry, or can some of your harvests, you will want to grow more.
• How much space do you have? Use graph paper to map out your potential garden. Draw in beds and paths—how many square feet do you have to work with?
• Plan a small garden first. To get started grow a limited variety of vegetables. Start with the vegetables, herbs, and small fruits you love most. Grow the size of your garden as you gain experience.
• During the first year, keep a notebook; record what worked and what didn’t work. What was fun about the garden and what you did not like? What crops grew well and which ones were difficult? Write suggestions to yourself for next season.
• Your garden will improve from one year to the next and your enjoyment will grow.

Garden size checklist

• Existing trees, shrubs, walks, and buildings may determine, in part, where you can plant and how much vegetable growing space you will have.
• Look at your site throughout the day and map where and when the garden is in the sun or shade.
• Pick a spot close to a water source and close to the house. It also should be close to the tool shed and a site for a compost pile.
• Choose a spot for your planting beds that is easy to access; you’ll want planting beds that are easy to work with an outstretched arm. If your planting bed is accessible from only one side, make sure you can reach comfortably to the back of the bed without stepping into it.

More about garden soil

The chances that you will find a spot of ideal garden soil ready for use are slim. But just about all soils can be brought up to a very high degree of productiveness –especially such small areas as home vegetable gardens require. Even spots of nearly pure sand or heavy muck can often be amended to yield very satisfying harvests. So don’t be discouraged by poor or run-down soil, rather resolve to make it rich.

The ideal garden soil is a “rich, sandy loam.” And the fact cannot be overemphasized that such soils usually are made, not found. Let us analyze that description a bit, for right here we come to the first of the four all-important factors of gardening–food. (The others are cultivation, moisture, and temperature.)

“Rich” in the gardener’s vocabulary means full of plant food; more than that–and this is a point of vital importance–it means full of plant food ready to be used at once, all prepared and spread out on the garden table, or rather in it, where growing things can at once make use of it; or what we term, in one word, ‘”available” plant food.

Let’s define each word in the description “rich, sandy loam:”

Rich soil is a soil rich in nutrients. Soil is made rich, or kept rich, in two ways; first, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food stored in the soil into available forms; and second, by composting and manuring or adding plant food to the soil from outside sources.

“Sandy”–as used above–means soil containing enough particles of sand so that water passes through it without leaving it pasty and sticky a few days after rain or irrigation. A sandy loam soil is often called “light” which means that a handful, under ordinary conditions, will crumble and fall apart readily after being pressed in the hand. It is not necessary that the soil be sandy in appearance, but it should be friable. Friable describes soil texture that is loose and crumbly and easily penetrated by roots and water.

“Loam” is rich, friable soil. Loam is the soil in which the sand and clay are in proper proportions, so that neither greatly predominates. Loam is usually dark in color, from cultivation and enrichment. A loamy soil, even to the untrained eye, just naturally looks as if it would grow things.

Besides adding well-aged compost and manure to transform poor soil into rich loam, you can also grow cover crops of green manure in the off-season to help enrich your soil. Green manures are quick-growing crops such as buckwheat, clover, rye, or other grain or legume crops that are cut down and turned into the soil where they decompose and provide nutrients and humus.

The addition of compost, manures, and green manures twice a year for just two years can turn soil that has too much sand or too much clay into good garden soil.

A vegetable garden site must be well drained. Dig down eight or twelve inches after you have picked a spot for your garden, and examine the subsoil. Second strata soil–the soil below the topsoil–is usually of different texture and color from the surface soil, and it is commonly harder. If you find a sandy or gravelly subsoil, no matter how poor it looks, you have chosen a good spot. But if the sub-soil is thick, heavy clay, especially blue clay, you will have either to drain it, amend it heavily with compost, manure, and green manure, or be content with a garden that is slow to warm in the spring and will likely be reluctant to yield heavy crops in summer.

One suggestion, if the spot you choose for your garden has poor soil or is poorly drained, plant a crop of potatoes or sweet corn on this spot the first year or two. These crops are not deeply rooted and feed in shallow soil. At the same time, their roots will begin the work of breaking up heavy, clay soil.

How to improve your garden site

• Prune or remove trees that shade the site.
• Use raised beds to rise above rocky or compacted soil and improve drainage.
• Terrace a steep slope to make it useable for a garden.
• Build a strong fence or plant a hedge to block constant breezes or strong winds.
• Plant vegetables in containers where the only sunny spot you have is a deck, patio, or paved spot.
• A garden that is rectangular or square is easily worked, particularly if the garden is open at least on two ends. Your garden need not be deep–no deeper than your reach. A home vegetable garden is best tended from the edges, meaning it is best to avoid walking on your growing beds and compacting the soil.
• If you have room for two plots, do it, or plan to add a second plot in a season or two. Two plots will allow you to take advantage of the practice of rotation, alternating grass, potatoes, or corn (shallow feeders) with deeper-feeding vegetables. Crops and crop families are best shifted to different plots every year or two. Of course, you can practice crop rotation to some extent within the limits of even a small vegetable garden, but it can be more effective and productive, if possible, to rotate the entire garden patch.

Seven steps to start a vegetable garden

1. Visit nearby vegetable gardens and see what your friends and neighbors are growing. Visit a community garden and see what vegetable gardeners in your neighborhood and town are growing. You will see vegetables and small fruits that are easy to grow, and probably get some great ideas on how to plant a garden. This article will be helpful: Vegetable Garden Planning .

2. Visit a nearby garden center or nursery. See what kinds of vegetable seedlings and seeds are available. Seed packets and plant labels usually have good growing information—the number of days the vegetable requires to reach harvest and how to plant it. Ask questions; garden center and nursery staffers are happy to answer questions and can recommend specific crops for your area.

3. Make a list of the vegetables and small fruits that you and your family or the people in your household like to eat. Which vegetables are your favorites? These are the crops you will want to grow first. Here are ten easy-to-grow vegetables (click on the crop you want to grow): beans , beets , broccoli , cabbage , carrots , leaf lettuce , onions , Swiss chard , radishes , spinach , and tomatoes .

4. Make a sketch or diagram of the area where you want to grow your vegetables. Graph paper is an easy way to diagram the planting bed where you want to grow vegetables this season or map a larger area where you’d like to garden over a period of time. Pencil in the different crops you want to grow. Note the hours of sun that will shine on your garden and the time of day when the garden is in shade. Note how large plants will be at mature size. This article will be helpful Vegetable Garden Calendar and Map Keeping .

5. Share your plan with a friend who gardens —their experience will be very helpful. But, in the end, this is your plan and your garden. Grow a garden that pleases you—this is key!

6. Putting a shovel or trowel in the soil is your first step to actually growing vegetables. A local garden center or nursery will have everything you need to grow vegetables: shovel, rake, hose, soil amendments, seeds, and vegetable seedlings. For your first vegetable garden, don’t buy more than you can get planted in a day or two. This article will be helpful: No Dig and Light Dig Vegetable Garden Preparation .

7. Once your seeds or seedlings are in the ground, water will be very important. Water just enough to keep the roots of your vegetables moist—this may mean watering every day in hot weather or a couple of times a week in warm weather. Follow the advice on seed packets and plant labels, ask neighbors and friends for advice, and visit Harvest to Table often for growing and harvest tips. These articles will be helpful: Vegetable Watering Tips and Vegetable Harvest Times .

Vegetable crops for beginning gardeners

Beginning vegetable gardeners can be easily intimidated by the scores and scores of vegetable seed varieties available from even the smallest seed retailer. There are hundreds of vegetable varieties available in garden centers and online each year. What to plant?

Taste, quality, speed to harvest, total yield, ease of harvest, plant habit, disease, and pest resistance are desirable traits for success in the home garden. Adaptability to a range of micro-climates and wide availability are important as well.

There is no substitute for growing a vegetable crop yourself to determine if it is right for you and your family, but you can find help. All-America Selections is an independent, nonprofit organization that has conducted growing trials of new vegetable varieties almost every year since 1949.

All-America Selections asks selected growers at 40 geographically divergent test gardens across the United States and Canada to compare new varieties alongside two or three similar varieties currently on the market. The best garden performers are named AAS Winners.

Most AAS trial winners are hybrid plants meaning you will have to buy new seed each year to grow the same crop. The alternative to hybrid varieties are open-pollinated varieties; seeds from open-pollinated plants can be collected from your own garden and replanted the following year—you won’t have to buy new seed each year. Almost all heirloom vegetable varieties are open-pollinated.

All-America Selection winners are good bets for beginning gardeners (and many seasoned experts swear by them). They will grow in just about any region of North America, yield well, and taste good. Until experience recommends crop varieties, AAS crops will serve you well.

AAS Vegetable Winners Since 1949:

• Basil: Magical Michael, Sweet Dani (lemon), Thai Siam Queen.
• Beans: Derby (snap), Fordhook 242 (bush lima bean), Goldencrop Wax (bush yellow bean), Kentucky Blue (pole snap).
• Beets: Ruby Queen.
• Broccoli: Green Comet, Premium Crop.
• Brussels sprouts: Jade Cross.
• Cabbage: Dynamo (green), Stonehead (early, less than 100 days from planting to harvest), Ruby Ball Hybrid (red), Savoy Ace, Savoy Express, Savoy King.
• Cantaloupe: Samson, Bush Star.
• Carrot: Gold Pak, Purple Haze, Thumbelina.
• Cauliflower: Snow King, Snow Crown.
• Cilantro: Delfino.
• Corn: Honey ‘N Pearl, Honey Select, How Sweet It Is, Indian Summer, Early Xtra Sweet.
• Cucumber: Diva, Fanfare, Liberty Hybrid, Salad Bush, Saladin, Sweet Success.
• Dill: Fernleaf
• Eggplant: Fairy Tale, Gretel
• Kohlrabi: Grand Duke.
• Lettuce: Buttercrunch (butterhead type), Great Lakes (crisphead type), Salad Bowl, and Red Sails (both loose-leaf).
• Melon: Amy, Angel, Lambkin, Melemon.
• Okra: Blondy, Burgundy, Cajun Delight.
• Onion: Super Star.
• Peas: Freezonian, Mr. Big (green garden types), Sugar Ann and Sugar Snap (both edible pod snap peas).
• Peppers: Bell Boy, Blushing Beauty, Cajun Belle, Carmen, Cayennetta, Early Pimento, Giant Marconi, Gypsy, Hole Mole, Mariachi, MaxiBelle, Orange Blaze, Sweet Banana, Super Chili.
• Pumpkin: Autumn Gold, Baby Bear, Hijinks, Orange Smoothie, Sorcerer, Spirit, Autumn Gold, Wee-B-Little.
• Radish: Cherry Belle, Champion.
• Spinach: Melody Hybrid, America.
• Summer Squash: Cream of the Crop, Early Prolific Straightneck, Eight Ball, Papya Pear, Peter Pan Hybrid, Sunburst, Scallopini, Tivoli.
• Winter Squash: Bonbon, Honey Bear, Bush Delicata, Jersey Golden Acorn, Sunshine, Sweet Mama, Table King (four acorn types), Waltham, and Early Butternut (both butternut types).
• Swiss Chard: Bright Lights.
• Tomato: Big Beef, Celebrity, Husky Gold, Jasper, Jolly, Juliet, Terenzo. Sugary.
• Turnip: Purple Top White Globe.
• Watermelon: Faerie, Golden Crown, Harvest Moon, New Queen, Shiny Boy, Sweet Beauty, Yellow Baby.
• Zucchini: Aristocrat, Greyzini, Gold Rush, Burpee Fordhook.

Selecting vegetables for your garden

What vegetables should you grow in your garden?

There are three basic guidelines to follow: Plant the vegetables that you and your family like to eat; plant vegetables that are suited to your region, to the time of year, and to the space and time you can devote to gardening; decide if you are going to eat what you grow fresh, or freeze, store, dry, or can.

Here are some quick lists to get you started:

Best crops for a short season: arugula, beans (bush), beet, cabbage (early cabbage and Chinese, carrots, lettuce, mustard greens, onions (from sets), peas, radishes, scallions, and turnips.

Best crops for a long season: artichokes, asparagus, beans (pole, dry, lima, and soy), celery, eggplant, kale, leeks, onions, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, tomatoes.

Best crops for cool weather: arugula, asparagus, broad and fava beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage (including Chinese), carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, collards, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radicchio, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, Swiss chard, shallots, spinach, turnips.

Best crops for warm weather: globe artichokes, beans (except fava), corn, cowpeas (blackeyed peas), cucumbers, eggplant, lima beans, melons, okra, peppers, pumpkins, soybeans, New Zealand spinach, squash (summer and winter), sweet potatoes, tomatoes.

Crops requiring the least space: beans (bush and pole), beets, carrots, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsnips, peppers, radishes, sunflowers, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnips.

Crops requiring the most space: artichoke (globe), broccoli, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, melons, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash.

Most productive crops for time invested: beans (bush), broccoli, onions, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, New Zealand spinach, mustard greens, lettuce, turnips, cabbage, radishes, spinach, and summer squash.

Easiest crops to grow: Tomatoes, beans (green and dry), beets, lettuce, potatoes, radishes, most root crops, salad greens, squash (summer and winter), sunflowers, Swiss chard.

Challenging crops to grow: cantaloupe, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, corn, leeks, parsnips, peas, watermelon.

Related articles:

Vegetable Garden Planning

Small Vegetable Garden Space Savers

Vertical Vegetable Gardening

Garden Planning Books at Amazon:

• Vegetable Garden Almanac & Planner
• Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide Vegetable Encyclopedia
• Vegetable Garden Grower’s Guide
• Tomato Grower’s Answer Book

Written by Stephen Albert

Stephen Albert is a horticulturist, master gardener, and certified nurseryman who has taught at the University of California for more than 25 years. He holds graduate degrees from the University of California and the University of Iowa. His books include Vegetable Garden Grower’s Guide, Vegetable Garden Almanac & Planner, Tomato Grower’s Answer Book, and Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide. His Vegetable Garden Grower’s Masterclass is available online. Harvesttotable.com has more than 10 million visitors each year.

How To Grow Tomatoes

How To Grow Peppers

How To Grow Broccoli

How To Grow Carrots

How To Grow Beans

How To Grow Corn

How To Grow Peas

How To Grow Lettuce

How To Grow Cucumbers

How To Grow Zucchini and Summer Squash

How To Grow Onions

How To Grow Potatoes

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How to Start a Vegetable Garden From Scratch In Your Backyard [Step-by-Step Guide]

Welcome! This article contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.

Are you considering starting your own vegetable garden in your backyard? In my heart of hearts, I genuinely believe that anyone can learn how to start a vegetable garden from scratch. No matter where you are in the world or what your yard looks like, with a bit of effort, you can grow your own food.

So, here is your ultimate, step-by-step guide to how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch! We’ll walk you through all of it, going over how to find the perfect spot, gather the right materials, amend your soil, pick the best veggies, and plant them. We’ll also give you tips for keeping your garden healthy by watering, mulching, pruning, and fertilizing.

