eggplant and zucchini and really….there’s only so many ways you can eat onions. Corn? Check the canned section. Or the frozen steamers in the commercial freezers. Just as good. But not the same….oh shucks. The next time this happens to you, once you get home start planning out a new plot to pick your own plenty from…pickled peppers and pecks of peas, there is plenty out there to choose and appease for every budget, reason and season.

When it comes to starting a vegetable garden, you can toss seedlings wherever you sow a row but there are smarter benefits when you take some time…errr…not thyme and come up with the perfect vegetable garden layout for you. Starting with the reality of size and how much room a healthy garden needs to grow can be a determining factor between options like raised bed to patio pot planting. I have kept a fresh year’s supply of tomatoes growing and fruiting in wooden slat crates and plastic storage bins for an entire year while snow birding in the RV once.  This type of method, for example, also comes in handy if you have a tiny lawn and need room to keep up with the lawn work as well….just pick up your vegetables, mow and trim your grass and replace the plants. No problem.

When I moved location, my hard-earned crops moved with me. With a bit of tweaking, even vertical planting of certain veggies can be done in upright wood pallets…today’s answer to yesteryears old rubber tire, bathtub, and old spring bed frame fads. Let’s open up to the multitude of questions about this super soaring new trend in social refreshening during the quickly arriving peak planting season. The time is here and NOW to get a jump start.

What vegetables can I grow in my backyard?

Depending on your reason and specific need, the most popular gardens are geared for growing salads so two or three different types of lettuce like butter, bibb and green leaf, carrots; as they can be used when tender shoots and more mature stew, soups, sweet tangy radishes, green onions, tomatoes of every variety, pole beans, snap peas, cucumbers and zucchinis, (be prepared to become a baker as both the latter are extremely prolific ), and you may want to reserve a small area for attempting a pumpkin or two and maybe a row of potato seeds for a fall season crop if you’re feeling positive. The suggested starters are easily replenished and also provide the freshest side dish to any meal. There is nothing like taking five minutes out of a hot busy summer day than kicking off your shoes, walking down through the earth and “shopping” for your daily salad in your garden, the rich smell of growth being washed away and the sweet, fresh, fragrant crunch as you enjoy your meal.

How to start a vegetable garden in your backyard?

Size matters. Start out small and then grow with your veggies. Remember, there is digging, fertilizing, adding soil, composting, weeding and creating that perfect compound first. Whether you want a raised bed or a more traditional flat ground row and hoe style so how to start a vegetable garden depends on when you can get out into the great outdoors. Whatever you choose, take a soil sample of the dirt (it could be silty, sandy, clay or a mix of granular) down to your local garden center and upon professional opinion, pick up any additives you will need. It could be as simple as topsoil and cow manure, composts or best mulch for vegetable garden. Garden areas need at LEAST 6 hours of daylight, easy access to a water source, mounding or flat earth to promote healthy root and leaf growth and don’t forget pests. Including an added security of a vegetable garden fence. One single nighttime visitor will eat you out of garden and backyard in no time flat so a vegetable garden fence should be included no matter what sized vegetable garden plan you have in mind. Either drop in your germinated seeds according to envelop distance guide or if you purchase well sprouting and rooted multipack starters, tamp in lightly, feed sparingly and water gently until their root structure adjusts. Then get ready for routine weeding, watering, aerating.

How deep do vegetable gardens need to be?

The mid-range depth for most veggies is normally from ½ inch to 3 inches up to 6 inches and deeper for winter yields like potatoes. You don’t want to “bury” the more fragile tenders that need just a mere ½ inch initial rooting ground either. Plan for 6 to 8 inches and allow for erosion, wash away, replanting, and adding potatoes, melons, pumpkins etc. Even use the deeper grounds for pre seeding your replenishing throughout the summer or as an experimental spot for peppers, broccoli, corn and companion planting vegetables and flowers. The best how to start a vegetable tip is in the depth.

When is the best time to start a vegetable garden?

Seriously. While preplanning out the perfect location even if it’s still frozen solid, number crunching is best planted indoors. Begin with germinating seeds between layers of damp paper towels, transfer to empty egg cartons or other compostable boxes (easily found at dollar stores), adjust the seeds to lighting and warming conditions. While that is happening, head out weekly if you can and start looking around for deals on generic planting soil, deals on plant starting kits, decorative boxes or crates for raised bed styles and even yard decorations.

