Vegetable Gardening for Beginners: My Gardening Adventure

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners: My Gardening Adventure

This is truly going to be an adventure…a gardening adventure. Truly a vegetable gardening for beginners post written by a vegetable garden beginner. I dabbled in container gardening last year. One might assume I had loads of success seeing as how I am so excited to tackle a bigger garden this year, but no…in fact, almost everything died. BUT, I am choosing to view that as a learning experience – I will not be defeated!!

Now is the time to get everything planned out because as soon as Spring is in the air it is time to get planting. I want to make sure everything is ready well before Spring.  At least that is the intention.

This post is basically my beginner gardener outline. My plan along with my thought process. It serves a dual purpose because I want it to be useful/helpful/entertaining for others to read, but I also want to keep myself organized to ensure I have everything ready to go. 

 

Last Year's Lessons

Here is what I learned last year (see, not a complete failure!)

1.  Location: I chose a spot that gets intense afternoon sun for my containers last year, which I thought was going to work perfectly.  It turns out the spot I chose doesn’t start getting sun until much later in the day than I thought. Once I realized this I tried to move them to a sunnier location, but it was already too late. 

2.  Water: I think I did a pretty decent job keeping them watered because they did grow, they just didn’t produce much fruit. I was a little concerned about watering too much, but I learned that plants like lots and lots of water, especially in containers and especially during the long hot days of summer. Sure, this seems obvious, but it wasn’t (at least to me – HA!)

3.  Fun: Most importantly, I learned that I really love planting and growing things.  I wrote in my 25 Facts About Me post that I am a recovering black thumb gardener, and it is so true! It has been such a nice way to ease any anxiety and something fun to look forward to during the dismal days of winter. 

Raised Bed Gardening

For my beginner vegetable garden I am going with two 4×4 ft raised beds. I chose this particular bed from Amazon because it was relatively inexpensive, it looks clean, matches my the vibe of my house, and it doesn’t appear difficult to assemble. I chose a 4×4 bed mostly because I wanted something easily accessible from all sides. I had originally designed this U-shaped bed on paper and I was going to build it myself, but then reality set in… 

I decided this year I am going to start with 2 4×4 ft beds, then if all goes according to plan, I will add up to 2 more 4×4 beds (4 beds total).

Could we build our own beds for less money? Probably.  This adventure is about picking my battles and that is a battle I am not picking this go ’round.

Garden Bed Prep

I plan on following The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s advice on prepping my soil.  this includes tilling the soil prior to placing the raised bed, removing the existing grass, and filling with a combination of topsoil, compost, and manure. 

Irrigation is the only thing I am too concerned about because the place I chose isn’t the most convenient place for daily watering.  I am still working on the logistics for setting up some type of DIY irrigation system.

Vegetables/Herbs for
Vegetable Garden Beginners

 

If you google “best vegetables for beginner gardeners” you will receive a lot of the same information. It’s tough because I don’t want to grow something I don’t like to eat just because it is recommended for beginners.  Here are some of the vegetables most often recommended for beginners: 

  • Green Beans
  • Cucumbers
  • Zucchini
  • Radishes
  • Beets
  • Basil
  • Carrots
  • Peas
  • Okra
  • Peppers
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Spinach
I loosely based my garden list off of The Old Farmer’s Almanac suggestions, but ultimately I chose things my family likes to eat.  
  • Green Beans – seeds
  • Cucumbers
  • Zucchini
  • Basil
  • Carrots – seeds
  • Peas – seeds
  • Peppers
  • Lettuce – seed
  • Tomatoes
  • Spinach – seed
  • Potatoes
Vegetable Garden for Beginners

Other Things To Be Prepared For

I’m trying to keep a list of the pests I might encounter and be prepared to prevent those. 
  • Aphids
  • Grubs
  • Wildlife eating my plants
  • Mildew
So there you have it, my vegetable gardening for beginners by your very own beginner vegetable gardener.  I can’t wait to post the progress!! 
Until next time, 

Julie

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Charity 23 Feb 2020 Reply

    Oh how fun! I have never tried to do a garden myself before. I remember growing up my mom had one and I would help her a little bit, but other than that I have no experience! I would love to try it out though sometime.

  2. Adriane 26 Feb 2020 Reply

    Did you do cucumbers in the raised bed? We had zucchini and they TOOK OVER! So I’m assuming the same for cucumbers. Although we eat a ton of those. So far, we have only gotten tomatoes, jalapeno, and lots of herbs to grow. Our strawberries and red bell peppers died before they produced anything. It made me sad. We live in Arizona so it’s a different world growing food but we keep trying. We do have citrus trees and just planted a fig and pomegranite tree so praying they produce fruit in the next few years. Our peach tree has fruit on it now! I’m SO EXCITED! LOL! Thanks for sharing your journey.

    1. Admin 28 Feb 2020 Reply

      Hi Adriane, this is my first year, so I haven’t really experienced anything just yet. I plan to do cucumbers and zucchini. I know they get a little out of control, but I’m hoping that boosts my gardening confidence lol. I’m a midwesterner, so definitely a different growing environment than AZ!

      Fruit trees sound so fun, but I’m not ready to tackle those just yet lol

  3. Erin 27 Feb 2020 Reply

    I love gardening in my little home garden.

  4. Marie 28 Feb 2020 Reply

    This sounds like such a fun project! And you’re spot on, there’s a whole lot of research into why gardening makes us happy and puts us in a good mood – just Google ‘flow’ (or you can check it out on my site http://www.marieskelton.com too!!).

    1. Admin 28 Feb 2020 Reply

      I’m having so much fun planning! Thanks, Marie! I’ll definitely check it out!

  5. Cassie 28 Feb 2020 Reply

    I can’t wait to start our garden! We haven’t had one in a few years, but we used to grow lots! We kept a bit garden in the backyard and then a raised little kitchen garden by the house with lettuces, herbs, and tomatoes. We have a lot of prep work at the new house and a large and still growing rock pile, but it’ll get there!

    1. Admin 28 Feb 2020 Reply

      It is so fun, isn’t it?! Enjoy your new house and your soon-to-be new garden!

  6. Amandela 28 Feb 2020 Reply

    Sounds like your ready for the season. Are you starting your crops indoors until April or are you planting outdoors in the nearer future?

    1. Admin 28 Feb 2020 Reply

      I have flowers started inside as of right now. I think for the vegetables/herbs I am going to start from seed outside or buy a starter plant for this first year. Trying to make things as easy as possible this first year so I don’t get discouraged.

  7. Danielle 3 Mar 2020 Reply

    How exciting! I wanna start a garden. I may consider it when I move into a house.

Leave a Reply