We’ll also give you tips for keeping your garden healthy by watering, mulching, pruning, and fertilizing.

Then let’s begin!

What’s Inside:

1. choose a location for your vegetable garden, 2. prepare your soil, 3. gather your tools, 4. decide which vegetables to plant, 5. plan your vegetable garden layout, 6. plant your vegetables, 7. care for your vegetables, frequently asked questions (faqs), how does your garden grow, how do you start a garden from scratch: a step-by-step guide.

If you want to learn how to start a vegetable garden from scratch in your backyard, you’ve come to the right place. Starting a garden takes some general knowledge, a small plot of land, and tools, but once you have those three things, you are all set! It’s really that easy.

So, let’s look at all the steps to creating your own vegetable garden. By the end, you should have all the info you need to succeed.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need much space to grow vegetables.

It’s a good idea to start with a small garden. When you commit to a small space first, you start with a more manageable time investment, and you increase your odds of success because you can focus on the plants that you have.

If you’re not sure whether it’s worth starting a garden, look at the benefits of gardening . I think you’ll be convinced.

I like to add one or two beds each spring to gradually grow my garden’s size and complexity. That way, I do the same initial prep work every year but have a bigger garden as time goes by.

How Much Sunlight Do You Need to Grow a Vegetable Garden From Scratch?

Most vegetables need six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily, but not all vegetables are the same. For example, cool-season vegetables such as lettuce and kale thrive in partial shade, while most fruiting and flowering vegetables need more sunlight.

Most vegetables fall into one of two categories: heat-loving or cool season . As their names suggest, these vegetables are most productive in hot and cool weather, respectively. However, they also need different amounts of sunlight.

For example:

• Heat-loving vegetables include tomatoes , peppers , spinach , beans , and cucumbers . These vegetables tend to take off once it gets warm. Their fruits take a little longer to ripen, but they can be very productive plants and are well-worth cultivating. They will take as much sunlight as you can give them. The warmer, the better.
• Cool-season vegetables like lettuce , kale , cabbage relatives, and radishes will do well in areas that get some shade over the day. In the middle of a hot summer, an area with partial shade can be exactly what you need to stretch your cool-season crops further into the year. Too warm, and these plants tend to bolt.

Observing your space is the best way to determine a good position for a vegetable garden. Take this area in the photo below, for example. This photo was taken around 2 pm, the hottest part of the day. There are distinct shade areas – these are great places for vegetables that appreciate some protection from the hot afternoon sun.

Sun angles change with the seasons. You can use a sun calculator like SunCalc to calculate your exact sun angles in both summer and winter. With this tool, you can calculate precisely how many hours of sun each of your plants will get during the day.

Microclimates and Temperature

Gardeners often refer to maps of plant hardiness zones . Once you know your zone, you can research which varieties will perform best in your area and which plants need a lot of attention to thrive in your zone.

Microclimates are small areas within a region where the climate differs from the larger zone. Whether you live at the bottom of a valley, near the ocean, or the top of a mountain, your yard may not be the same as your larger zone.

If you think carefully about your backyard even, you can probably identify some spaces that are cooler or warmer than others. For example, areas near brick walls or asphalt driveways are often warmer than treed or shaded areas. Likewise, some areas are more susceptible to wind than others.

When learning how to start a garden from scratch, you can create your own microclimate by planting different varieties of plants and trees close together. You’ll be amazed at how they improve each other’s growth, protect each other from pests, and increase pollination.

While regional info is always helpful, you can also take advantage of the microclimates within your own yard. Plant heat-loving crops in warmer spots and plant cool-weather varieties in cooler spots. It just comes down to knowing your space.

Before starting your garden from scratch, you should know what type of soil you have in your backyard.

What Soil Is Best for a Vegetable Garden?

There are three main types of soil: sand, silt, and clay . Sandy soils drain water readily, which makes it difficult for plants to soak up the water they need, while clay soils have high water retention, which can drown plants or cause very heavy, compact soil.

The best soil for a vegetable garden is “ loam ,” a very desirable soil for no-till gardening. Very few gardeners are blessed with loam, so most of us amend the soil we have to get it to a workable state.

What Is the Best Way to Prepare Soil for a Vegetable Garden?

If you have sandy or clay-based soil, the best way to prepare the soil for a vegetable garden is to make the soil heavier or lighter. For sandy soils add water-retentive things like peat or coconut coir. For clay soils, add compost or gypsum.

The best thing you can do for your soil is mulch . Mulch enriches sandy soil and makes clay soil less dense. Mulch all your plants and gardens in a deep layer. You can use many different things for mulch, like hay, straw, sugar cane trash – anything that eventually breaks down.

However, steer away from things like rocks – they don’t add anything to your soil and can increase summer temperatures to the point that they burn your plants.

If you want to learn more about how to make your backyard soil more suitable for a vegetable garden, you might want to check out this video for some inspiration:

The tools needed to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch will depend on the size and type of garden you decide to grow. If you grow your vegetables in raised beds, smaller hand tools are more manageable than their full-sized counterparts. If you’re planning a larger garden, bigger tools are better.

Read More – How Deep Should Raised Garden Beds Be?

What Do You Need to Start a Vegetable Garden From Scratch?

Here are some of the most useful garden tools to have before learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard:

The above table represents the most essential gardening tools for starting a vegetable garden from scratch.  We forgot to mention lots of love and elbow grease  – the two most in-demand assets any gardener possesses! 🙂

First and foremost, when learning how to start a garden from scratch, remember that you should grow what you love to eat. The greatest joy of gardening is eating the produce that you’ve grown. The flavors of homegrown produce are incredible compared to store-bought veggies.

Which Vegetables Are the Easiest to Grow to Start a Garden In Your Backyard?

If you are a beginner or even a more experienced gardener with a lot going on, you’ll want to choose some easy-to-grow plants that will more or less take care of themselves.

So, here are ten of the easiest vegetables to grow:

• Zucchini (Summer Squash)
• Swish Chard

These veggies flourish, even when you water them inconsistently, and most of them are unlikely to develop mold or mildew.

It’s also worth mentioning that some of these veggies have varieties and cultivars that are hardier and more resistant than others. For example, heirloom peas and beans generally do better than other varieties.

Here are some good examples of veggies that are both easy to grow, naturally pest-resistant, and resistant to diseases and fungi:

The lettuce lover's seed bundle from  Seed Needs  has a variety of yummy homemade garden salad varieties. The seed packet includes various cultivars like Red Romaine, Iceberg, Parris Island COS, Ruby Red, Lollo Rosso, Black Seeded Simpson, Oakleaf, and Prizehead.

PAID LINK - We may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

This Cherry Belle radish seed packet from  The Old Farmer's Almanac  contains approximately 400 organic certified, non-GMO, open-pollinated seeds. Cherry Belle radishes are perfect salad crops. They also taste yummy when roasted.

Here's another excellent veggie crop - Sugar Daddy peas. This Sugar Daddy seed packet from  Purely Organic Products  contains approximately 90 certified organic seeds. Sugar Daddy peas grow compact and bushy - so they don't need a trellis.

These royal burgundies and mellow yellow beans taste delicious, and they're also tiny. The plants only grow around  15-inches tall ! They flourish best with full sun and produce beautiful plants with  four-inch bean pods . You'll also love the colorful harvest - it will keep your eyes and your tummy satisfied!

Here's a beautiful zucchini and squash seed bundle from  Sow Right Seeds . The seed selection is perfect for new growers and contains Cocozelle, Black Beauty, Round, Grey, and Golden squash seeds.

These kale seed packets from Sow Right Seeds contain four of our favorite kale cultivars! You get Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch, Improved Dwarf Siberian, Red Russian, and Lacinato. The seeds are GMO-free heirlooms, and the reviews are also spectacular.

These sweet, crunchy carrots grow to be around 6 inches long and 1 inch thick under full sun. Touchon, an heirloom carrot variety with roots in France, takes about 65 days to fully mature. It lacks hard fiber and can be eaten raw in salads, roasted, or soups.

This  Old Farmer's Almanac  seed packet contains approximately 120 non-GMO rainbow Swiss chard seeds. Rainbow Swiss chard is one of the most beautiful cold-weather crops with pink, red, yellow, orange, and white stems.

Learn More – Top 10 Most Beautiful Easy to Grow Vegetables

If you want more ideas of some of the easiest plants to grow to start a vegetable garden from scratch, this video might help:

Plant a Combination of Cool and Warm Season Vegetables

Each year is different. Some summers seem to stretch forever. Heat-loving tomatoes ripen on the vine for weeks on end. However, in other years, the summer months are more like summer weeks, and you may have to pick everything early to avoid death by frost.

Because there are no guarantees in gardening, I try my best to plant a variety of warm and cool-season crops. Usually, this means that even if it’s a terrible year for heat-loving veggies, I’m likely to get a bumper crop of cool-season plants.

So, I highly recommend mixing things up when learning to start a vegetable garden from scratch. Variety will ensure you can harvest something each year, even if one plant dries up or gets frost-burn.

Annuals, Biennials, and Perennials

Plants come in a few different kinds: annuals, biennials, and perennials. Perennials are an excellent option if you want a reliable harvest every year, but annuals and biennials can also bear seeds, so you can replant them yearly.

• Annuals are plants that complete their lifecycle in one year. Examples would include lettuce, tomatoes, and radishes. At the end of the season, the plant dies back completely, and you need to restart from freshly sown seeds the following spring.
• Biennials take two years to complete their lifecycle. Usually, gardeners grow biennials as annuals and eat them before they start the reproductive phase of their lifecycle in year two. You would only bring the plant into its second summer if you had seed-saving intentions. Examples of plants in this category would include celery, cabbage, and kale.
• Perennials are a gift to the busy gardener. Perennials are plants that come back year after year. Some perennials can live for decades, and often, the older they are, the better they produce. This category includes rhubarb, asparagus , raspberries , honeyberries , blueberries, grapes , and globe artichokes.

Here’s a great guide to picking out some perennials when learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch:

Most fruit and nut trees also fall into the perennial category. A healthy fruit tree can be astonishingly productive. The apple tree in my front yard can produce a few hundred pounds of apples over the course of the summer.

I also love growing avocado trees from seed. Seed-grown trees tend to be tougher than grafted trees. They take a little longer to start fruiting, but they are less susceptible to pests and disease, grow faster, and are more resilient.

Perennials can be slow to start, and you may have to wait a few years before they really take off, but once they are established, it’s often as simple as harvesting the fruit.

In addition, your garden zone can be an important factor to consider here. Not every plant can be grown as a perennial in every climate. Some plants are too frost-tender to succeed as perennials in cold northern areas.

How Much Should I Plant When Learning How to Start a Garden From Scratch?

If you have never grown a certain vegetable before, you may wonder how many plants to grow. The first year that I gardened, I planted an entire packet of zucchini seeds.

In case you didn’t know, zucchini may be the most productive plant in the world. I was overwhelmed by more than one hundred zucchini that summer. It was complete zucchini madness. I stuffed zucchini into every dish I could think of and still had so many that I was giving them away to anyone who stopped by.

It was so overwhelming that I had to come up with new ideas for using my harvest!

When learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch, start small and discover the best way to sow your seeds. By following the instructions on your seed packets, you can estimate how many plants you’ll get.

A Vegetable Garden Layout for a Family of Four

To feed the average family of four, this is an approximate guide to how many plants you want to have in your vegetable garden.

Keep in mind that there is no accounting for personal taste. Plant extra if you have a few favorite vegetables or want extra for preserving!

♥ Succession planting refers to the practice of planting a small number of seeds at one time and then returning to plant more later. This spreads out the harvest so that you are not inundated by a huge volume of one type of vegetable in a short period.

Also, keep in mind that there can be a big difference in how productive a plant is, depending on the exact variety you choose.

Once you’re growing enough vegetables for your family, consider growing some for your animals, too!

Once you’ve chosen which plants you want to use to start a vegetable garden, you need to think about how much space you have and how you want to use it.

All plants need a different amount of space to grow, and there are many clever garden designs to help you get the most out of the space you already have.

So, let’s take a quick look at how to space your plants and go over some ideas for raised garden beds.

The above garden layouts offer diverse options for different spaces, needs, and plant varieties. We don’t know what your yard looks like. But – we bet the above garden design ideas can help accommodate nearly any garden – regardless of your yard’s size and shape.

How Do You Plan a Vegetable Garden Layout?

There are many ways to lay out a garden and space your plants, and it’s worth thinking about your garden design before you start planting.

Rows are traditional, but if you are planting in a raised garden bed, consider a triangle garden design, as this allows you to fit the most equally distanced plants.

Try a keyhole garden if you have an in-ground garden or are building raised garden beds. These are similar to row gardens, but they lose less space for walkways.

Here’s a great tutorial on how to build a keyhole raised garden bed to start growing vegetables in your backyard:

Intensive Planting vs. Wide Space Planting

Intensive planting involves putting plants as close together as possible while still providing enough space for plants to mature. If done effectively, this minimizes the amount of space weeds have to grow and maximizes the number of plants you have per bed.

Food forests are an example of intensive planting. We have a guide on how to grow a food forest if you are interested – it’s fantastic!

Wide-space planting gives plants more than adequate room to develop. The benefit of this method is that plants don’t have to compete for space, and they can grow larger without being inhibited by the plants around them. Still, this method can require more weeding.

So, when learning how to start your garden from scratch, it might help you to think about how much time and space you have for your garden.

Intensive planting may be a good option if you are always busy or have very little space to work with. On the other hand, if you have more time for weeding and have plenty of room to spread out your plants, wide-space planting may work best.

Which Vegetables Grow Well Together?

Last but certainly not least, it’s a great idea to think about where you want to plant your plants in your garden.

Companion planting is always a good consideration during this phase. It can help you naturally prevent pests, encourage healthy root growth, and prevent one plant from taking up all the water and nutrients from the soil.

For example, some great companion plants for zucchini include corn, beans, garlic, and herbs. The garlic and herbs naturally repel pests and grow into the soil while the zucchini vines spread. The beans and corn grow upwards, providing ventilation for the zucchini. Meanwhile, beans fix nitrogen for everything else to stay nourished.

Zucchini also grows well with tomatoes, as the tomatoes grow upwards, and the zucchini trails, providing shade to the soil and keeping it humid.

Here’s an example of a Victory garden from TouchWood Editions that follows some great companion planting practices:

Systems like these can help make your garden low-maintenance and ensure you have a healthy harvest every year!

Learn More – How to Create the Perfect Fruit Tree Guild Layout for Permaculture

How to Start a Vegetable Garden In Your Backyard From Seeds

Not all seeds are the same. Tomatoes and peppers can take weeks to germinate, while beans, peas, and radishes can come up in a couple of days.

You should always refer to the back of the seed packet for specific instructions, but here are a few tips and tricks that apply to most seeds:

Seed Sowing Tips

Sowing seeds can be deceptively overwhelming when learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch. For example, how deep should you plant them, and what soil will be best? Do you water immediately after sowing the seeds?