++ green thumb junior tips++ If you have kids and you are social distance schooling, a great project might be involving them by having them paint picket stakes that tell you what you’ve got planted in a row or section. Nothing like trying to distinguish between carrot tops and parsley endive. Get creative along with nutritious and kids are more apt to enjoy vegetables as well. Likewise, a botany lesson on researching the best bagged soil for vegetable garden, how to start a vegetable garden or mulch for garden vegetable garden vs potting soil for vegetables. If your “students” are old enough, they can construct your vegetable garden fence of variable types and sizes. What was once a backyard playground can now become their backyard vegetable garden too.

What is the best type of soil to use for a vegetable garden?

The best type of soil needs to able to be kept moderately damp, deep rich in color, humus, organically rich in fertilizer and still should be porous and well-draining. Deliciously dark, and fresh wet smelling….not foul, overly soaked musty moldy. Depending on your planting location in your region is your determining factor.

Is bagged garden soil good?

Yes. Any additive to your pre-existing soil is good. As long as it is added and mixed well. Oh…also keep in mind NOT to get confused between garden soil and potting soil as both serve similar purposes but for very different types. Garden soil is premixed specifically with natural soil, fertilizer and compostable for garden beds while potting soil is a vermiculite full non natural soil for potted contained plants, flowers and the like of ornamental plants, shrubs etc.

What should I fill my raised bed with?

Wow. This is a wide topic so I will cover it from bottom to top, beginner to moderate Green Thumber. Right then…how to start a vegetable garden from scratch is not as difficult as it sounds. A raised bed is a great place to start. Start with lining the bed “frame” with a weed cloth held down with a few split wood pieces. The wood will naturally break down overtime and add back to the soil. Fill in with a few stones and loose gravel for drainage. Even a few shovels of sand will do. Add then a light cover of straw or weed free grass clippings. Then the scoop on the poop…the fertilizer and some vermiculite and then a top layer of potting soil. This is a great DIY vegetable garden soil for raised bed planting to consider in your vegetable garden design. While there are other options for vegetable garden ideas, this a best bet for both growth in the garden and your wallet. Don’t forget that a vegetable garden fence for your raised bed is paramount as well. (remember however, deer can jump too!)

What kind of soil should I buy for my garden?

Depending on what you are starting off with as your pre-existing soil condition and region, you’re dealing with silt, sand or clay. All of which have different permutations of phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium. A basic garden type of soil for generic plants is a great quality brand name planting soil will fill your needs. General maintenance will tell you when to add extra perlite or fertilizer and when aeration is required to not over water if it is more difficult to drain.

Is miracle grow® potting soil safe for vegetables?

Yes, totally. It has non-toxic amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and adds a boost of rich, deep feed treat to the ground soil.

Can I use potting soil in my garden?

Rule of Green Thumb: Potting soil for potted plants, container planting or raised contained beds.  A few handfuls of potting soil sprinkled about your vegetable garden soil will not hurt the plants but may react with the other chemical or natural compounds.

What is the best layout for a vegetable garden?

• When considering a vegetable garden layout, keep the following in mind.
• What vegetables grow well together
• When to plant vegetables
• What are the best vegetables to grow
• How to start a vegetable garden
• Keep to easy to grow vegetables for now
• How do you plot a vegetable garden layout
• How do I plan a small vegetable garden

                Companion planting is remarkably beneficial and assists you in maintaining a weed/insect/grub free garden. Try pairing beans with potatoes, borage and basil with tomatoes, sage with carrots, nasturtiums and cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, garlic everywhere, and sunflowers with cucumbers and pole beans. The sturdy sunflower offers shade and even allows it’s stalk to be used by plants that will climb to avoid too much sun.

Make sure to plant vegetables in accordance with your frost regions. If you have green housed either in your house or in a separate outdoor shed, acclimatize properly.

The best veggies to grow are those you LIKE to eat and are native to your region.

Starting a vegetable garden should consist of a vegetable garden layout plans and spacing guide for your own reference (like a garden journal….make and maintain a garden journal book for the season to use for next year’s planting/expansion etc) A good vegetable garden planner will help your home vegetable garden thrive.

Your vegetable garden plans can also be as simple as making a when to plant vegetables chart, backyard vegetable garden ideas you’ve seen on tv or in a magazine, your dream salad bar is just a few days of planning away. The next big conundrum should be left to the dressing aisle…although you can grow your own herb dressing too…another chapter in the Green Thumb Backyard DIY Guide.