Gardening, Where Do You Start? A Beginners Guide For Gardening

When springtime finally arrives I get eager to start my garden. Gardening is a great way to exercise, lift your spirits and produce wholesome food for your family. But where do you start?

*The post; ‘Gardening, Where Do You Start? A Beginners Guide For Gardening’ is a guest post by Brenda Anderson from Little Lost Creations

If you are new to gardening it can probably seem a little bit overwhelming. Where do you start? The best way to get started is just one step at a time.

Gardening, Where Do You Start? A Beginners Guide For Gardening

The first step to start your garden is to decide where is the best location and setting in your yard. Keep in mind you need to plan an area where your garden hose will reach (preferably with a Gilmour hose nozzle attached) and where your plants will get the best sunlight. There are some plants that can grow in the shade but most garden plants need full sunlight.

Once you decide where to plant there are many different ways to design your garden. Some people like to container garden, square gardens or in planters. We prefer to plant directly into the soil in a large area of our yard.

There are 3 important factors to think about when you are planting your garden

*The condition of your soil. Composting is a great way to build up your soil.
*The amount of water you have for your garden and how you will water it.
*The quality of the plants or the seeds you will plant.

The quality of your garden and the quantity of food you get out of your garden will depend on those 3 factors

Once you decide what type of a garden you would like to have it is time to choose your seeds. This can be fun but there are still some very important factors to consider.

Choose seeds that fit your area. The altitude in the area we live is 5600 Ft. My husband says we have a 90-day growing season, too bad, it is not consecutively. We can freeze any day 12 months out of the year.

We look for seeds that have the shortest growing season possible and hope that it works. It is important to look at the area you live and the length of you’re growing season. We also choose varieties of foods we know will grow here and avoid the rest.

Once you get your seeds picked out and your garden soil prepped you are ready to plant. Remember when planting those tiny seeds into the ground it is important to read the recommended planting instructions.

Keep in mind the size of the seed. If the seed is tiny you do not want to plant it too deeply. It takes a lot of energy for that little seed to push through the soil and out of the ground. If the seed is large and you don’t plant it deep enough the seed will not sprout properly. Be sure and read the directions on the packet.

Also remember if you are planting carrots, beets, garlic or anything that grows in the ground your soil needs to be tilled deep. The soil needs to be loose so the vegetables will be able to push through it as it grows.

When we plant the seeds in our garden we pack the soil lightly but firmly to ensure the seed will get the moisture from the soil. We keep our garden slightly moist, enough to water the seeds but not to make deep mud. This helps the seeds germinate.

If the soil dries out on the top it will crust making it hard for the seeds to poke through. If the seed gets to dry once it has sprouted it will die. Weeding can become tedious. The trick is to pull a little every day as you see them come up. My husband always says, “One year of weeds, seven years of seeds.” Meaning if you let the weeds go this year they will be worse the next year.

I would love to hear your comments. Do you think a garden is worth all the work?

Good luck with you’re gardening adventure!