Well, let’s talk about it:

• Seed size determines how deeply you sow your seeds.  Generally, place seeds in a hole two times the seed width.  So, if a pea is  1/4-inch in diameter , your hole would be  1/2-inch deep .
• When sowing tiny seeds that only need to be  1/4-inch  or  1/8-inch below the surface  (carrots, for example), scatter your seeds over the bed, sprinkle a fine layer of soil over the top of your seeds, and press everything down firmly. It is far easier to scatter a  1/4-inch  of soil than dig a hole  1/4-inch deep .
• Soaking seeds overnight in water or applying heat from the bottom speeds up germination times. I use an electric heat mat to offer my tomatoes, peppers, and cabbages a temperature boost when I start them.
• Some seeds need light to germinate, so you wouldn’t want to cover them in soil. It’s always a good idea to read the back of the seed packet so you catch things like this. Many lettuce varieties, for example, need some light to germinate.
• To speed up germination, keep the seeds moist but not wet. A fine mist every few days should do the trick, as misting will keep the soil in place. You don’t want to shoot away your seeds with your high-pressure hose water!

Once you’ve sown your seeds, maintain consistent moisture until the seedlings start growing roots and have a little sprout.

It’s also a good idea to read up on germination times and the ideal planting time for each plant you select. That way, if seeds aren’t coming up after their germination window, you can resow and not lose time waiting for plants that aren’t coming.

Do I Need to Plant Everything In the Seed Packet?

When you buy a package of seeds, you may think that you need to plant all of the seeds in the package or else they will not keep for the following year. This isn’t necessarily true.

You don’t need to plant everything in the seed packet when starting a garden. While age is an important aspect of germination, most seeds will keep a few years before germination rates decline in any significant way.

If you have a good germination rate from a package of seeds one year, you are usually okay to sow again the following year.

The fridge is generally the best place to keep your seeds for next year. Make sure they are in a moisture-proof package.

How to Grow Vegetables from Scraps

One of the best parts of learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch, in my opinion, is learning how to use your veggie scraps as plant starters!

Not all vegetables are started exclusively from seed. Many plants have clever secondary methods of reproduction.

For example, you typically start potatoes from the previous season’s tubers. Anywhere a sprout emerges, a new plant will grow. I like to cut one potato into a few chunks to maximize the number of plants I get from each tuber.

I have successfully planted potatoes and sweet potatoes from the back of my pantry and those from the garden center.

Garlic also grows straight from a clove. The longer garlic is grown in one location, the more finely attuned it is to grow in that location. It’s not unusual to find varieties of garlic that are unique to your microclimate and more resilient to life in your specific area at farmer’s markets or co-ops.

Also, you can even start plants from grocery store trimmings ! Celery, green onions, cabbage, bok choy, and lettuce will all develop new growth when placed in clean water in a sunny spot.

Save the seeds from grocery-bought vegetables and fruit, too – you can sprout all of these for free plants!

When starting plants from trimmings, you want to keep the bottom two inches of the plant intact and submerge the lower half of it in water. It’s important to regularly change the water. After a few days, you should start to see some new growth.

One fruit that is so much fun to grow from scraps is pineapple . Simply twist the top off and cut the bottom leaves off to make it easier to plant. Leave it to dry for an hour or two and plant in a pot or straight into the garden.

The flavors of foods grown from scraps tend to be a little different. Often they’re a bit milder than the store-bought plants. You won’t get huge yields from this type of window-sill gardening, but it’s a fun project to do, especially with kids.

I like to propagate my tomato trimmings using a similar method. After I’ve taken the “sucker” branches off of my larger tomato plants, I put them in a jar of water. After a week, the root systems on these plants are significant enough to place them in the soil. It’s remarkable how quickly they catch up.

They’re the easiest tomato plants you’ll ever start!

Whichever vegetables you choose when learning how to start a garden from scratch, you need to give your plants adequate water and nutrition to see success.

So, let’s go over how to water, fertilize, prune, and mulch your garden. We’ll also give you the low-down on some of the most common garden pests and how to naturally eliminate them so you can keep your garden healthy and productive.

Water ing Your Backyard Vegetable Garden

Usually, water is the secret ingredient we need to make our gardens thrive. Thirsty plants are stressed ones, and stressed plants are more likely to suffer pest damage, fall prey to diseases, and ultimately fail to produce a healthy harvest for you and your family.

When it’s time to water your garden, water deeply rather than frequently. This will encourage the plants to form deep root systems, which makes them more resilient in the long run. It also means that your plants won’t wilt so readily if you miss a watering session.

The fruit trees in my yard are on the “Tough-Love Watering Schedule,” in which I water them rarely and when I feel like it. It sounds harsh, but the goal is to get them accustomed to irregular watering — which is true to nature.

When I water these trees, I soak the earth very deeply. This pushes them to sink their roots deep into the ground, which not only helps them seek water better during droughts. It also helps them stay stable during wind and snowstorms.

How and When to Fertilize Your Vegetable Garden

Initially, when learning how to start a vegetable garden from scratch in your backyard, you probably won’t need to think too much about fertilizers. When you start, you usually have rich soil.

Still, as the summer goes on, leaves may become yellow. This can signify that your vegetable plants need extra nutrients from fertilizer.

There are many ways to add nutrition to your soil. Some of the best things to use as a fertilizer are:

• Kitchen scraps
• Compost tea
• Organic fertilizer mixes (pelleted or liquid)
• Worm castings from worm farming (learn how to farm worms here! )

While each method takes a different amount of time, liquid fertilizer additions are usually best. Liquid fertilizer mixes with the water that you give your garden, allowing your plants to quickly absorb the nutrients from their roots.

On the other hand, solid fertilizer takes a while to dissolve and work its way down into the soil. Still, adding some solid fertilizers, like a layer of compost, can work as a slow-release fertilizer, continually fertilizing your garden year-round.

To identify which minerals your soil is missing and to get a complete picture of your soil health, you may want to use some form of soil testing . You can purchase soil tests from a lab, and they tend to be fairly inexpensive. Still, you can also run a much more limited test with a home kit.

Learn More – How to Improve Garden Soil Naturally [Over Winter and Year-Round]

How to Prune Your Garden Plants

Some plants are as easy as sowing it and forgetting it. Others take a little more finesse and grooming, requiring pruning every once in a while.

We prune plants in our gardens for a number of reasons, including:

• Removing some leaves can improve air circulation around plants that are sensitive to fungal infections.
• Taking some leaves or stems off can encourage a plant to focus its energies on a different aspect of development (ripening green tomatoes, for example).
• Trimming keeps plants a manageable shape and size.
• Snipping off flower buds can prevent “bolting” or unwanted blooming.

Tomatoes and squash will develop fungal diseases if they don’t have sufficient airflow. Many gardeners struggle to keep squash leaves free from powdery mildew, and pruning is one way of helping with that.

If you are growing indeterminate tomato varieties (“rambling” ones that don’t grow to a certain size), trim off the sturdy little branches known as “suckers.” These branches grow from the middle of the forks on the larger stems of the plant. If you don’t limit the growth of these tomatoes to a single stem, they will quickly branch out all over your garden. I’ve been there, and it’s a little wild!

Ultimately, pruning can be a complex topic, but it’s also a powerful tool that can have a big impact on the productivity and health of plants.

If you don’t have time to learn the nuances of pruning as you start your vegetable garden, the most basic idea is to remove sections that are dead(ish). If it’s browning or has signs of disease, then that leaf isn’t helping the plant the way it should be. Removing the leaf will encourage the plant to focus on new, healthy growth.

How and When to Mulch Your Backyard Vegetable Garden

A good mulch is much like a good assistant. Mulch will suppress weeds, combat surface evaporation, prevent plant disease, protect plants from temperature fluctuations, and eventually break down and feed your soil.

A 2 to 3-inch layer of material around once a year is enough to do the job, but I encourage you to go deeper than that. The deeper the layer of mulch, the better.

Straw and sugar cane trash are my favorites (because I can get straw for free from a nearby stable and sugar cane from the neighbors), but leaves, grass clippings (best if you compost these first, or you’ll end up with a garden full of grass), and sawdust will also work.

Avoid heavier mulches like woodchips or gravel, as they won’t break down over the winter.

Choosing the right mulch now, as you’re learning how to start a vegetable garden from scratch, can help you ensure that your soil stays sustainable and healthy in the years to come.

Some Common Garden Pests That Infest Vegetable Gardens

All-natural gardening means that sometimes we do a little sharing, even if we don’t want to. So, when first learning how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard from scratch, it’s best to be prepared for any pests that might eventually pop up.

Here are some earth-friendly ways of keeping pests at bay:

The table above showcases several garden pests that can wreak havoc on garden veggies. But – this list only scratches the surface. Above all, remain vigilant! Scan your veggies at least a few times weekly. Check underneath leaves, flowers, and veggies to look for new signs of infestation.

Starting something new can be confusing – and exciting! We’re here to help guide you through the entire process and help you take that leap toward growing your own food. There’s nothing like it.

So, let’s go over some of the questions we’ve heard most about how to start a vegetable garden from scratch – hopefully, it’ll answer all of your questions, too!

There is no wrong time to start a garden. When it is wintertime, although it may be too late to plant seeds into the soil, it’s still the perfect time to build raised beds, start seeds indoors, and fertilize your soil. Additionally, all plants have different germination times, and some may grow best when you plant them in freezing temperatures.

It doesn’t cost much to start a garden, especially if you amend your soil, use seeds and starters from your scrap food, and already have the basic tools. However, even without these things, getting started shouldn’t cost you more than $20 for small garden tools and some peat moss or compost. Using fall leaves for mulch also saves money.

You can put many things in the bottom of a raised garden bed, but we usually recommend something like dry leaves, mulch, or straw. Adding items such as wood can imbalance the soil and create ‘sinkholes’ over time. Mulch, soil, and compost are always your best bet.

You start a vegetable garden in pots in the same way you would start a garden in a raised bed. Add soil and mulch, pop in some seeds and seedlings, and water. Prune and fertilize your plants as necessary, and you should have a flourishing garden in no time.

Excited about starting a brand-new vegetable garden in your backyard? Let me know if this guide helped you get started, and please, show us photos of your progress. Nothing is better than turning a piece of earth into your productive paradise.

One final tip – work with nature, not against it. If your garden gives you lemons, make lemonade. If birds are eating all your fruit – plant more fruit. From experience, it’s easier to grow more and share than it is to stop sharing!

Thanks so much for reading this, please leave your comments and share with your friends and family!

More on How To Start a Vegetable Garden In Your Backyard and Keep It Growing:

• How Long Does It Take for Tomatoes to Grow? Tomato Growing and Harvesting Guide
• What to Do With Tomato Plants in Winter?
• 8 Best Mulch Alternatives for a Beautiful Garden
• Rubber Mulch vs Wood Mulch [Complete Guide to the Pros and Cons]

Inspire Others, Share This Article!

Homesteader, Blogger, Farmer, Mom

Elle, the founder and visionary behind Outdoor Happens, is a seasoned horticulturist with over 25 years of hands-on experience. She's not just any gardener; she's a plant whisperer who ran her own nursery specializing in edible plants and fruit trees. With 15 years in permaculture design, she's transformed spaces from local schools to restaurants, promoting sustainable living and healthy eating.

Her work has caught the eye of major media outlets like Bob Vila, NBC News, The Washington Post, and more. She's a proud member of PINA, the Organic Farmer's Association, and the American Horticultural Society. But she doesn't just keep her wisdom stateside; she's a global green thumb, having worked on organic farms from Spain to Australia, revitalizing lands and designing self-sustaining ecosystems.

Whether it's turning a depleted Spanish farm into a permaculture paradise or setting up a biodynamic farm in Holland, Elle's mission is to make the world a greener, more sustainable place. She's a qualified permaculture teacher with diplomas in horticulture and naturopathy, and her passions range from herbalism and fermentation to animal husbandry and beyond. Elle lives the life she preaches, residing on a farm teeming with vegetable gardens, food forests, cows, sheep, horses, and chickens.

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Wow Elle, what an amazing woman you are. I love the way you can create a productive garden from a bare patch of land, and even use the chooks to help. Great to see your girls learning so much good stuff as well. Well done and great article, I read every word and learnt lots.

Thanks Sue! The girls love the gardens – they still do their daily rounds – check the raspberry bush, the mulberry tree, the strawberries. And Becky obviously checks the tomatoes every day 🙂

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The New Vegetable Garden: 8 Favorite Edible Backyards

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Our dream kitchen garden is practical, prolific, and beautiful. Here are 13 we love–all working gardens, but pretty enough for leisure time, too.

Above: This Berkeley, California garden by Star Apple Edible Gardens has arched metal trellises to support muscat grapes, green beans, and cherry tomatoes above raised beds of field stone.

Above: Among this understated Rhode Island garden’s occasional flashes of color are bright blue enameled teepees on which tomatoes grow. See more in Garden Visit: At Home in Rhode Island with Painter Georgia Marsh .

Above: The Cape Cod garden of architect Sheila Bonnell has everything she needs for a quick dinner salad, including cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, and lettuce. Grasses line the perimeter to hide the chicken wire fencing. Read more in Architect Visit: A Kitchen Garden on Cape Cod .

Above: Remodelista + Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory member Kriste Michelini collaborated with Esther Arnold on the design of her own kitchen garden in Alamo, California. Michelini wanted the planter boxes to be “sculptural,” so the garden would be as beautiful in winter as in summer. See the whole project among the Best Edible Garden Finalists in last year’s Considered Design Awards contest.

Above: This Southern California garden by Molly Wood Garden Design mixes edibles and perennial flowers for a kitchen garden that’s suited for lingering. The project was a  Best Edible Garden Finalist in our 2013 contest.

Above: Designer Lauri Kranz of Edible Gardens LA created a modern steel and glass solution for keeping animal pests out of a Hollywood garden while still letting bees and butterflies in. See the whole project in  Steal This Look: A Deer-Proof Garden in Hollywood Hills .

Above: Demonstrating that household food can be grown almost anywhere, Danish designer Line Grí¼ner created the Urban Greenhouse–a compact structure with planter beds, garden storage, and seating, made in Denmark. For more, see Small Space Gardening: A Tiny Greenhouse on Wheels .

Above: Blogger April of Wahsega Valley Farm built a bean tunnel using metal mesh and poles from her local hardware store. Learn how she did it in Vegetable Garden Design: DIY Bean Trellis .

Inspired? Start designing an eat-in garden:

• Hardscaping 101: Design Guide for Edible Gardens .
• Required Reading: The Beautiful Edible Garden .
• Ask the Expert: 9 Tips to Grow Edible Microgreens .
• Edible Garden: A Veg-Wedge on Legs .

Explore Deeper Into These Areas

• Edible Gardens
• Garden Beds
• Raised Beds

10 Easy Pieces: Colorful Doormats

Favorite botanical illustrations: our 10 best sources for vintage and new, have a question or comment about this post, related stories.

