Veggie Garden 101: Essentials You Need for Success
I’ve started a garden from scratch four times.
The first two tires were using raised beds – I like this option if you have a smaller yard or lack tilling and other equipment. We now live in the country, and I’ve been able to have regular tilled beds since we have the space and equipment to till up the soil and garden plot. Regardless of the garden you want to start, here are my top tips to make things easier on yourself.
- Buy your plants. Find a greenhouse that has quality plants. I used to start from seed, but I never was able to have tomatoes by July. Which for a long time, thought was an old wives tale. But, this past year, I had tomatoes in June, yes June. It was crazy and awesome.
- Fertilize your soil. This is a trick I learned this past year from two greenhouses I bought plants from. Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food Plus Outdoor & Indoor Granular Fertilizer is a one and done application. I have never had more healthy plants than I did this year. I sprinkle on additional fertilizer from composted food scraps and crushed up egg shells, but Osmocote is a game changer.
- Watering options. I have a large enough garden where watering becomes a time consuming event. My smart and savvy husband came up with this watering configuration that saved the day. I placed several of these 3-Arm Garden Sprinklers to water the garden in much less time. Note, my husband did have to drill in more holes to ensure appropriate coverage, but if you are handy, or have someone handy who can help you, it wasn’t very difficult to do. Our water source from the house isn’t strong enough to power all of the sprinklers when they were attached to each other, but it is possible to connect all of the sprinklers with one hose for a one and done approach.
- Invest in some basic tools. I haven’t figured out how to eliminate weeds yet, as I don’t want to spray weed killer in the garden. You’ll definitely need some weather resistant tools to help you, including a pruner, weeder, and scoop/trowels. I find it best to weed a day or so after a good rain – the soil won’t be so muddy you can’t walk through it, but the weeds will be in wet enough soil to wrangle out. This Gardening Tool Set has everything I use for smaller tools and this.
For larger tools, including a good rake, shovel and hoe, these are good options:
- Heavy Duty Garden Rake
- Aluminum Snow Shovel with D Handle – this may sound funny, but the flat end of this shovel is light weight and helps to move large quantities of dirt when needed.
- A more pointed digging shovel is needed to dig holes for digging holes for tomatoe plants.
- A garden hoe and cultivator help carve out your rows for easy seed planting. A must have to save your back.
- Gloves – buy some decent gloves that won’t leave you with mud seeping through and wet hands. It’s nice to have some extra cushion on your fingers if you have to do hours’ worth of weeding.
- Garden kneeling pad – this Expert Gardener Kneeling Pad helps when weeding or planting and comes with a handy ruler to help you space your plants and seeds.
- Attire – you’ll be out in the sun a lot, so you need a sun hat. There not cool looking per se, but do help with the sun beating down on your face and neck. When you need to pick and carry your vegetables, it’s handy to have a garden apron that can also be storage for gloves and tools. I have the Roo Gardening Apron with Pockets that works well.
- Pesky pests – I hate squash bugs – hate them. I have had nightmares about them and have yet to find a good solution to “squash” them, but for other bugs I’ve had great success with these natural options.
- Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap – can use for garden and other household cleaning
- Lawn and Garden Pump Pressured Sprayer – go with the 2 gallon or you will be refilling pretty often.
- Harvest time – when you start to pick the fruits of your labor, literally, you have to clean and store. If you’re like me, you don’t have a ton of time to can. I opt to chop and freeze most everything to pull out tomatoes, onions, green peppers and jalapenos to make salsa, and use okra and green beans in stew. I become very accustomed to my veggie cleaning and packing process during the summer months.
- Large bowl to wash (can also use your sink) produce in. I use stainless steel, but you could also use a plastic bowl.
- Use an organic fruit & vegetable wash to soak and clean your produce.
- Chop certain veggies including okra, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, or keep some whole (I core tomatoes but otherwise leave them whole) and freeze in freezer bags.
- Sharpies for labeling, or if you need an excuse to buy colored Sharpies