So are you wondering how to start a Vegetable Garden from Scratch?
For the past few years I have had a tiny vegetable garden. I would increase the area every year, but it was still tiny. The main reason is that I was digging it by hand and THAT my friends, is hard work.
My first garden at our present house was a tiny 3′ x 3′ fenced in garden. We had some neighborhood dogs and cats and I didn’t want them getting in there so this was my best solution.
My beautiful raised beds at my old house were the feline public restrooms and I sure didn’t want that happening again!
Each year I added another 3′ x 3′ to my garden and it slowly grew to where I had enough room and I could raise vegetables and herbs.
But my herbs would take over. Now that I have a separate herb bed, that shouldn’t be a problem!
I took this picture of my second year garden in it full glory because I thought my neighbors huge garden just behind mine, made a fabulous garden juxtaposition. 
This photo is probably my 4 year old garden and it is now 6′ x 9′. My plan of adding 3′ x 3′ every year worked really well. It wasn’t too much to accomplish and it gave me a new area to plant my tomatoes each year.
My last garden had grown to 12′ x 12′ and I still loved the way it looked! Though, as you can see here, it was mostly herbs.
I gave it up for the Apiary, and although I intended to get a new spot ready earlier, I have waited until it is NOW OR NEVER time. So I am hoping Mr. Menace can find a nearby farmer to come plow up a spot for me. If we are successful, this will be the first time I’ve done it this way in many many years.
*This post contains affiliate links to products or companies that I truly love and believed in before I joined the affiliate program. If you use these links to make a purchase, I will be compensated at no extra cost to you.*
GETTING STARTED:
The first thing to do to start a new garden is to break up the ground. There are three methods to accomplish this:
- Dig with a shovel
- Plow with a tractor
- Break up with a tiller
As I just mentioned, I have been doing my small plot with my shovel. Doing it this way, I would pull out all the grass and weeds as I was digging. It is very time consuming but works so well in the end, because you have minimal weeds to deal with through the growing season.
The fastest and easiest way is plowing with a tractor. Of course the main problem with this is that most of us do not own a tractor.
Using a tiller gives the same results as a tractor but takes more time and energy and again, you have to own a tiller.
Mr. Menace was successful in locating a neighbor who was out plowing his garden this past weekend and now mine is plowed too! I’m dancing a garden jig over here!
AMENDING THE SOIL:
When I am planting flowers in the yard I always add compost and manure to the soil that I have dug up, before I put the plant into the ground. Likewise, in my small garden plot in the past, I also amended the soil before planting. I prefer the Black Kow manure and compost, which can be found at Lowe’s in my area.
This method isn’t going to work in my newly plowed garden though. The garden is way too big and I can’t afford that many bags of compost. Plus, a lot of it would be wasted on the non-planted areas between rows and plants and I sure don’t want to fertilize the weeds!
- Raised bed, or small garden plot: add a bag of manure and a bag of compost
- Tilled or plowed garden:
- when planting bedding plants add compost and manure to each plant’s hole
- when planting seeds add compost and manure to each row, then cover with soil before adding the seeds
Getting a garden started is my favorite part! It’s the watering and weeding that must take place later that will test your patience and dedication to gardening.
If you are interested in learning more, you might like this post about planting the vegetable garden.
Have you ever tried raising your own vegetables?
What an exciting start! We’ve grown various veggies here. Not sure what we’ll do this year. But Solomon has his own garden plot and he plans to grow lots of pumpkins. Some to keep and a bunch to sell. Have you ever heard of the Back to Eden gardening method? We’ve been following that for prepping the garden. They have a free documentary you can watch on their website.
It’s mostly for fun. It is certainly not cheaper. Unless maybe if you start your own plants from seed. No, I don’t really know anything about the Back to Eden gardening. I’ll have to watch some videos. I see there are some on youtube. 🙂
I’m more of an ornamental gardener but it’s all so fun and rewarding.
I do love my flowers too Patti! But I enjoy the veges, or maybe its just the digging in the dirt. 🙂
Oh, I am so excited to follow you on this journey! Would love to do a small raised bed but I think PC would shoot me. He would have to mow around it and that would be trouble. Can’t wait to watch your garden grow.
Yea… I do my own mowing. LOL Thanks Leslie! 🙂
Great post, Nikki! Thanks for sharing this! Pinning to my gardening board!
Thanks Julie. I appreciate your comment. 🙂
I love all of your garden’s versions, Nikki!!! The Mother of All Gardens ~ the monster plowed garden. Love it!!! I want to ask you, where did you get all of your fencing?? It’s really pretty and when I get around to a bigger garden I’d like to put up some nice fencing.