The Summer Living Room: 17 Airy Screened-In Porches

Lawn Begone: 7 Ideas for Front Garden Landscapes

Low-Cost Luxury: 9 Ways to Use Decomposed Granite in a Landscape

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23 Vegetable Garden Ideas and Designs for Your Yard

Make Your Vegetable Garden Stand Out Beautifully

mazaletel  / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

When you want both form and function, there are vegetable garden design ideas that are just as stunning as ornamental flower gardens. You'll get all the benefits of harvesting your own fresh herbs and vegetables while also enjoying the look of a gorgeous garden layout you've created yourself.

Ideally, you situate your vegetable garden in a location with full sun and easy access to a water source, but you can also plant vegetables that thrive in less sun exposure or grow herbs with low watering needs. Raised beds are only one of many ways to design and lay out a vegetable garden; there are many other options for aesthetically pleasing gardens. Whether you have a small apartment vegetable garden on a patio or a sprawling backyard, here are 23 vegetable garden ideas to get you inspired.

Vegetable Gardening Tips

Before you start a vegetable garden , here a four key tips for a successful harvest:

• Plan your vegetable garden. Regardless of the size of your plantings, planning is key, both in terms of space (what to plant where and how much) and time (when to plant which crops and how often). Squeezing too many plants into your planting space will only yield poor results and you don’t want sun-loving tomatoes to be shaded by towering corn plants or end up with more lettuce than you are able to eat at once.
• Select varieties suitable for your space and climate. For small spaces or containers, choose dwarf, compact, or bush-type varieties, which are available for many popular garden crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers. If your growing season is short, select early-maturing varieties.
• Follow the rules of crop rotation. Regardless of how big or small your garden is, planting crops of the same plant family in the same location in two consecutive years is a no-no. For container plants, that means using fresh potting soil every season, or for each new crop.
• Water and fertilize. Vegetables undergo a fast transformation from seed or seedling to harvest in a very short time and to do that, they regularly need water and a fertilizer specially formulated for vegetables. The only exceptions are some perennial herbs such as rosemary that do better in less nutrient-rich, dry soil.
• Mulch. Vegetable gardens benefit from mulching just as much as flower beds. Mulch keeps the soil moist and cool and suppresses weeds. Make sure to pick a mulch suitable for vegetable gardens . Another way of "mulching" is to plant an edible groundcover .

Vegetable Gardening Ideas

Plant attractive varieties.

Some vegetables, like rainbow Swiss chard, are too beautiful to be confined to the vegetable garden. Show them off by making them focal points in your garden.

This rainbow Swiss chard was recently planted in these strawberry pots, where they will fill out the space. New leaves will fill in where old leaves are harvested, keeping the plants fresh-looking and lush.

Use Hanging Planters

There is no gardening rule that says hanging baskets have to be flowers. Especially vegetables with shallow roots will work in hanging planters. In the spring, you may even get a better yield, due in part to the heat that is being reflected off the wall.

Use any type of container you like, from old buckets to fancy ceramic bowls, as long as the walls of the container are thick so they provide adequate insulation of the roots from the heat and the containers drain well (drill drainage holes if there aren’t any). Just remember that the containers will get heavy when they are full of soil and plants. And, like all container plants, they need more frequent watering than plants in garden soil. This gardener has hung baskets attached to strong horizontal boards along a wall.

Interplant With Flowers

Many vegetables make attractive bedding plants alongside flowers, especially if they are quick growers and frequently harvested, like lettuce and other salad greens.  Interplanting with flowers has the added benefit of attracting pollinators, a crucial but often overlooked success factor for growing vegetables .

Rabbits and other wildlife may find your vegetable bed tempting, but if you interplant with companion flowers that have a strong scent or toss in a few onion plants, these will act as a deterrent.

Try Vertical Gardening

Many gardeners know that old, discarded pallets make great compost bins . They also make great vertical gardens. Staple some landscape fabric to the inside of the front of your pallet and the outside of the rear. Fill the whole thing with good potting soil . Then turn the pallet on its side and make slits where you want to insert your plants. If you are going to hang your pallet garden, make sure you have sturdy hooks, because all that soil and wood will make it heavy.

Build Portable Raised Beds

A  simple crate is all you need to plant a salad garden that will feed you for weeks. This is a variation on a raised bed garden , but since it's self-contained, it's portable. It may be too heavy to lift when full, but if you put wheels on it, you could move it to wherever the sun decides to shine.

You can squeeze a lot into one small garden . Vegetables that are harvested frequently, such as lettuce , carrots , and onions , will be thinned out as you harvest them, so there will not be overcrowding.

Plant a Garden on Shelves

Shelves make a great little garden. You do not need to buy special hangers or spend the weekend digging out a spot in the yard—all you need is a set of shelves and some containers.

Place your collection on your deck or patio just outside your kitchen, and you will find yourself harvesting far more often than if you had to walk out to the garden. Bring some of the containers indoors when the weather turns cold. Do not forget to include some herbs , too.

Plant in Raised Garden Beds

A lot of times raised beds are only a few inches off the ground. While that does provide benefits to the plants, like improved drainage and warming the soil earlier in spring, it also means less bending for the gardener if the bed is raised even higher.

Lifting the planting beds to waist height, like the three weathered troughs running through this colorful garden, means very little bending and far fewer wildlife problems that would otherwise need additional fencing.

Grow in Greenhouses

Gardening in a  greenhouse provides you with fresh vegetables during the off-season when it’s too cold to grow them outside. Just pull up a chair and literally watch the plants grow.

This greenhouse provides a view of the garden outside as well as the sheltered vegetables and flowers growing undercover. It is a great place to set up an office while you keep tabs on how everything is growing.

Plant a Permaculture Garden

If you are drawn toward sustainability, look into creating a permaculture garden . This type of garden tries to duplicate the layering found in natural systems and forests. There are upper-story trees, climbers, perennial vegetables , root crops , and self-sowers that intermingle, creating your own personal foraging garden.

It takes some effort to create a working permaculture garden, but it will require much less maintenance than traditional vegetable gardens once it gets going.

Design a Container Garden

Getty Images/ ChiccoDodiFC

You can grow just about any vegetable in containers . This is a very creative and ornamental way to design a vegetable garden . Virtually any container will do, as long as it has good drainage.

Move the containers around to take full advantage of the sun. Either plant one type of vegetable per container or mix things up. A downside is that the soil in containers tends to dry out quickly and you may need to water it every day.

Companion Plant Different Varieties

Getty Images/ gerdtromm

When you're growing multiple vegetables within a garden, you'll want to keep in mind companion plants , meaning planting vegetables that grow well together. Companion planting involves growing plants that will have the same light and water requirements, and they'll mutually benefit each other as they grow.

Examples include asparagus and petunias, eggplant and marigold, or winter squash and nasturtium.

Grow On Your Fence

Getty Images/ ANITA BLAKER

If you have a fence , then you have the perfect spot to plant vegetables or herbs without taking up ground space. Build a planter on your fence or hang boxes from your fence. This keeps plants out of the reach of rabbits and gives them more undisturbed access to sunlight.

Try Small Backyard Solutions

Getty Images/ simonkr

A small backyard shouldn't prevent you from having a garden full of delicious vegetables to harvest. Try succession planting , where you plant vegetables strategically so that there is continuously something new ready to be harvested.

Or try planting smaller, more compact varieties of vegetables to make the most of your small space.

Install Window Boxes

Getty Images/ Marina Herrmann

When you need to utilize every square inch in a small space or if you want to add some greenery and color to your home, look to window boxes . These classic gardening vessels aren't just for flowers. Use them on the bright side of your home for sun-loving veggies or plant herbs that you want easy access to right outside your kitchen window.

Use Vegetables as Landscaping

Getty Images/ Philippe S. Giraud

Rather than interplanting ornamental flowers and vegetables, try planting all vegetables and other edible plants to maximize functional garden space. In this garden, lettuce serves as both the height and edging in the landscaping design. Marigolds are used to add color, but they're also one of the most popular edible flowers .

Make a Balcony Garden

Getty Images/ Westend61

If you have a balcony, then you have room to design a vegetable garden. Combine a container garden with shade tolerant vegetables and you'll have a delicious array of veggies, even with your small space.

Build a Ladder Garden

Using a ladder to build a vertical garden helps make the most of your space. Grab an old ladder, a few pots, and plant a container garden that is as functional and space efficient as it is charming.

Plant a Traditional Garden

Getty Images/ beekeepx

Planting vegetables in rows, sectioned off based on the type of plant, is the traditional way to grow a vegetable garden , and it's still a favorite of gardeners. It makes for a classic look, like something straight out of a cottage garden, and it's one of the most efficient ways to grow and harvest plants.

Trellis Your Plants

Getty Images/ Joe_Potato

Growing vegetables on a trellis gives you more room to let vines and climbing plants spread. It also adds a timeless, charming look to your garden that is as pretty as it is practical. This is a particularly good idea in gardens where you're trying to save space and maximize vertical growing techniques.

Style a Plant Wall

Getty Images/ boonsom

A plant wall is stylish and functional way to grow a vegetable garden. From letting them climb along the wall to mounting small containers all over a sunny surface, planting a wall of vegetables lets you make the most of a petite patio or small backyard.

Use Unconventional Containers

Getty Images/ Binnerstam

You don't need to go out and buy all-new terra-cotta pots or invest in raised bed planters just to have a vegetable garden. Think outside the box with the planters that you use, including stainless steel tubs, burlap planting bags, stock tanks, and large tupperware containers. Regardless of the container you use, it must have drainage holes so you might need to drill them yourself.

Try Patio Raised Beds

Getty Images/ AKodisinghe

If you don't have a large yard with a dedicated garden space, use raised beds to make gardening physically easier and keep your plants away from hungry rabbits and other small animals. Try raised beds both as decor and functional gardening vessels on a patio or porch.

Add Garden Borders and Paths

The round shape and vibrant colors of various lettuces and other leafy greens make them a wonderful option to use as practical garden borders and paths. Use them as edging around a garden bed.

While companion planting (growing crops together) is not an exact science, there is evidence that certain crops grow well together. Tomatoes make good neighbors for basil and other herbs as well as carrots, cucumbers, and squash. Good companion plants for lettuce are corn, pumpkins, radishes, and squash.

The best time to start a vegetable garden is in the spring when the soil warms up after the winter. Before you start planting, you must prepare the soil for planting cool-season crops such as peas or lettuce. The planting of warm-weather crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers will have to wait until the late spring after the last frost.

To maximize your garden's growth, plant vegetables in rows, with the shortest plants facing the south end of the garden where they'll receive the most light. Taller plants go in the back, towards the north.

Lettuce, herbs, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash are the easiest crops to grow for newbie gardeners. Starting vegetable plants from seeds isn't difficult but to get some basic experience growing vegetables first, purchase seedlings or small plants in your first gardening season.

More from The Spruce

Balcony Vegetable Garden- Tips on What to Grow and How to Grow It

By: Author Sharlene Earnshaw

Posted on Last updated: May 26, 2023

A balcony vegetable garden is the perfect solution to having fresh and tasty produce right at your fingertips without using a ton of space. You will be surprised just how much you can grow on your balcony if you use the right equipment and plant varieties!

Here are some ideas on what to use to make the most of your balcony space, helpful self-watering resources, and 13 of the best vegetables to grow in small spaces.

Balcony Vegetable Garden- Essential Equipment

When you plan you balcony vegetable garden, space is definitely the most important consideration. There are several ways to maximize your space to grow a wide variety of veggies that you can use in dishes you make in your own kitchen.

Vertical Garden Options

Vertical gardening is a great way to maximize this space. Amazon has this neat and inexpensive stackable garden tower that includes five tiers with 15 little spots for plants. It is only 24 inches tall, so you may want to put it on something to elevate it and rotate the tower every few days to make sure all the plants have access to sun.

Another more expensive but overall better option is the Tower Garden . This gardening system uses hydroponics to grow a large amount of food in a small space. It reduces water usage by 95% in comparison to conventional gardening which is a big plus in drought-prone areas like California.

Using a self-watering sytem means that you won’t have to worry about watering your balcony vegetable garden every day and you can even be gone for a week and not have to worry about someone checking on your plants.

The Tower Garden is 62 inches high, and its water reservoir, which can hold 20 gallons of water, has a diameter of 30 inches. So it can fit in a space that is three feet square but since plants grow out of it, it is good to not place it right up against a wall.

I also suggest putting it on wheels (just buy a round planter base like this one at your local garden center) so that you can rotate the garden easily to distribute sunlight.

You will need access to electricity since this system uses a pump to move water up to the top of the Tower Garden. I have had my Tower Garden on my backyard patio for nearly a decade now and find that it is best for growing greens, peppers, strawberries, and herbs. You can buy an attachment cage to grow vining vegetables as well like tomatoes and cucumbers.

There is one major drawback to the Tower Garden. It is expensive. It is about $700 to buy the system which includes the tower, a pump, a variety of seeds, the rockwool which the seedling grow in, and the growing solutions which act as organic fertilizers for the plants. But, if you use it frequently, it will pay for itself in organic produce eventually.

Aeroponics sells a system that seems to be incredibly similar to the Tower Garden but it is currently only $450. It does not include seeds. The tower comes with everything you need for your first planting except for plants. Cups, rockwool pods for planting seeds, minerals A/B, and pump are all included. I have not personally used this system so I can’t vouch for it, but the reviews are good.

Replacement rockwool and hydroponic growing minerals can be purchased on Amazon and used with both systems. You will also want to check the PH of your water and adjust as needed to make sure your plants are growing in optimum conditions.

Self-Watering Raised Gardens

If you are like me and have a bad back, you know might want to have a raised garden on your balcony. I purchased this self-watering elevated planter from Costco last year and I have really liked growing things like lettuce, strawberries, peppers, and herbs in it.

I have found that newly planted crops with shallow roots don’t initially benefit from the self water feature so I do still have to water it regularly. Still, it is very easy to access and since it is on wheels, it is easy to move around.

Amazon has a variety of other options as well, including one garden that has multiple configuration options which will help you make the most of your balcony garden.

Self-Watering Drip Irrigation Kits

Of course, most balcony gardens have several different pots that will need to be watered, and daily watering can be a major pain. Using a solar powered irrigation system on a timer can be life changing. These are also great for when you go on vacation and don’t want to ask your neighbors to be plant babysitters.

The 13 Best Things to Grow in Your Balcony Vegetable Garden

There are several different herbs and foods that you can grow in your balcony vegetable garden. Here are some veggies that grow especially well in small spaces.

1. Lettuces

Lettuces are extremely easy to grow from seed and don’t take up much space, making them perfect for your balcony vegetable garden.

The key to always having lettuce for your salad is to sow seeds in succession. This means you plant seeds about 10-20 days apart to ensure you plants mature at different rates.

Some of my favorite lettuces to grow in small spaces are butterhead lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and romaine. Keep in mind that lettucess are generally not heat tolerant and do best when the weather is below 90 degrees.  Their happy place is when highs are in the 60s and 70s.

2. Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a hearty green that can stand up well to cooking and provides plenty of nutrition. Chopping this vegetable up and adding it to soups, stir fries, casseroles, and pasta dishes like lasagna is a great way to make the dish more healthy.

Chard can be grown in containers, making it suitable for small spaces like balconies. It also pairs well with other vegetables like beans, peas, tomatoes, and herbs in your garden.

Choose a container that is at least 12 inches deep to allow for proper root development. Chard leaves can be harvested as baby greens or allowed to reach full size. Pick the outer leaves regularly to encourage new growth. You can continue harvesting from the same plant throughout the growing season.

Growing Swiss chard from seed is very easy. First soak your seeds in water for 15 minutes immediately before sowing. Then, plant your seeds ½ inch below the soil. Germination takes one to two weeks and is best done between 50 and 80 degrees. You will have mature plants in 10-12 weeks.

Regular Swiss chard is a good option but rainbow chard is a more beautiful addition to your garden. It produces plants with yellow, red, pink, and white stems.

Arugula is my favorite green to add to a salad.  Technically an herb, it has this peppery, mustardy bite that brings more flavor to dishes. It is a welcome addition to pizzas, sandwiches, quiches, and pesto.

Arugula is incredibly easy to grow at home in your balcony garden, and if you grow it in two week successions, you will have a harvest all season long.

Seeds are easy to germinate and should be covered with just a quarter inch of soil. In just a week sprouts will begin to appear. Harvest your arugula when stems are about 2-3 inches tall which take will take about 4-6 weeks from seed planting. If you let arugula stems grow too big, they will get tougher and more bitter.

Arugula made our list of the best herbs to grow in Southern California .

4. Radishes

Radishes are one of the easiest things to grow in a balcony vegetable garden . They grow easily from seed, don’t take long to mature, and provide a nice bite when the bulbs are sliced in salads. You can even add their tops to salads as well.

Radishes do best in cooler weather (below 75) but a frost will kill them. They are best suited for summer and fall if you live in an area that does receive frost. You can plant seeds an inch apart and 1/2 deep. They can usually be harvested 3-5 weeks after planting.

Radishes come in such a beautiful variety of colors and shapes. I love the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  Easter Basket Mix  which contains about 15 varieties.

5. Tomatoes

Tomatoes taste so much better when they are homegrown ! The difference in flavor is truly remarkable. If you haven’t grown your own tomatoes before, make this year the year you do it!

Most tomatoes at the grocery store are picked when they are green to help them survive shipping and prolong shelf life. This does not allow the sun to sweeten the tomato and add more flavor. A homegrown tomato can be picked at peak ripeness, resulting in a much better tasting tomato.

It is important to pick the right tomatoes to grow in your balcony vegetable garden. Luckily, there are several great options for small spaces. Tomatoes prefer hot weather and plenty of sun, so give them the sunniest spot on your balcony.

Many cherry and grape tomatoes varieties have been cultivated to grow well in containers. The most easily available as seedlings are Better Bush and Sungold , but check your local garden center to see what they have.

Bush Early Girl and Bush Beefsteak are nice options for containers and they produce more standard-size tomatoes that are great for slicing and salsa. If you are interested in making fresh sauces or canning, Roma tomatoes can be grown in containers as well.

Of course, tomato planting isn’t foolproof, but I have all the secrets to a bumper crop. Check out my article filled with  tomato growing tips.

Running into problems with your tomatoes? Here is an article dedicated to  tomato plant problems and how to fix them .

6. Kitchen Herbs

No balcony vegetable garden is complete without some of the most common herbs used in the kitchen. Purchasing fresh herbs at the grocery store can be expensive but growing them is easy and they all tolerate small spaces.

I prefer to buy many of my kitchen herbs as seedlings from my local garden center. I always have basil, oregano, thyme, and sage on hand. They can all grow in the same space, though oregano can take over a pot easily, so be sure to keep it cut back or move it to its own small pot.

Cilantro and parsley are easy to grow from seed but they bolt quickly if it is warm, so I tend to only stick to cool season plantings.

I have a bay laurel plant on my patio so I always have bay leaves on hand. These small trees do well in a container. Rosemary is grown as a hedge in my area and many of my neighbors have it and are willing to share, so I skip it.

Mint is a plant that you should only grow in containers because it has a tendancy to take over a yard if given the chance. Your balcony garden can have several small pots filled with interesting mint varieties like chocolate pint, pineapple mint, and peppermint.

7. Upright Squash

Summer squash grows like a weed in hot weather, but it also takes up quite a bit of space, so most people don’t grow them on their balconies. But recently, there was an exciting development in the world of squash…

Burpee is selling a Rise and Shine Hybrid summer squash which is essentially a yellow zucchini, and it grows upright! You will need to stake it like a tomato plant but when you do you will get a plant that can grow up to four feet high with a three-foot spread! That’s pretty compact! And the plant is quite prolific in its production, especially when the weather heats up.

Squash need pollinators like bees or other insects in order to transfer the pollen from the male flower to female flower. If you don’t have pollinators in your area, you will have to hand pollinate which is easy. Here is a great video explaining how to do it:

8. Cucumbers

Growing cucumbers in pots is a great option for those setting up a balcony garden, just be sure to put the plant in a pot that is 12-18 inches deep and wide to provide enough room for the cucumber plant to grow.

If starting from seeds, plant a few seeds about one inch deep in the center of the pot. Once they germinate, thin out the weakest seedlings, leaving only one or two plants. Or, take the easy route like I do, and purchase seedlings at the garden center.

Cucumbers are vining plants that benefit from vertical support. You will need to provide a trellis or a tomato cage for the plant to climb.

Cucumber plants do require pollination for fruit set. If you don’t have pollinators nearby, you will need to hand polinate like the squash plants (see above).

I love growing peppers! There are thousands of pepper varieties available, each with its unique characteristics in terms of flavor, heat level, shape, size, and color.

I always plant jalapenos, a pepper for stuffing like Anaheim or pasillas, purple bell peppers because the are pretty and tasty, and shishito peppers which are great stir fried with oil and salt. I also try to plant a new-to-me variety each year.

Peppers are easy to grow in pots. They typically need a pot that is at least 12-16 inches in diameter and has drainage holes at the bottom so the roots don’t rot. Peppers love sun, but if temperatures got super hot, like above 90, it can burn them a bit so a little shade during heat waves can be a good thing.

Fresh peas are the best and you can enjoy them by growing them easily right on your balcony! All you need is a pot and a trellis (if you pick a vining variety). Choose a well-draining pot that is at least 12-18 inches deep and wide. Sow the pea seeds directly into the pot, planting the seeds about 1-2 inches deep.

Peas are typically ready for harvest around 60-70 days after planting, depending on the variety. Harvest the pods when they are plump and the peas inside have developed. Pick the pods regularly to encourage continuous production.

Tom Thumb is an extremely compact pea variety, reaching only 8-10 inches in height. It’s perfect for small pots and produces sweet, tender peas. Little Marvel is a popular dwarf variety that grows to about two feet in height. It produces a bounty of sweet and flavorful peas.

If you are looking to plant snap peas, Oregon Sugar Pod is a snap pea variety that grows to about three feet tall. It produces stringless, crisp pods that are delicious in stir-fries and salads.

11. Green Beans

Growing pole beans in pots can be a rewarding experience because fresh green beans are tasty right off the vine. They are easy enough to grow in pots as long as you plant them in well-drained potting soil that is in a pot that is at least 12-18 inches in diameter and depth.

It is important to plant beans when soil is warm (minimum 60 degrees). They also need to be trellissed since pole beans are vining beans.

Kentucky Wonder is a heirloom variety is a classic pole bean with a rich flavor. It produces long, stringless pods and is known for its reliable yield. If you are looking for a show stopper, check out Scarlet Runner which is prized for its beautiful red flowers and edible pods. It’s a vigorous climber that adds visual appeal to the garden.

If you choose to plant a bush bean, I highly recommend the beautiful  dragon tongue bean plant that has green pods that are striped with purple and has a delicate flavor.

12. Carrots

Carrots are a fun and easy vegetable to grow on a balcony. I like to grow my carrots in window boxes because they are deep enough to handle the carrot’s root but don’t take up too much room. Make sure your soil isn’t too dense- you want those roots to grow easily!

Carrots need regular watering, especially during dry spells, to prevent them from becoming tough or cracked. Water deeply to ensure that the moisture reaches the deeper roots. Using a drip water system is a good idea. They prefer cooler temperatures and are a great veggie to grow in the spring or fall.

Some carrot varieties that are well-suited for container gardening include Thumbelina, Paris Market, Little Finger, and Nantes. These varieties tend to be smaller in size, mature quickly, and have a good flavor. I like to grow varieties that aren’t easily found in grocery stores like Cosmic Purple .

Last but not least is the mighty beet. For many years, I was not a fan of beets. I thought they tasted like dirt. But I knew they were good for me so I persisted in trying them, and now they are one of my favorite vegetables!

Choose a container that is at least 8-10 inches deep to allow room for the beet roots to develop. The container should also have sufficient width to accommodate multiple beet plants. A rectangular or round container works well for growing beets.

You are better off sowing beet seeds directly into the container instead of trying to transfer seedlings. Scatter the seeds evenly over the moist soil surface, leaving about two inches of space between each seed and cover them with about a 1/2 inch of soil.

Beets like cooler temperatures and can tolerate some shade, especially in warmer climates, but at least 4-6 hours of sunlight daily is preferred. Beets are typically ready for harvest 55-70 days after sowing.

Beet varieties that are well-suited for container gardening include Babybeat, Bull’s Blood, Cylindra, and Detroit Dark Red. These varieties are known for their compact size, quick maturity, and good flavor. I also love chioggia beets because the red and white stripes are so lovely.

How to Start a Vegetable Garden in Your Backyard

Even beginners can get growing with these simple tips.

Every item on this page was chosen by a The Pioneer Woman editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

To help your plants thrive, make sure they get at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun—no skimping! (Plu, most vegetables simply don’t produce in shade.) You’ll also want to situate your garden or containers near your spigot so you don't have to haul water across the entire yard during dry spells. And there’s good news if you’re a procrastinator: Many warm weather crops, such as tomato and eggplant transplants, still can go in the ground if temperatures already are soaring where you live. Some fast-growing crops, like spinach and other greens, even can be planted in mid to late summer for a fall harvest.

We've rounded up everything you need to know about how to start a vegetable garden right now, regardless of the amount of space you have.

How do I build a vegetable garden?

You may have big plans as you daydream about your vegetable garden, but hold on! It’s best to start small and learn from experience before committing too much time and money (and you will have to tend it, after all!). Start with a plot no bigger than about 10' x 10' or smaller for your first attempt, or try several pots on your deck, patio, or balcony. Containers should be at least 16 inches deep to give roots room to stretch, though a window box is fine for shallowly-rooted plants, such as lettuce.

What should I grow in my garden?

It may seem obvious, but grow what you love! There's no sense in having a bumper crop of zucchini if you hate it. If it’s your first garden, stick with veggies that aren’t too finicky. That includes mesclun (mixed lettuce), spinach, Swiss chard, and herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Both pole beans—which need something to climb—and bush beans are good choices, too, because they’re prolific and don’t need a lot of coddling. Cucumbers and most squashes also are not picky and can be directly seeded into the ground. Just read the seed label to make sure you have enough room for them because some types can sprawl eight feet or more.

Should I plant seeds or transplants?

Probably both. Some fast-growing vegetables pop up easily from seed and can be directly seeded into your garden or pots (that includes most greens, beans, and squashes). Others, such as tomatoes and peppers, often do better for new gardeners if they're transplants from local or online nurseries.

There’s also the issue of time to consider. In regions where the growing season is short, you must start seeds for heat-loving plants, like eggplants, indoors weeks before setting them out. Otherwise, the tiny seedlings won’t have enough time to mature and fruit before fall’s cooler temperatures arrive.

Don’t forget to plant flowers, too.

Here’s a common beginner’s mistake: Not planting flowers near your vegetables. They’re not just there to look pretty, but they also attract the pollinators who have a big job to do in your garden! Many vegetables need pollinators to make fruit. For example, if you don’t plant flowers such as marigolds, nasturtiums, or sweet alyssum, you may get cucumber flowers but no fruit, or you’ll get funky-shaped fruit.

Flowers don’t have to be in a separate bed or pot. Just mix them in between rows or in the same pot as edibles.

How often should I water my garden?

Soaker hoses deliver water right to the roots of plants, but a good old-fashioned watering can or hose works fine too. If it hasn’t rained lately, stick your finger in the ground. If it’s totally dry, it’s time to water. If not, wait another day or two. Containers dry out faster than in-ground plantings, so keep an eye on them, especially if they are made of porous materials like clay or ceramic. Also, the bigger your container plants get, the more closely you’ll have to watch them. In the hottest part of summer, you may need to water daily.

Pay close attention to your baby plants.

Check on your babies every day or so, and yank weeds as they appear because they steal moisture and nutrients. Feed regularly with a balanced fertilizer, according to package instructions. Something such as 5-5-5 on the label—which indicates nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels—is sufficient.

Use organic fertilizers with care if you have pets: They’re great, but pets often are attracted to their stinky smell and may ingest them, which can cause serious GI distress .

Finally, watch out for anything that’s new or weird in your garden, such as funky bugs or yellow or purplish leaves, which could indicate disease or nutrient deficiencies. If you see something fishy, reach out to your local university county coop extension service for help in identifying and treating problems (find yours here ).

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• Vegetable Gardening for Beginners: The Complete Guide

The Basics of Planting and Growing a Vegetable Garden

This comprehensive guide covers how to start a vegetable garden from scratch, which vegetables to grow, and when to plant what. We’ve also added a “starter” garden plan consisting of easy-to-grow vegetables, companion planting techniques, and some lovely flowers! Let this year be the year that you grow a successful garden!

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

Why garden, you ask? How about enjoying the best vegetables and fruit you’ve ever eaten? If you’ve never tasted garden-fresh food, you will be amazed by the sweet, juicy flavors and vibrant textures. There’s absolutely nothing quite like fresh veggies, especially if you grow them yourself—which you can!

It may seem daunting initially, but gardening is a very rewarding hobby. On this page, we’ll highlight the basics of vegetable gardening and planning: how to pick the right site for your garden, how to create the right-size garden, and how to select which vegetables to grow. 

Read Next

How to lay out a vegetable garden, understanding when to plant vegetables, what to plant in a victory garden, pick the right location.

Picking a good location for your garden is absolutely 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 .

Choosing a Plot Size: Start Small!

Remember: It’s better to be proud of a small garden than be frustrated by a big one!

One of the most common errors beginners make is planting too much too soon—way more than anybody could ever eat or want! Unless you want to have zucchinis taking up residence in your attic, plan your garden with care. Start small, and only grow what you know you and your family will eat.

