How to start a vegetable garden in 2024? Want to know how to design a garden plan? What do I need to keep in mind as a beginner gardener?
In this video, I’ll show you some tips that were helpful for me when I started my vegetable garden.
Timecodes
0:00 Intro
0:35 Size & observe your garden
2:32 Start designing your garden
5:28 Things to keep in mind
7:03 Bonus balcony tip
Music:
“Jazzy Abstract Beat” by Coma-Media via Pixabay
So, the new year has started and you finally
decided it: you want to grow your own food.
Now you might get the idea of putting a seed
in the ground and waiting for it to sprout,
but other than that, where do you even start?
That’s what I was thinking when I
started my garden about a year ago,
and now that I have a little bit of experience,
I’d like to share some of that with you.
Today, I’m going to give you four tips
that can help you start your own garden.
So, maybe you’re like me and you can’t
wait to get started in the garden,
even though it’s clearly winter right now.
Maybe you’ve bought a lot of
seeds already, which is fine,
but before you even can get started in the garden,
you need to know how big it is because, of course,
the size determines how much
vegetables you can grow.
So, get out your tape measure and start
measuring the dimensions of your garden.
If you’re having trouble measuring
the dimensions of your garden,
then Google can actually be of assistance.
Just head over to Google Maps,
zoom in on your garden space,
and right-click on the point you
want to start your measurement.
Click on "measure distance" and
then click on the next point.
It will now show you the
distance between the two points.
Now, when you find yourself
in your future garden-to-be,
try to envision how you want it to look.
So, maybe some grow beds over
there, or a trellis over there.
This might not be the final result,
but it might give you an idea of
how the garden will look in the future.
Also, take a moment to observe how
the sun travels through the sky.
This will be important to determine
where shadows can be cast in your garden.
You might think that more sun equals
happier plants, but that’s not all true.
In fact, some plants prefer some
shade, such as lettuce and spinach.
Knowing how the sun travels in regards to your garden
can help optimize hours
of sunlight for certain plants
or help you create shadow for others.
And a little bit more on that later.
Now, let’s get inside.
It’s starting to get cold.
Don’t worry if you’re having
trouble visualizing your garden.
The internet is full of inspiration.
Just type in "vegetable garden design"
in YouTube, Instagram, or Pinterest
and you’ll run the risk of never starting a
garden and just looking at pretty pictures.
Jokes aside, you can find
enough inspiration online.
Okay, so you roughly know the size of your garden,
and you know how the sun travels
in relation to your garden.
Now, it’s time to start designing.
And I advise you to do it the
old-fashioned way, with pen and paper.
Now, a paper with a grid might be
useful, but it’s certainly not necessary.
Let me show you an easy way to design your garden.
So, for example, say your garden is
around 5m by 6m, so like that, right?
So, this side would be 5m
and this side would be 6m.
Now, say the south side would be over here,
meaning east is over here, north
over there, and west over here-ish.
Let’s say that over here is your house.
You have a terrace, for example, over here.
Can’t really sow over there,
except for maybe in some pots,
and you have some small trees in your garden.
So, for example, over here and
maybe a shed here on the north side.
All right, it’s where you keep
your tools and everything.
Now, if you’re on the northern
hemisphere like I am, then the
sun would be traveling from east to south to west,
meaning that most shadows will be cast towards,
of course, the north, and it means
that the upper half of the garden,
so this side of the garden and even a little
bit lower, will have the most hours of sun.
So, it would be ideal to start your
garden somewhere in that vicinity.
So, you can say, for example, "Well, I
want some grow beds next to my shed over
here," like this, with some pathways in between.
Maybe a third and a fourth one right over there.
Maybe you want to have some lettuce over here,
some broccoli over there,
some onions, and, well, beans.
Beans.
So, I drew this up in a minute,
but this is actually quite an effective
way to start designing your garden.
You can, of course, take it a
step further and introduce colors.
I find that it makes your design
come to life just a little bit more.
This is another example if you have like
a garden around the corner of your house.
And if you want to get really creative
like I did, then you can choose to cut
out the several grow beds or grow areas
that you want to have in your garden
so that you can move them around if you’re
not sure where to put them yet… like so.
You don’t have to do it, of course,
but I found it easier so I didn’t
have to make copies of my garden, and
I could just move around the grow beds.
Made it a lot easier to work with.
Now, a few more things to keep in mind.
If you want to start growing in grow beds,
then you have to determine how big they are,
but there is a certain practical limit to them.
A grow bed should have a maximum depth of around
90 cm to a meter because if you go any further,
then you’ll start having trouble
reaching the inner plants
if you don’t want to step on your grow bed, that is.
On that same topic, not all plants
have the same size, of course.
So if you want to grow, for example, your
squash plants like courgette or pumpkins,
then do keep in mind that they need a lot more
growing space than, for example, a lettuce.
And so, you can only fit so many in one grow bed.
If you’re designing a garden with pathways
and you want to use a wheelbarrow,
then do keep in mind that those pathways
need to be at least 60 cm wide.
Otherwise, you can’t fit your
wheelbarrow in between the grow beds.
Some plants are ideal to grow vertically.
So, for example, squash plants
but also sugar snaps and beans.
Once they’re starting to sprawl up your
trellis, they can create shadows in your garden.
You can use this intentionally to
create shadows for your leafy greens,
for example, that don’t always
like a lot of sun during hot days.
And as a last tip, if possible,
try to design your garden so that
it is close to a water source,
such as a tap or a water barrel.
This way, you don’t have to walk as
far when getting water for your plants.
Now, if you find yourself without
a garden and only a balcony,
don’t worry, there are options for you.
A lot of vegetables can be grown in containers.
So, all manner of herbs, leafy
greens such as spinach or lettuce,
and even potatoes can be grown in containers.
So, even if you have limited space available,
you can still grow your own veggies.
I hope these tips were helpful
and that you can start making
your very first grow bed for your garden.
Now, speaking of making grow beds, if
you want to know how I made these three,
then check out this video right over here.
1 Comment
Fantastic!