Thank you,
Barb 🙂
p.s. Definitely pinned a bunch of your photos to my three different garden boards on Pinterest. I think this week I’ll share a number of garden stories to my FB page, too. 🙂 It’s time!
Thanks so much Barbara! I appreciate you. We got the fence panels from Lowe’s. They have them at both Lowe’s and Home Depot. 🙂
I have always left this part of the job to the hubby but certainly have no problem enjoying the fruits of his labor. Your garden is going to yield lots of yummy food.
I hope so Mary, but you know, even if it doesn’t, it will provide many hours of enjoyment. 🙂
I love how you talk about amendments. Not a lot of blogs are doing that these days. I am so excited about gardening season starting, bet you are too!
Your bed looks amazing btw. Nice big lot to plant the whole thing up!
Hi Christine. Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I firmly believe in adding good stuff to my soil. And I love my homemade compost! Thanks so much. 🙂
Your garden looks great. I’m a lover of Black Kow Manure and other homemade amendments too. There’s nothing better than fresh vegetables from the garden.
Thanks Rhonda! Isn’t Black Kow the best!?? I have my own compost too, but I use a lot of black kow. Thanks for visiting with me. 🙂
I love having a garden. We are in a new house and won’t be able to have one this year. But eventually we will. Thanks for sharing. Yours looks like it is going to be wonderful.
Oh I know you are going to miss it this year Audrey! I didn’t have one last year so I understand. You will enjoy it double next year though. 🙂
I love your little garden and how it grew a little each year! I don’t do veggies cause I have dogs and it would be quite a battle to keep them out! I do have some perennial beds and have prepped the beds the same way, by hand! But I love to get outside and dig in the dirt!
I think I will miss that tiny garden Nancy. It was so easy to take care of since I had dug out all the grass. And YES! I love digging in the dirt! 🙂
Love gardens and yours is no exception. Pinned! Thanks for sharing at the To Grandma’s House We Go DIY, Crafts, Recipes and More Link Party. Hope to see you again this week!
Thanks Sheri! I love the link party. 🙂
It’s time to start our garden too! Nothing better than homegrown veggies and fruits! You’re off to a great start! Thank you Nikki for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty 26! I shared your post x 4 ♥
Thanks Dee. I can’t wait to get some veges. 🙂
I’ve been thinking about starting my own garden in my back yard. This is very helpful!
That’s funny about the feline restrooms, but it looks like you figured out a resolution! Thanks for the tips!
I’d love to start my garden, but I don’t have enough space. Yours looks lovely 😀
Your gardens are so lovely! I wish I had the patience and follow-through to create and sustain a garden. I moved into a townhome last year and wanted to grow fresh herbs and tomatoes. Well…I failed with unskilled aplomb! However, I do enjoy and love looking at other people’s gardens. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Hi Laurie and thanks so much for the compliment! I have a hard time growing in pots. Was that what you were attempting in your townhome? Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
That is a beautiful garden! We went with raised garden beds for ours. This year we’re just doing a patio garden with pots as the garden beds weren’t doing well. We think they were in a bad spot and not getting enough light. We recently had a tree cut down, so plan to move them over there for next year!
Oh Diana! I think gardens are SO beautiful! I am glad to meet someone who agrees. I bet you are right and cutting the tree will surely help! 🙂
I think I would like to start a vegetable garden when I get my own house. I’ve never been into gardening before. but it’s a very popular and apparently calming activity. Plus, basically free vegetables? Yes please!
Yes Indya! The pleasure and clear mental health that gardening kindles is amazing and makes all the work worthwhile. It has such a calming effect on me, that the first thing I do every day after work is just walk around my yard and garden. Things have rarely changed from the day before but still just looking is so soothing. I hope you do give gardening a shot! 🙂
This actually looks possible! I have such a major brown thumb I think I’ve given up on planting or growing anything. I would love to give this a try though . . .`
Maybe we can change the color of that thumb Tiffany! 🙂
I needed this post! Every single year when the weather warms up, I tell myself I’ll start a garden with my kids and every single year…. it turns fall before I’m able to begin. Thank you for this full process. It helps absolute beginners like me know what to expect and plan for.
Hi Lisa. I am so glad you find my tutorial helpful. I was hoping it would be. Come back for the next installment of planting the garden! 🙂
I love your fence! We have cats who ‘appreciate’ the raised beds too. I can work around them with a trowel. BUT, one little guy just seems to like to dig big holes. I suspect he rearranged some seeds I had just planted. Sprouting should be interesting. DH has a tractor tiller (and a big push tiller AND a hybrid tiller with two set of tines instead of four for narrow spots. A real Tiller Man He used to have a Mantis tiller, but they are small and leap in the air when they encounter a rock. He gave it to son-in-law.
Maybe I should buy a tiller. I realllllly want a tractor…