Size of Garden

• If planting in the ground, a 10’ x 10’ garden (100 square feet) is a manageable size. Pick 3 to 5 of your favorite vegetables and buy 3 to 5 plants of each one.
• If planting in a raised bed, a 4’ x 4’ or 4’ x 8’ is a good beginner size.  See our Raised Garden Bed Guide,  which covers the benefits of raised beds, how to build a raised bed, and what type of soil to fill a raised bed with.
• If you want to go bigger, a 12’ x 24’ garden in the ground is probably the biggest a first-timer should go. For example, a garden that feeds a family of four could include 3 hills of yellow squash, 1 mound of zucchini, 10 assorted peppers, 6 tomato plants, 12 okra plants, a 12-foot row of bush beans, 2 cucumbers on a cage, 2 eggplants, 6 basil, 1 rosemary, and a few low-growing herbs such as oregano, thyme, and marjoram.
• Whatever the size of your garden: Every four feet or so, make sure that you have paths that allow you to access your plants to weed and harvest. Just ensure you can easily reach the row or bed center without stepping on the soil.

Choosing Vegetables

As a beginner, start by choosing easy vegetables that are also productive. Below, we’ve listed some of the easiest vegetables for beginners. Most are best started by seeds planted directly into the soil, unless noted. However, it would also be wise to contact your state’s Cooperative Extension Service to find out what plants grow best in your area. For example, if you live in an area with extremely hot weather, vegetables that prefer cooler temps may struggle. 

Top 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow ( Tip: Click on a veggie’s name to see its detailed Growing Guide.)

• Green beans
• Tomatoes  (by transplant, i.e. small nursery plant)
• Peppers (by transplant, i.e. small nursery plant)
• Chard , Spinach , or Kale

Mix in flowers such as marigolds —which discourage pests, attract pollinators, and add some color!

Five tips for choosing vegetables:

• Choose what you (and your family) like to eat.  If no one likes Brussels sprouts, don’t bother planting them! But if your kids love green beans, put more effort into growing a big crop of beans.
• Be realistic about how many vegetables your family will eat. Be careful not to overplant, as you will only stretch yourself thin by trying to take care of tons of plants! (You could always give excess veggies away to friends, family, or the local soup kitchen.)
• Consider the availability of veggies at your grocery store. Maybe you want to grow tomatillos instead of cabbage or carrots, which are readily available in your area. Also, certain veggies are so far superior when homegrown that it’s almost a shame not to consider them (we’re thinking of garden lettuce and tomatoes). Also, homegrown herbs are far less expensive than grocery-store herbs.
• Be prepared to take care of your plants throughout the growing season.  Going on a summer vacation? Remember that tomatoes and zucchinis grow strongest in the middle of summer. If you’ll be gone for part of the summer, you need someone to look after the crops, or they will suffer. You could also just grow cool-season crops such as lettuce, kale, peas, and root veggies during the cooler months of late spring and early fall.
• Use high-quality seeds. Seed packets are less expensive than individual plants, but if seeds don’t germinate, your money—and time—are wasted. A few extra cents spent in spring for that year’s seeds will pay off in higher yields at harvest time.

Where and When to Plant

This process is easy if you are simply growing two or three tomato plants. But if you plan to grow a full garden, you need to consider:

• Where will each plant go?
• When will each vegetable need to be planted?

Here are a few guidelines for arranging your vegetables:

• Not all vegetables are planted at the same time. “Cool-season” vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, and peas grow in the cooler weather of early spring (and fall). “Warm-season” vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers aren’t planted until the soil warms up in late spring and summer.
• Plant tall veggies (such as pole beans on a trellis or sweet corn) on the north side of the garden so they don’t shade shorter plants. If you do get shade in a part of your garden, save that area for small, cool-season veggies. If shade is unavoidable in parts of your garden, save those areas for cool-season vegetables that appreciate shade as the weather heats up.
• Most veggies are annuals (planted each year). If you’re planning on growing “perennial” crops such as asparagus, rhubarb, and some herbs, provide permanent locations or beds.
• Consider that some crops mature quickly and have a very short harvest period (radishes, bush beans). Other plants, such as tomatoes, take longer to produce but also produce for longer. These “days to maturity” are typically listed on the seed packet. 
• Stagger plantings. You don’t want to plant all your lettuce seeds at the same time, or all that lettuce will need to be harvested at around the same time! Stagger plantings by a few weeks to keep ‘em coming!

When to Plant What

Every region has a different planting time based mainly on the weather, and every vegetable has its temperature preferences, too.  See the Almanac’s Best Planting Dates —a gardening calendar customized to your local frost dates. Just enter your zip code (or postal code in Canada)! 

For specific planting information, see our individual Grow Guides for over 100 popular vegetables, herbs, and fruits. For each crop, we provide specific information about how to plant, grow, and harvest, including watering, fertilizing, and pest control!

A Starter Beginner Garden Plan

To help beginners, we thought it may be useful to see a garden design. Here is an example of a starter family garden using the common easy-to-grow vegetables listed above. It also features companion planting (placing plants that thrive together next to each other).

You’ll see that we have given the garden decent-sized paths and mixed in a few herbs and flowers, too. Frankly, if we had grown this garden in our very first year, we would have been thrilled! By planning the garden this way, we have made it much easier for you to succeed.

Click here to see the full plant list , number of plants, spacing, and spacing in rows.

Garden Planning Tool

The Old Farmer’s Almanac offers an excellent online garden planning tool that makes your garden planning fun and easy. With this tool, draw your garden plan on the computer and drop in your preferred vegetables, and it automatically calculates the proper spacing for each type of crop! This way, you don’t waste seeds or crowd your plants. The Garden Planner automatically pulls in the frost dates for your specific location, identifies easy vegetables, and even identifies companion plants. Then, you can print out your plan, and the tool reminds you of your seeding and harvesting dates for every vegetable!

Plus, you’ll see many free garden plans for inspiration! Over time, you’ll see that this tool also provides “crop rotation” so that if you plan a second season, you can properly reposition your plants to avoid pests and disease.

With new gardeners in mind, we offer a FREE week to try the Garden Planner —ample time to plan your first garden.

Any questions or advice about starting your garden? Check out some of the comments below. Many of your questions may have been answered already by our Almanac community, or you are welcome to add your own comment. Happy gardening! 

Catherine Boeckmann

Getting Started

• Where Should You Put a Vegetable Garden?
• The Best Gardening Tools

Planning For a Garden

• Pros and Cons: Row Gardening vs. Raised Beds vs. Containers
• Dig in the Dirt! Soil Preparation: How Do You Prepare Garden Soil for Planting?
• Free Garden Seed Catalogs and Plant Catalogs
• 20 Vegetable Garden Layout Ideas (with Plans!)
• You Can Do It! The 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow From Seed

Planting a Garden

• Got Veggies? How and When to Transplant Seedlings
• Starting Seeds Indoors: How and When to Start Seeds
• How to Harden Off Plants
• 2024 Garden Planting Calendar: When to Plant Vegetables

Sowing Seeds in the Vegetable Garden

Plant growing and care.

• Drink Up! When to Water Your Vegetable Garden
• Plant Growing Guides
• Let's Grow! How and When to Fertilize Your Vegetable Garden
• Growing Up! How to Grow Vertically in Your Garden
• How to Mulch Your Garden | Types of Mulch
• Way to Be Weed Free! 12 Methods to Kill Weeds Naturally
• What's that Weed? Common Garden Weed Identification (with Photos)

Harvesting and Storing Vegetables

• Root Cellars: Types and Storage Tips
• Guide on Harvesting Vegetables: When to Harvest Most Common Crops
• Storing Your Harvest Without a Root Cellar

End of Season Gardening

• 10 Tips for Preparing Your Garden for Winter
• Fall Vegetable Garden Cleanup Checklist
• Reasons to Use Row Covers

ADVERTISEMENT

Fall Vegetable Garden Planning: Choosing the Best Plants for Autumn Growing

Companion Planting Chart and Guide for Vegetable Gardens

Your blog post was a valuable resource for anyone seeking practical advice on the topic. I liked how you provided step-by-step instructions and actionable strategies.

Hi, I really enjoyed reading your post on gardening tips for beginners . You have shared some very useful and practical advice on how to start and maintain a beautiful garden. I have been following your blog for a while and I always learn something new from your posts.

I also have a website where I share my own gardening experiences and ideas. It is called Green Ideas Factory and it is all about creating sustainable and eco-friendly gardens.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion for gardening with us. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future.

Gardening is a wonderful activity that brings joy and peace to the mind, while also nurturing and beautifying the environment. Whether it's planting colorful flowers or growing fresh vegetables, gardening allows us to connect with nature and bring a touch of green to our daily lives.

The steps for vegetable growth mentioned in the site content looks great. You can find all details related to gardening and growth of vegetables from here. By applying these Steps You can find maximum output from your efforts.

Thanks for this info

Do you put marigolds ( flowers) in same bed as veggies or potted on the sides?

We plant them right alongside the veggies in the bed!

I started my plant in the house and some of them are starting to flower and it is still cool out side, what should I do with them, should I just let them get more flower on the plant them plant them when it get warmer .

For most vegetables, it’s best to remove any flowers that appear while they’re still indoors. The flowers are just a waste of energy, since the plants should really be spending all their energy putting down roots and producing foliage once they’re planted in their permanent location.

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• Vegetable Gardening

How to Grow Vegetables in Containers for a Plentiful Garden

Pick the right plants and pots, and you can grow a bounty of vegetables in containers—here’s how.

Best Containers for Growing Vegetables

Best type of soil to use in vegetable containers, how to plant vegetables in containers, how to care for vegetables in containers, how to harvest container vegetables, top vegetables for containers.

When it comes to cultivating a kitchen garden , many gardeners overlook one easy opportunity: growing vegetables in containers. Even on a small porch or patio, you can create an edible container garden full of fresh produce. There are some tricks to getting a big bounty out of your pots, though. Read on for our best tips.

Before you start planting seedlings or sowing seeds to grow vegetables in containers, you need the right pots. Be sure to pick containers that will work for the space you have and the vegetables you want to grow.

Type of Container

Most vegetables aren't fussy about what type of container they grow in, but there are plenty of other factors that should drive your container choice. Remember that all pots need drainage holes so excess water can escape.

• Material: In general, plants growing in terra-cotta (clay) pots need more attention to watering than in other types of pots, because of the porous nature of the material. Avoid vegetable containers made of treated wood, as that may contain chemical compounds that could be absorbed by your vegetables.

• Weight: Try to choose a lightweight container, especially if you plan on moving your vegetable garden around. Once it's planted, it can get pretty heavy, especially after watering.

• Color: Dark colors absorb heat, so they may make the soil too warm for some vegetable crops in summer , especially in hot areas.

Size and Shape of Container

The type of vegetable you're growing in a container should guide the size of the pot. There are some key things to keep in mind.

• Height and width: Vegetables like lettuce with shallow roots don't need pots as tall as something like tomatoes, which have deep roots. In general, though, pots should be at least 10" wide. Keep in mind that large pots hold more soil and will hold moisture longer, so you don't have to water as much.

•Shape: Feel free to think beyond the typical round flower pot. Half barrels, plastic-lined bushel baskets, and window boxes can work just as well.

• Support: Plants that grow tall or produce vines (like tomatoes and cucumbers) will be more productive if they're grown with a support in the container. Something as simple as a wire cage inserted into the container at planting time will work. Use larger, heavier containers for trellised plants to minimize the risk of tipping.

Vegetables in containers need a potting mix that will allow water to drain well. Like most other container gardens, your vegetables will do best in potting mixes made for containers. Fill the containers so the soil is at least 2-3 inches below the rim (that extra space at the top will give you room to water deeply without overflowing the container). Water the soil just before planting.

Most vegetables have similar needs ( full sun and well-drained soil ), but it's also good to double-check their needs (and, if you're planting multiple vegetables in one container, make sure those needs are identical). Depending on what types of vegetables you want to grow, you can start seeds in your containers , grow start seeds indoors, then transplant, or purchase starts from a garden center.

• Sow seeds: Sow seeds according to the seed package directions. Because not all seeds will germinate, plant more than you need, then thin the excess later.

• Plant starts or seedlings: If you're transplanting, gently loosen the root ball by tugging lightly at the roots before adding it to your container. Set transplants or starters at the same level they were growing in their pot ( except for tomatoes —you can pinch off their lower leaves and plant the stems deeper in the container). Buy plastic tags to help with the identification of each plant.

• Fertilize: Sprinkle a balanced, organic fertilizer in the soil, either before or after planting. Don't over-fertilize; plants will grow too quickly so they'll be more likely to flop over, and the flavor won't be as rich. • Water: At planting time, water gently but thoroughly to settle the seeds or transplants. Keep the potting soil from drying out by mulching with straw, compost, leaf mold, or a similar material .

Start container garden crops such as beans, corn, carrots, radishes, and spinach from seeds sown directly in the container.

Vegetables in containers will in general have the same requirements as those in the ground. Here's how to keep them thriving:

• Water: Watering is the most important thing to watch for in your vegetable container garden. Inspect your vegetables regularly to make sure the potting mix hasn't dried out by sticking your finger in the soil; if it's dry, it's time to water. Soil in pots dries out more quickly than the ground, so you will likely need to water every few days—or even more often if the weather is hot and dry.

• Check regularly: To keep your vegetable garden its most productive, keep an eye out for weeds and other pests. While plants in containers usually aren't as susceptible to diseases as varieties grown in the ground, you'll still want to watch for problems. Remove or treat any plants that show signs of disease or insect damage .

• Fertilize: Starting about a month after planting, feed your vegetables about once a week with a water-soluble fertilizer, following the package directions.

Make watering your vegetable container garden easier by installing a drip-irrigation system . It can automatically irrigate your vegetables for you.

Harvesting is the most satisfying step , and it doesn't take much to get it right. Pick your crops as soon as they reach a size where you will enjoy them. Most vegetables are more productive if you harvest early and often. Letting plants "go to seed" will often cause a drop in fruit set. And when harvesting anything except root crops, it's a good idea to use pruners, scissors, or a knife to remove what you need; if you try to pull off leaves or fruits, you risk damaging the plant and even uprooting it from the container.

Below are the basic instructions for growing a variety of vegetables in containers . Note that the suggested planting instructions are for optimal growth. You can often grow vegetables in smaller containers with acceptable results.

