How to make your very first vegetable garden? Where to start when you want to plant and harvest your own vegetables? What are the essential tips and rules for budding gardeners?
If you lead your daily life like a true modern gentleman, the mere idea of having to put your pretty hands in the soil and compost must have repulsed you more than once. But rest assured, taking up gardening and harvesting your own vegetables will not turn you into a bitter, depressed, and lonely old farmer. On the contrary, starting and growing your first vegetable garden will not affect your nice little image of a modern man!
Having a little corner of harvest and greenery is more than trendy nowadays. Whether in the city or the country, every tiny square inch of your living space (exposed to a minimum of sunlight per day) will be conducive to a charming vegetable scene! However, when you don’t really know anything about gardening, it can be discouraging to start this type of adventure. But today, we help you to solve all that, with a small guide to teach you easily and quickly to make your first vegetable garden. Come on, let’s get out the rakes, the claws, and the shovels, let’s not be afraid to put our hands in the soil, and let’s go for it!
Making your first vegetable garden is a choice with many advantages!
Having your own vegetable garden is full of interest and offers many advantages. And no, it’s not just about growing vegetables. Your little green corner is a little haven of charity of all kinds and is not limited to the sole pleasure of the harvest!
First and foremost, gardening is about relaxation and fun. We all have precious memories of our childhood, spent in wonderful gardens or in the vegetable garden of our grandparents. Moments when we quietly enjoyed nature and took the time to live simply. Growing a vegetable garden is a way to return to these precious moments. Above all, it is the opportunity to take a break in the sun and outside after work. And yes, gardening is relaxing!
It is also the opportunity for you to consume better and say goodbye to all those bland and pesticide-laden vegetables you usually find in the shops. Here, you grow at the gentle rhythm of nature and the seasons, without fertilizers and other chemical substances, and the difference is directly visible!
You also make a substantial eco-responsible gesture by recreating biodiversity and recycling all your kitchen waste for example. Having a vegetable garden is full of opportunities to reuse some waste like peelings, tea, or coffee to feed the soil or create compost!
Your vegetable garden can be an excellent way to introduce children to a fun and common sense activity. Making them aware of nature and biodiversity, making them more autonomous, and spending time in the open air are some of the advantages of your little green corner.
Finally, and you may have noticed this since the coronavirus crisis, but the question of food self-sufficiency is more than ever topical today after the risks of shortages that could have loomed. So yes, we have been a bit survivalist for the past few weeks at GentlemanModern. But still, with your own vegetable garden, anyone can benefit from a nice little food reserve if you do it right!
Choosing the right location for your first vegetable garden
The first thing to do is to choose the right location for your future vegetable garden and to understand the exposure to the sun of the plot of land or the place you have chosen. Well, let’s say it right away: if you are not lucky enough to have a place with a minimum of sunlight (like 2 hours a day), you won’t be able to harvest and grow much… Each plant has different needs, but a minimum of light is essential, at the risk of harvesting only moss and mushrooms!
To make your first vegetable garden, choose the location of your green corner, according to the sun, and avoid the wind as much as possible. Of course, it is quite possible to grow some vegetables in half-shade, by taking the time to know the few varieties that like these conditions! Finally, think about choosing an accessible place. First of all, to make it easier for you to get there and avoid walking 3 kilometers a day to get there, but also to be able to water easily by having a water source close by. Once you have defined all this, you can then get to the heart of the matter and start working the soil!
Vegetable garden squares, raised vegetable gardens, or simple “boards”? It’s up to you!
Once you have chosen the location of your vegetable garden, all that remains is to define how and by what means you want to set it up. For example, the most commonly used and rustic method is to create two-three “beds” on a raw plot of land. This method is perfect for creating and designing your dream vegetable garden as you please, enjoying a great deal of freedom in drawing the lines of your garden. However, it requires a large garden, a lot of work on the ground, and several tools necessary for the task. Since you will have to start by :
- mowing or removing all “native” vegetation from the plot.
- spade the soil and aerate it all over.
- remove all roots, stones and weeds!
- and level the entire surface of the soil with a rake!
A lot of work, physical and tedious, can be avoided using vegetable garden squares or raised beds. If you know all about the Gentleman’s News, then you must have already seen them since we talked about them in our articles on balcony and garden design, and they are perfect for creating a very first vegetable garden!
Divided into several parts, they are a precious help for beginners and the laziest among us. And if you’re an authentic gentleman chic, you’ve found a real gem, because the vegetable garden squares offer many advantages:
- you can create a vegetable garden where the soil is not favorable and of poor quality. You can even install it on your terrace or balcony since you bring the soil there.
- you don’t need to work the soil beforehand.
- everything is elevated, so you don’t have to work as hard.
- watering and maintenance are limited.
- you can get good yields from a small area.
- your feet don’t get stuck in the mud or dirt, and your new pair of Air Max 2090s are spared!
- you don’t need many tools for the garden.
- Easy to find in stores and cheap, the squares can also be easily made if you discover your DIY skills!
- Work the soil with care
You have defined your location and chosen your crop type, and now you must work the soil to hope for a good harvest. This is a crucial element in a vegetable garden, as good soil provides all the essential nutrients for the plants and improves the structure and water flow in the soil. It is absolutely necessary to bring potting soil, organic matter, or even manure if it is well decomposed. This is also the perfect opportunity to start composting and recycling a good part of your waste!
Also remember not to pack the soil when you add all these materials. You risk having too compact soil, which will be neglected by earthworms and whose roots will have difficulty penetrating!
Planting or seeding with easy seedlings to start
Well, you have chosen an excellent place for your future vegetable garden, chosen to use a vegetable patch or not, worked your soil well, and now you have to get down to the nitty-gritty of planting your precious vegetables, fruits or aromatic plants! For this, when you are a beginner, the first option is to buy all those plants in pots. You can find them at your favorite horticulturist’s or in the shops, and the fateful date of mid-May and the Ice Saints usually marks the start of the vegetable garden. Go for easy-to-grow vegetables, perfect for beginners, such as tomatoes, radishes, zucchini, salads, beans, or eggplants!
You can also jump into the wonderful world of sowing. You will then choose your seeds of beloved varieties, and you will have to grow them by yourself like a big boy! Then, get a sowing calendar, so you don’t miss a period, and follow a guide that will gently explain to you how to succeed in sowing. Your vegetables will be better and your pride too!
When you plant your seedlings (or those that have grown well), spread them out, so they grow better. Also, know that you can combine several crops that get along well to get the most out of them!
Maintain your garden regularly
Finally, all you have to do is maintain your little green corner properly and regularly. Remove weeds regularly and water your plants sufficiently. It is also important to mulch the soil of your garden (with grass clippings for example). Weeds will grow less, and vegetables will stay fresh and limit watering!