Practical and Convenient Tips for Kitchen Garden
How to start a vegetable garden in your backyard has been made practical with the following easy-to-follow steps.
It looks like high-maintenance or a daunting task to even learn how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard. The real pricking question would be where to begin with this idea? However, the influx of information and hype about having your own kitchen garden through TV, books, social media, and magazines has done a lot to change the perspective on kitchen gardens from impossible to something doable. It is a hugely rewarding experience to yield homegrown organic, rich in flavor and nutrients vegetables and fruits.
How to Start a Vegetable Garden in Your Backyard
Here’s how you can begin with building your own home kitchen to yield organic vegetables.
1. Select the Location of the Kitchen Garden
The first and foremost concern before you plan how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard is the available space. Make sure the space selected for the activity is vast with close proximity to a sufficient amount of sunlight, a source of water, and protection from harsh weather conditions like snowfall or storms. Secondly, the layout of the kitchen should utilized at the optimum level to grow more and more vegetables. You can begin by growing vegetables which take less space than fruits and vegetables like watermelon, melons, and pumpkins which demand large space. Also, make sure to begin with raising beds as it keeps the farm organized for the beginners especially.
2. Start on a Small Scale
The second trick on how to start a vegetable garden in your backyard is to start small. It means planning to grow small-sized as well as easy-to-grow vegetables before you jump on high maintenance difficulty to handle vegetable options. If you start with an ambitious plan, you might get flustered right in the beginning with no good results. Also, you have to consider if you have sufficient time to take care of your large kitchen garden, a small negligence may ruin your hard work before you know it. Therefore, do research to know which vegetables take little time to grow and nurture, and how much time is required for weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting.
3. Basic Types of Equipment
The first step for planting seeds i to decide where to place the seeds for germination. Your options depend upon the availability of your time and budget. A few of the options could be starting seeds in cell trays, a tray of soil, soil blocks, etc it is recommended to place small seeds in small cells for easy access to water. You can use plastic wraps or cell covers to hold the moisture and humidity for quick germination of the seed. It is important to know most seeds like to germinate in the dark, or an artificial light instead of bright light. But once the seed has germinated into a plant it needs to remain uncovered and have access to sunlight. You can use heat mats for crops that need hot weather conditions to grow such as tomatoes, and peppers but after the germination of the seed, remove the heat mats. Lastly, a vessel like a pot is required to hold the plant in the soil and keep it hydrated. A small pitcher or a cup will also be sufficient for the purpose.
4. Soil
How to start a vegetable garden in your backyard recommends testing your soil, as it plays a great role in plant growth. Check its type and that if it contains pH and nutrition. A home soil testing kit is easily available in the market such as the Luster Leaf Products Professional Soil Kit at Amazon. You can boost the health of the soil by adding compost, well-rotted manure, organic matter, or even additional fertilizers to boost the health of the soil for a rich yield.
Managing the Kitchen Garden
Continuous digging and weeding help make the soil work for the rich growth of the crops. As a beginner you can place the plants in raised beds, it lets you have more control over the soil. You can build raised beds with wood, bricks, or even metal or you can simply grow in pots and containers for your convenience. In the latter method, you can grow more vegetables in less space.
Clear and Weed
Clear the area where you plan to sow the plants. And clear it for any weeds or parasite plants. This is a continuous process as you need to check on weed growth.
Choose your Crops
How to start a vegetable garden in your backyard tips recommend the selection of crops as an important decision. You can choose vegetables on the basis of your diet preferences. The easy-to-grow vegetables include lettuce, radish, peas beans, carrots, kale, and beets. Secondly, seasonal vegetables are also the best option to grow them. Check more articles about gardening.
How to start a vegetable garden in your backyard could be made easy by following strategic planning and beginning with small-scale and manageable plans and after some time, expanding further according to availability of time and your expertise.