• Beets : Direct seed into a 2- to 5-gallon window box.
• Cabbage : One plant per 5-gallon container. Or with small varieties, one plant per gallon container.
• Carrots : Direct seed into a 2- to 5-gallon deep container. Thin to 3 inches apart.
• Cucumber : Two plants per 5-gallon container. If using vining types, grow on trellis or cage.
• Eggplant : One plant per 5-gallon container.
• Garlic : One clove every 3 inches.
• Green Beans : Sow directly into a 5-gallon window box.
• Kohlrabi: Direct seed into a 5-gallon container. Thin to three plants.
• Lettuce : Direct seed or transplant into 1-gallon or larger container. Thin to 8 inches apart.
• Onion : Direct seed into 1-gallon or large container. Thin to 2 inches between green onions. For bulb onions, thin to 6 inches apart.
• Peas : Direct seed into 5-gallon container. Grow taller varieties on a trellis. Thin to 5 inches apart.
• Pepper : One transplant per 5-gallon container.
• Potatoes : One plant per 2.5-gallon container.
• Radishes : Direct seed into 2-gallon or larger container. Thin to 3 inches apart.
• Spinach : Direct seed into 1-gallon or larger container. Thin to 3 inches apart.
• Summer Squash : Direct seed or transplant, two plants per 5-gallon container.
• Swiss Chard : Transplant or direct seed four plants per 5-gallon container.
• Tomatoes : Transplant one plant per 5-gallon container.
• Winter Squash : Direct seed one plant per 5-gallon container.

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Patio vegetable garden ideas – 5 ways to grow your own in small outdoor living spaces

P atios serve a number of purposes in a backyard, from a space for relaxation to outdoor dining with loved ones, and increasingly gardeners are finding creative ways to incorporate planting into these spaces.

There are many reasons why you might want to include a kitchen garden on your patio . Not only does it make the most of the outdoor space you have, but it also places crops closer to the kitchen where you will cook with them. Plus, it enhances your outdoor living space with fragrance and ornamental edibles.

If the idea of stepping out of your back door into a vegetable garden sounds dreamy, but you're not sure where to get started, look no further. I've spoken to garden experts to find out how to create a patio vegetable garden and, here, they have shared their favorite ways to achieve this.

5 inspiring patio vegetable garden ideas

If a patio area is the only outdoor space you have, or perhaps you're just looking for ways to add a unique touch to this space in your backyard, consider turning it into a vegetable garden that can still be used as a space for socializing. I've compiled a list of creative ways to make a patio vegetable garden, with insights from garden experts.

1. Invest in raised beds

The first place to start with creating a patio vegetable garden with very little effort is by placing raised beds on your patio. There are so many types of raised beds to choose from and they can be used in a number of ways to suit your space.

'There are plenty of different sizes available. You want these to be at waist height so there's no need to bend over when tending to them,' says Annette Hird , expert gardener at Easy Urban Gardens. 'Make sure you use premium potting mix for these and keep them well watered but also allow for drainage. Automated watering systems work well for these,' she adds.

You can, of course, also choose to use a DIY raised bed alternative if you're looking for a more affordable option or a fun weekend garden project.

'You can construct a garden bed on nearly any lot size, making them a great option for almost any homeowner,' says Joe Raboine , construction and outdoor living expert at Belgard. 'When building a raised bed, you have the option to build directly on the ground or use some type of elevated container,' he adds.

Whether you're planning to invest in the best Amazon raised bed planters , like this galvanized raised bed planter from Amazon , or build your own from repurposed materials, having a raised bed on a patio is an easy option for growing crops.

You can even use raised beds to section your patio, using them as walls for seating areas to create a feeling of being immersed in planting when relaxing in your patio space.

2. Include herb planters for fragrance

There are so many plants to make your patio smell nice , and among those are aromatic herbs that are also a delicious addition to your kitchen garden. While technically not vegetables, adding herbs to your vegetable garden is a great way to uplift it - plus, they'll be great to cook with your homegrown veggies.

'Placing pots of herbs around seating areas is an excellent way to enjoy their fragrances,' says Kathi Rodgers , CEO of Oak Hill Homestead. 'Pots of herbs with floral, woody and earthy scents, such as rosemary, thyme, basil and mint, placed together will create a delightfully fragrant combination,' she suggests.

The good news is that there is no right way to create a herb planter , so you can personalize it with any combination of your favorite herbs.

Just make sure to choose herbs that will grow well in your US hardiness zone so that you can create a herb garden that will thrive. You should also take into account things like how much patio shade you have. 'For shadier spots, choose herbs such as mint as this does not require full sun,' says Annette.

3. Create a vegetable patch patio border

For gardeners wanting a more permanent addition to their patio, you can dedicate patio borders to vegetables and create your own veggie patch alongside your patio area. This can create a neater look, while still creating an immersive planting feel.

'Vegetables and herbs can create a beautifully defined edge for an outdoor area. It can be quite practical and cost-effective to outline the patio garden with these edible plants,' says Joe. 'Chamomile and thyme are low-growing and hardy, which is ideal if you have pets or children who might be prone to stepping on your plantings,' he suggests.

As Joe notes, it's wise to be careful with what you plant in patio borders if you have curious and playful children and pets who may find their way into borders. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful garden edging idea for incorporating edibles in your patio space.

Depending on the crops you want to grow or the look you want to achieve, you may choose tall crops, like climbing beans and peas for height, or low-growing crops. 'Micro tomato plants are rather new on the market. They produce small tomatoes on a plant that is usually less than two feet tall,' says Kathi.

This is also a great place to try growing the easiest vegetables if you want children to get involved.

4. Use vertical space

Something to consider if you're working with a small patio is using your vertical space. Vertical gardening is a great way to maximise the space you have and there are so many ways to do it.

'Many different vegetables can be grown in hanging pots such as cucumbers, lettuce, spinach and other greens,' says Annette. 'You can also utilize the many different types of vertical planters that are now available either to attach to a fence or wall or as free-standing versions,' she adds.

Try growing zucchini vertically , growing squash vertically or even growing cucumbers vertically . You can create a vertical garden in any way that suits your space - such as using this stacking vertical wall planter from Amazon .

You can even opt to grow climbing vegetables on a vegetable garden trellis to create vertical green walls on your patio. 'Vining plants are a great choice for this, such as squash, small melons and pole beans,' says Kathi.

5. Grow vegetables in containers

Of course, a simple and quick way to have a patio vegetable garden is just by growing crops in containers. Not all vegetables will be able to grow in pots, however, but there are so many tasty ones that do.

'Container gardening is popular for those who may have limited space, poor soil conditions, and even those who may want to garden in a balcony environment,' says Joe. Lots of inspiration can be taken from balcony vegetable gardens and balcony herb gardens when creating a

vegetable container garden on your patio.

'For growing vegetables in containers, you can either use large pots or grow bags . But, you need to ensure these are kept well-watered as the soil will dry out fairly quickly,' says Annette. 'Also, look at how much sun the area gets and position the plants according to their needs,' she adds.

Try some of the best vegetables to grow in pots on your patio to instantly get that feel of a patio kitchen garden. To take it one step further and to achieve a Mediterranean patio , try using terracotta planters and grow drought-tolerant vegetables .

A container vegetable garden on your patio is also a wise option for gardening in a rental property so that you can easily move your planters as needed.

What are the easiest vegetables to grow in pots?

If you're planning a kitchen garden in a limited outdoor space, like a patio or balcony, you might opt for growing in pots. Not all vegetables will grow well in containers, but there are still plenty that will. The easiest vegetables to grow in pots include growing potatoes in a container , growing carrots in containers and growing cucumbers in pots .

Choosing to grow vegetables on your patio is a brilliant way to unite planting with hard landscaping, and enhance your outdoor living space with beautiful and fragrant edible plants.

Once you have your patio vegetable garden set up, it can be wise to think about companion planting to protect your crops from different pests and diseases. Marigolds are popular in vegetable gardens because they naturally deter a number of insects and other pests.

Food In Starocherkasskaya Historical And Architectural Museumreserve

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Food History of Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, Rostov on Don, Russia

The Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, located in the Rostov-on-Don region, offers a rich tapestry of Cossack culture, traditions, and cuisine. As a center of the Don Cossacks, the area's culinary history is deeply rooted in the nomadic and military lifestyle of the Cossacks. They primarily ate what was readily available or could be easily transported. Their diet notably included fish from the Don River, vegetables, and grains they cultivated. Over time, local cuisine evolved to include a variety of dishes reflecting both Slavic and nomadic influences.

Must-Try Top 10 Food Dishes in Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, Rostov on Don, Russia

• Borsch (Non-Veg) - A traditional beet soup, generally served with a dollop of sour cream.
• Shchi (Can be Veg) - A classic Russian cabbage soup that can be made vegetarian without the addition of meat.
• Pirozhki (Veg/Non-Veg) - Small baked or fried buns filled with a variety of fillings, from meat to vegetables or even fruit.
• Blini (Veg) - Thin Russian pancakes, often served with honey, jam, or sour cream.
• Chickpea and Walnut Phkali (Veg) - A Georgian dish that’s made of minced vegetables and mixed with walnuts and spices. It’s a vegetarian staple in the Caucasus.
• Ukha (Non-Veg) - A clear fish soup, made with fresh fish from the nearby Don River, sometimes considered the national soup of Russia.
• Vareniki (Veg) - Dumplings that can be filled with cheese, potato, or even fruit for a sweet treat.
• Vegetable Ragout (Veg) - A hearty mixture of seasonal vegetables stewed together.
• Solyanka (Non-Veg) - A thick, spicy, and sour soup usually containing different types of fish or meat.
• Kvass (Veg) - A traditional fermented beverage made from rye bread, with a unique taste that often surprises tourists.

Top Famous Restaurants in Starocherkasskaya Historic and Architectural Museum-Reserve, Rostov on Don, Russia

Each listed restaurant not only offers a traditional culinary experience but also provides an insight into the unique Cossack culture that has shaped the region for centuries.

Explore Places to Visit Near Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve by Type

Other Suggested Reads for Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve

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• How to Reach Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve
• Best time to Visit in Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve
• Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve Tourism History
• FAQS about Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve
• Starocherkasskaya Historical and Architectural MuseumReserve Tourist Map

• Rostov-on-Don

Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Tours, Attractions and Things To Do in Rostov-on-Don

Rostov-on-don travel guide.

• 2. Attractions
• 3. Souvenirs

Rostov-on-Don, Russia is a colorful southern merchant city on a port of five seas whose mild climate, rich history and welcoming attitude continue to attract travelers. The city’s impressive collection of monuments associated with the North Caucasus and Don Cossacks, amassed over the past two and a half centuries, continue to testify to the city’s unique role in Russian history.

Rostov-on-Don has many unofficial names, the most common of which is “Rostov-Papa”. Other nicknames include "Gateway of the Caucasus", "Liverpool of Azov", "Rost Angeles" and "City of Merchants". This latter title is particularly significant for Rostov, which is filled with luxurious 19th-century merchant mansions that are practically unrivaled in all of Russia .

Rostov-on-Don served over the centuries as a customs office, a fortress and a port. It was officially founded on December 15, 1749 when a customs office was opened on the Don River by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Again by order of the empress, in 1761 the office was replaced with a fortress to protect the country’s southern borders. The fort was named in honor of St. Dmitry, Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl, and in later years its name was shortened to simply “Rostov”. In order not to confuse the city with the already existing Rostov the Great, it was renamed Rostov-on-Don in 1806.

Its favorable location at the intersection of land and river routes allowed for active port trade with many foreign merchants, a factor which led to its rapid growth and development. In the early 20th century, Rostov-on-Don became a major center of international trade in southern Russia and the third most important city in the country in terms of foreign trade turnover. By this time, nearly a hundred enterprises were functioning in Rostov, including factories belonging to Vladikavkaz Railway, a shipbuilding and iron foundry and two tobacco factories.

Today Rostov-on-Don has a population of over one million and is one of southern Russia’s largest metropolises, a comfortable city whose colorful layout makes it attractive to tourists .

Rostov-on-Don Attractions

Rostov-on-Don is replete with outstanding architectural, historical and cultural sights scattered throughout every district of the city. Yet Kirovsky District, the historic city center with the highest concentration of landmarks, remains a favorite among tourists during excursions to Rostov-on-Don.

It was in Kirovsky District that the city was birthed, and even today the neighborhood is reminiscent of the original Fortress of Saint Dmitry of Rostov. Also in Kirovsky District is Monument to Peter the Great and Don State Public Library, as well as many theaters, museums and restaurants. The nearby Rostov Embankment remains a favorite scenic hangout for residents and guests alike.

The prosperous merchants who once competed with one another in the construction of elegant estates left an indelible mark on the cityscape, and a walk along Bolshaya Sadovaya Avenue and Pushkinskaya Street, likened to an open-air merchants’ museum, will take you back to simpler times. Outstanding examples of Tsarist-era architecture on this route include Margarita Chernova’s House, Martyn Brothers House and City Hall, all of which are now protected under the Russian Cultural Heritage Register.

In Leninsky District is Gorky Park, the oldest park in the city, and Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The railway district stretches along the Don, on the bank of which is Botanical Garden of the Southern Federal University, the largest of its kind in Russia. The picturesque Kumzhenskaya Grove, a favorite place for Rostovites to relax, is also situated nearby.

In Oktyabrsky District is one of the largest zoos in Russia and Europe, which is home to around five thousand animals. Pervomaisky District attracts with Rostov Sea (Rostovskoye More), an artificial reservoir which provides respite during the warm summer weather in Rostov-on-Don. To the west is Sovetsky District (known locally as Western District), an area famous for its year-round Ice Arena and Church of St. George the Victorious.

Theatergoers will appreciate the playful buildings and varied repertoires of the city’s numerous playhouses. Both Chaliapin and Rachmaninov performed at the opera house, which opened its doors in 1892. The unusual design of Rostov State Musical Theater resembles a white grand piano with an open lid. Gorky Rostov Academic Drama Theater, whose constructivist-style building is reminiscent of the lines of a caterpillar tractor, is rightfully counted among the finest theaters in Russia.

Rostov State Circus, which is more than half a century old, deserves special attention. Unforgettable performances of the legendary magician Igor Kio, famous animal trainer Anatoly Durov and the clowns Nikulin and Karandash have all been staged here over the years. Animal lovers will appreciate Rostov Dolphinarium, where visitors can admire sea animals while becoming familiar with their aquatic environ.

Museum options also abound in Rostov-on-Don. For history buffs, we recommend the Regional Museum of Local Lore, whose halls are filled with exhibits ranging from the Stone Age to modern times. Tour the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, located in an old, gated mansion, or fulfill your childhood dream in the Museum of Cosmonautics by sitting in a real capsule from the Soyuz spacecraft. To discover unique exhibitions on the origins and development of the brewing business, look no further than the appropriately named Museum of the History of Brewing.

On the outskirts of the city is Liventsovsky Fortress (also called Donskaya Troy), built by North Caucasian tribes almost 19 thousand years ago. One of the most popular sites near Rostov-on-Don is Paramonovsky Warehouses, located on the banks of the Don. The buildings themselves may be in ruins, but the strangely beautiful pools and waterfalls make for great photos. Fans of author Mikhail Sholokhov can visit his hometown, the village of Veshenskaya, which is located four hours from the city by car.

A visit to Central Market, commonly called Old Bazaar, is a must during your tour to Rostov-on-Don. Vendors will invite you to taste their array of pickles, while on the pleasantly surprising fish row you can purchase salted, fried or stewed varieties of the city’s famous Don fish.

