Creating Your Garden Space

Now that you have decided to grow your own food, what is the next step? Garden space. This varies widely on where you live, how much space you want to dedicate, and how much food you want to grow. My advice, if just starting out, start small. Grow plants that are hardy, and can grow well with little maintenance. Adding to a garden year by year is easier than starting with too much. 

SPACE

It doesn't matter where you live, you can have a garden. Urban gardens often consist of containers, like pots and garden boxes. Certain varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs grow best in containers/pots, be sure to check the seed catalogs for these varieties if you plan to do container gardening. Also be sure to select the correct pot size, plants like cherry tomatoes will need deep large pots to thrive. 

Those with yard space, urban or rural, can either till up yard space or build garden beds. I, personally, have tried both and raised garden beds are by far the best investment. Raised garden beds save yard space, and allow roots to grow deeper without the potential of encountering rocks further down in the soil. By building raised garden beds, you can provide the best soil conditions for your plants, and you can cater the soil to accommodate more finicky plants. For example, some plants prefer more sandy soil to thrive, by adding sand to your garden bed you provide ideal conditions for those specific plants. Raised garden beds reduce weeds, not only because you are putting high quality soil in the beds, but you can plant things closer together reducing light and nutrients going to potential weeds. Weeds that do pop up, are usually small and can be pulled easily. To maintain high quality soil, compost and soil will need to be added every year for the first few years to each bed. After a season of growing, rain, and snow (depending on where you live), the soil in the beds will settle and become compact. Adding more soil, sand (depending on the plant), compost, and a quick loosening of existing soil will have your beds ready in no time for a new season. 

Garden beds are easy to build, and can be fairly cheap depending on what type of wood you use. The garden beds in my garden are built from pine, but virtually any type of wood can be used. Below are a picture of the beds my husband and I built last spring. We started with six 4 foot by 4 foot beds, and may potentially add a couple more this year. 

My Pinterest Board: Raised Garden Beds has tons of information about raised beds, and inspirational ideas. 

Here is a tutorial from Organic Gardening on how to build raised beds. Keep in mind while following this tutorial that any sized boards can be used. Click here to view >>

Good luck on your gardening adventure! 

All Gardeners Live in Beautiful Places Because They Make Them So ~ Unknown