General Introduction to Vegetable Gardening
Growing your own vegetable garden is a great project to undertake. There are many benefits to having your own garden plot, and the venture is entirely customizable to the space available and your tastes. Plus, it doesn’t take an extensive list of tools or supplies to get started.
Why Grow Your Own Vegetables?
- Growing your own produce is proven to increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Food right out of the garden has a much better flavor than anything you can purchase from the store.
- You can reduce the money you spend on groceries.
- You choose the varieties to grow, giving you a more extensive selection than what you may have at the market.
- You completely control the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow your food.
- Having vegetables in your yard reduces the environmental impacts of transporting food from the field to the store.
- Gardening is a proven natural stress reliever and good source of outdoor exercise.
- Growing and tending to plants is an excellent learning experience.
What Type of Space is Needed to Grow Vegetables?
How much space you need for a garden depends on how much you want to grow. You can start with something minimal and expand in future seasons, you can keep it small from year to year, or you can grow a large homestead garden capable of feeding your whole family.
- The general guideline is to plan for 100 square feet of garden space per person in your family for seasonal produce.
- Expanding that to 200 square feet per person allows for a harvest that feeds a person year-round.
Do I Need “Land” for a Vegetable Garden?
One of the best things about a vegetable garden is that you don’t need to have a large chunk of “land” in your yard to grow plants. This common misconception prevents some people from gardening, but there are alternative ways to garden.
Suppose you are limited on workable ground or don’t have any. In that case, you can garden using raised beds, containers that sit on your patio or balcony, hanging baskets, or even unique planters that attach to the side of your home.
Having limited space doesn’t mean you can only grow a couple of plants. There are many ways to maximize the space available, allowing you to grow a bigger garden. Some options include growing plants vertically with trellises, using the square foot gardening method, inter-planting compatible crops in the same space, and planting high-yielding varieties.
What Tools are Needed to Get Started?
You need three things besides your plants and the garden space itself to get started:
- A trowel or small garden spade to dig planting holes.
- A hose or watering can for watering your plants.
- Pruning shears for trimming back plants when they need pruning.
You might want to purchase gloves, a long-handled shovel, a hoe, and a garden rake as you do more gardening.