While in this port city, be sure to sample two local dishes: authentic Cossack fish soup, which when cooked over the fire retains a delightfully smoky taste, and crayfish cooked with sour cream and red wine, whose flavors are fit for royalty!

Rostov-on-Don Souvenirs

The most popular souvenirs from Rostov-on-Don are items with Don and Cossack themes, which can be easily found in local markets. The city also offers a range of beautiful ceramics and tableware, a great selection of bedding sets made at the city’s famous sewing factories, various drinks from Rostov distilleries and the ever-popular vodka gift sets.

Money blog: Trendy area in uproar over Gail's potentially coming to high street

Welcome to the Money blog, a hub of personal finance and consumer news/tips. Today's posts include a look at the discounts available to students, and local a revolt against Gail's. Leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering in the box below - we round them up every Saturday.

Thursday 15 August 2024 18:43, UK

• Uproar over Gail's potentially coming to high street in trendy area
• Aldi axes click and collect
• UK inflation rises for first time since December - analysis

Essential reads

• Is this the end of the British pub?
• What's gone wrong at Asda?
• Best of the Money blog - an archive of features

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• All the discounts you get as a student or young person
• TV chef picks best cheap eats in London
• Savings Guide : Why you should now be checking T&Cs
• 'I cancelled swimming with weeks of notice - can they keep my money?'

Ask a question or make a comment

British pubs are in trouble, with more of them closing every year. 

Once the beloved watering holes for many communities, they have fallen victim to higher costs, changing habits and "the real estate incentive". 

Some 239 pubs closed in England and Wales during the first three months of the year, according to government figures – 56% more than in the same period in 2023. 

Our Money reporter Brad Young has been exploring whether this is the end of the British pub as we know it. 

Earlier this week, he spoke to communities and experts about the reasons behind recent closures - you can read his piece here . 

In the video below, Brad explains three reasons why pubs are struggling. 

Amazon has been cleared for take-off with the testing of new drone delivery in the UK.

Amazon Prime Air already offers drone deliveries in the US with drones able to fly 12km from their fulfilment centres. 

But the service could now come to the UK, with Amazon hoping to launch it by the end of the year. It has ambitions of delivering small packages within an hour of an order being placed.

The online retailer is one of six organisations taking part in a new trial from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) - with other projects including using drones to inspect offshore windfarms, for policing and delivering medical supplies. 

The trials will gather safety data and look at how drones can detect and avoid other aircraft while up in the air. 

"Our goal is to make drone operations beyond visual line of sight a safe and everyday reality, contributing to the modernisation of UK airspace and the incorporation of new technology into our skies," said Sophie O'Sullivan, from the CAA.

Octopus Energy is launching "free electricity sessions" for its customers when wholesale prices plummet. 

Starting from today, those who are signed up to the "Octoplus" rewards scheme can take part. 

The one-hour-long sessions will be available whenever the wholesale electricity price hits zero or goes into negative figures, the energy firm said.

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, chief product officer at Octopus Energy, said: "Free electricity sounds like it's too good to be true but it's real.

"By using more when there is plenty of renewable energy instead of when the grid is dirty, our customers can save money while making the grid greener and more efficient. It's a win-win for our customers and the planet." 

How does it work? 

Those who have signed up for the free electricity will be notified the day before the session will take place. 

On its website, the company said the free period will generally be between 1pm to 2pm. 

During that time, customers can use as much electricity as they want, with all the power used above their typical usage not costing anything. 

Within a week, customers will receive an email telling them how much extra power they used, and within two weeks, they will see that amount paid into their account as bill credit. 

How many sessions will there be? 

There are no set amount of sessions planned to take place as they are based on dips in the market, which is changing all the time. 

However, Octopus Energy has said it is hoping for at least two or three before winter.

In the last year, it said there had been 14 days when electricity prices dropped below £0 due to excess renewable energy being generated. 

"During these times, wind farms are often paid to shut down to prevent grid overload, meaning valuable green electrons go to waste," it added.

"By powering up during these periods, households can maximise green energy availability - making the system more efficient and lowering system costs for all." 

It's important to know that you must have a working electric smart meter in order to take part. 

You can read all the terms and conditions here ... 

Drivers are being told to avoid scanning QR codes to pay for parking in light of a spate of scams.

Motorists should only make payments with cash, cards or using official apps, the RAC has warned.

It comes after fraudsters placed stickers with fake QR codes on parking signs in Barking and Dagenham, Northumberland, Northamptonshire, South Tyneside and Pembrokeshire (among others).

When drivers scan the codes, they are taken to a scam website where they are asked to enter their card details, which the criminals use to take money from their accounts.

"As if this scam isn't nasty enough, it can also lead to drivers being caught out twice if they don’t realise they haven't paid for parking and end up getting a hefty fine from the council," says RAC head of policy Simon Williams. 

And depending on where you are in the UK, that fine can be anything from £50 to £300. 

Thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare evasion are set to be declared void after a judge ruled they were wrongly made. 

It means people who previously paid fines for fare evasion could be due a refund, with a team being set up by the end of November to identify everyone unlawfully prosecuted. 

Four train companies including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP) - despite not being permitted to do so.

The SJP was set up in 2015 to allow magistrates to decide on minor offences, such as using a television without a licence or driving without car insurance, without defendants going to court.

But concerns have been raised that cases are being brought before magistrates without prosecutors, or without any mitigation being taken into account. 

Rail companies were permitted to use the SJP in 2016 to prosecute privately fare evaders, but the Evening Standard reported that several of these cases were brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not allowed under the procedure.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Westminster Magistrates' Court in June that thousands of prosecutions were "probably unlawful".

The exact number of those affected is currently unknown, with a previous hearing told around 75,000 people could have been prosecuted for fare evasion offences under the SJP.

Northern Rail, just one of the companies involved, said it apologised for the errors involved.

Greater Anglia also said it acknowledged "a series of significant errors" had occurred.

Locals in a trendy London neighbourhood have signed a petition against Gail's bakery setting up shop in their area.

After (unconfirmed) rumours began circulating that the chain was looking to open a site in Walthamstow village, more than 600 have signed a petition opposing the plans.

The petition, which features a cross made out of two baguettes over the company logo, says the village "faces a threat to its uniqueness" should Gail's move into the area.

"Gail's, although respected for their quality, bring a risk of overshadowing our much-loved local stores due to their massive scale and advertising reach," it continues.

"This could lead to decreased visibility and pedestrian traffic towards independently run businesses, threatening their very existence and dismantling the character and diversity crucial to Walthamstow's charm."

Local business owners have also said they oppose the plans because of the pro-Brexit and anti-lockdown views of Luke Johnson, the company’s minority investor.

Adrian Spurdon, a barista at an independent coffee shop, said Mr Johnson's views clashed with the politics of Walthamstow.

He told The Times: "We've just had this big, diverse counter-protest to protect Walthamstow from the far-right and I doubt Luke Johnson would support that.

"He is very different to the people here. His views are not the same."

The opening of a Gail's - where a regular latte will set you back £4.10 - has become a mark of prosperity in the area. 

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the party looked at where the bakery chain had opened as an indicator of constituencies that could turn yellow, while the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton is known to be partial to their chocolate brownie finger. 

A spokesman for Gail's said: "We understand the concern around chains, but our view is that a healthy high street is one with a diversity of quality offers, each delivering their best.

"High streets evolve over time and we open our small bakeries often in closed banks or stranded restaurants.

"All of our bakeries exist in areas where the choices are wide and growing – we should be celebrating the improvement in our food landscapes."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

Despite the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine tension, the benchmark oil price has come down from the highs of Monday to just over $80 a barrel, good news for motorists. 

The value of a pound is down from the highs of July but still better than most of the last six months, with £1 equal to $1.2856. Sterling has done worse against the euro with one pound buying €1.1663, less than could be bought for most of the last three months.

Following news that insurance company Admiral will up payments to shareholders, the price of its shares increased nearly 8%, the most of all the companies on the London Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the FTSE 100. 

As a whole, the FTSE 100 grew 0.06% while the larger and more UK-based FTSE 250 index of valuable London-listed companies grew 0.28%.

Whether or not results day goes to plan today, you can always console yourself with some free chicken, pizza and nachos. 

Major chains like Nando's, Pizza Express and Frankie & Benny's are offering some great freebies for students picking up their A-level results. Most you can get simply by showing a copy of your results to staff. Some have a few extra steps - but we've outlined this below, and most usually just involve signing up for some kind of free app or reward programme.

(And don't worry year 11, many of these offers will also be available when you receive your GCSE results next week).

Nandos: Chicken Bring your ID and results and you will get a free starter or quarter chicken, provided you also spend £7 or more.

Frankie & Benny's: Pizza Each restaurant is giving away 50 free pizzas - you just need to purchase a large soft drink (and show off your results).

Pizza Express: Dough balls You'll get one free portion of dough balls when you purchase a main - for this one you also need to present a valid UNiDAYS offer code.

Wagamama: Free side and drink You need to sign up to the Soul Club app to get this one, but you'll get a free side dish and free soft drink, or cider can, if you order between 11am and 3pm.

Bill's: Dessert To qualify for a free dessert you also need to purchase a main course, or brunch.

Banana Tree: Pad Thai You need to purchase one starter (excluding edamame) and a drink, but you then qualify for a free main meal. Just make sure you sign up  here  first.

Chiquito: Loaded nachos You have two options for this - Chicken & Chorizo or Pibil Pulled Jackfruit, as long as you order at least one large soft drink. There are only 600 available, so you'll want to head down early.

Bird & Blend: Drink Get a magical matcha, refreshing ice tea or a herbal brew if you present your results and your student ID between 11am and 5pm.

Showcase Cinema: Popcorn If you have a ticket for a film today, just show proof you received your results and you qualify for a free popcorn.

Starbucks: Cookie Grab a free cookie with any beverage today.

Bella Italia: 30% off Students get a very decent 30% off their food bill - but you will need to sign up here first.

TGI Fridays: 24% off your bill You need to be a free Stripes Reward member to get this one, and bring a copy of your results.

In a little over a month, hundreds of thousands of young people will once again descend on university towns across the UK - armed with maintenance loans and newly found financial freedoms.

With their arrival comes their business - and retailers and restaurants all fight for the chance to part students with their cash in the form of special discounts. 

It would be a pretty long post were we to list every single student discount, so for this guide we'll go through some of the most notable and our favourites. 

Let's start with the world's most valuable company, which offers various deals to students. 

Buying a new iPad or Mac will land you a gift card worth £120, while you're able to access a cheaper Apple Music plan with Apple TV+ included. 

It's available through discount portal UNiDAYS , or you can read more about the offers here .

Another student essential - bag yourself six months of free Amazon Prime (which offers next-day delivery on thousands of items and Prime Video).

Once that ends, students only need to pay half price for their membership (£4.49 a month). 

Check out the offer here .

If you didn't opt for the Apple Music offer outlined above, then getting 45% off your Spotify subscription might be worth it. 

It's this link to sign up. 

If you want 10% off clothes from one of the world's biggest online fashion retailers, you simply need to fill in this form . 

Another top tip: ASOS often drops prices, starts sales or increases discount when your student maintenance loans hit your account. 

It might be worth waiting for then to use your codes to maximise your savings - you'll get your first loan at the end of September/start of October, one at the start of January and the last will be at the start of April.

YouTube Premium and Music can be yours for £7.99 (plus a free trial month) - allowing you ad-free watching, downloads, background play and unlimited tunes. 

Click here for more. 

An unequivocal student essential. 

Railcards are a must while you're moving around the country visiting friends, family or just making your way home for Christmas. 

They cost just £30 and give you a third off expensive rail fares for the full year. 

More on that here . 

Nike and  Adidas

Two of the big players in sports fashion.

Bag the latest athleisure with 15% from Adidas and 10% off at Nike . 

If you don't like the trainers either Nike or Adidas provide, then take a look at Schuh.

The footwear brand offers 10% off full-price and  sale items - click here to find out how. 

Another top tip: if you like a pair of Nike or Adidas shoes, check out whether you could get them cheaper at Schuh with discounts, and factoring in delivery charges and sales.

Via discount portal StudentBeans, you can grab 15% off at Sephora. 

It's one of the biggest self-care and beauty brands anywhere on the planet, and 15% off will save you a decent chunk. 

Click here to find out more. 

Boots 

Being a student can save you 10% at Boots - sometimes more.

However, you will need to sign up for one of their (free) advantage cars, so maybe one you need to think about.

Check out the steps here .

Burger King

Students can enjoy a free Chicken or Vegan Royale with purchase of a Chicken or Vegan Royale via their StudentBeans portal.

This link has more.

The big night in vendor offers students up to 50% off. 

This is another one you'll need a StudentBeans discount portal login for, but you can get all the details here . 

Through UNiDAYS, you can get £10 off your first two orders (over £15) on Uber Eats.

They're not only offering takeaways, but grocery shopping too, so that's something to bear in mind. 

Details here .

There's 10% off at New Look for students - and you can bag a further 25% if you sign up to their mailing list.

Discount is in-store and online, so there's a bit of flexibility regarding where you shop.

This one is through UNiDAYS, details here .

Grab yourself a free cheeseburger, mayo chicken or McFlurry when you buy selected menu items. 

Read the full list and T&Cs here . 

The delivery giant always offers student deals, but they're yet to make public this year's plans.

You can enter your email address into this link for updates on it. 

Savings on your sex life start at 20%.

This one is via UNiDAYS - more here .

MyProtein 

50% off protein at MyProtein for fitness-hungry students is one of several offers the company has put up. 

Again, via UNiDAYS, which has the full list of deals/offers here .

Sticking with health and fitness, several high-street value gym chains offer discounts, including  The Gym Group  and  PureGym . 

Blackwell's

We've done all the fun stuff like food and clothes - but you do have to study at some stage. 

That's where having 15% off at major book supplier Blackwell's can help. 

All the details are here . 

While we're on the more boring stuff - let's turn to furniture and cutlery. 

Over the years millions of students have descended on the Swedish giant to fill their new rooms and cupboards. 

Offers change every year - and they'll be updated here . 

If you are a regular reader of the Money blog, you will have seen us cover the topic of security tags before. 

We've noticed them on meat, cheese and baby milk , and now some chocolate treats are also getting the yellow security sticker treatment. 

We spotted the tags below at an Asda in Twickenham earlier this week. 

They were placed on a £2.50 box of Celebrations and Lindt Salted Caramel Lindors costing £5.

Also tagged were a £9.30 box of Maltesers Truffles, a £6.55 pack of Raffaello, a £10.50 tray of Ferrero Rocher and an £8.95 Thortons Classic box. 

An Asda spokesperson confirmed to the Money team that "individual stores may tag specific products at their own discretion as a precautionary measure". 

Earlier this year, it was revealed shoplifting had hit its highest level in 20 years. 

The number of offences increased by 37% to 430,104 in the year ending 31 December 2023, compared with 2022, the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales found. 

Several retailers have taken steps to curb the surge, including extra security and body-worn cameras. 

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