I Want To Start A Garden

As I grow all my own produce - vegetables, fruits, nuts and herbs - I think its great that you are wanting to start a garden - particularly as growing your own fruit and vegetables is not only fun but also very rewarding - as it gives you a constant supply of fresh, chemical and preservative free produce - which not only smells and looks better than anything you can buy in the store - but actually tastes a whole lot better too.

Its also a great way of saving money and providing your family with healthy nutritious meals at a low cost - especially when you consider that for the price you would pay for a few kilos of store bought produce - you can easily for the same price or less - buy a few packets of seeds and grow them yourself - which would if you preserved them - contribute to supplying your family with fresh produce for almost a whole year.

 

The mere mention of fruit trees means you have a pretty good space in your garden. A medium sized fruit tree needs at least 12 square meters of space to grow properly. Right now we have a guava tree in the pot that we are transferring in the ground. We had dug a 10-inch pit with a diameter of 10 inches and left it at that so the soil can breath. Tomorrow, we will fill it with compost and leave it again. And on the 3rd day, that's the time we would plant the small guava tree.

 

Start off small, and it depends where you live and if you have room for a small greenhouse if the weather isn't good where you are. Tomatoes and lettuce are easy to grow from pots, but carrots require some work with turning over the soil. To be honest the season is coming to an end now, so depending where you live it maybe better to consider planting trees next year in spring.

 

I would just add - although its true that the season for summer fruits and vegetables is coming to an end almost everywhere - don't let that discourage you - as there are still many that can be grown over the winter months and do very well too - for example - potatoes, garlic, onions, beans, swiss chard, broccoli, kale, sprouts and asparagus are a few that immediately spring to mind - along with herbs - many of which do remarkably well grown inside on a sunny windowsill.

On the subject of fruit trees - not to worry if you do have limited space - as there are now plenty of small or dwarf varieties to choose from - that have been specially bred for growing in limited spaces.

However more importantly - as fruit trees as well as strawberries are generally best planted during autumn/fall - this is something that you could be considering doing now - particularly as - you will get stronger much healthier trees by planting them at this time - as it allows the tree time to adjust to the shock of being transplanted as well as put all its energy into establishing a good root system before the stresses of summer arrive.

 

Depending on the area you live in you can have a very good basic garden to get started. There are books that tell you what and when to plant for your area. Gardening is fun and a good way to release some stress and feed yourself at the same time.

 

You should also consider planting some perennials. Plant them once and you reap the harvest until the day you decide to to replace them.

It takes a while for fruit trees to grow to maturity and even then there are some varieties which won't produce fruits. Unless you want them as ornamental plants I'd suggest growing berries. Any kind.

 

I have area in my backyard to grow a small garden, I usually do tomatoes and peppers. They are easy to grow and just require a lot of sun and water. By September I have a great harvest that the kids and I pick. Children love picking the tomatoes off the vine and we make spaghetti sauce which I freeze and use throughout the winter. Totally organic as well.

 

Start small. I got overboard when I planned my first vegetable garden, so I failed. I tried planting seeds, but they did not sprout at all. Try reading about the condition of the soil in your area because some plants tend to grow well in places while others do not. Also, try to buy seedlings, so you won't have a hard time propagating seeds. We bought six tomato seedlings at the start of the summer season, and they are out of control now. We have so many huge tomatoes!

 

I don't have a green thumb but I would love to have a vegetable garden. My first project right now is growing chili peppers. My plants are still on the seedlings phase. I have always seen online that toilet paper rolls can be used for planting seeds so I did and I do not recommend it all. I don't how they do it but mine got all soft and mushy after weeks of watering. I prefer to use ice cream paper tubs. I just poke the bottom for drainage. If my chili peppers goes well, I plan to plant tomatoes for my next project. I just hope everything goes well.

 

I've had luck in the past with tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, and herbs. I grow in containers, not in the ground, which can be good, because you can totally control the soil, and move the pots around as needed. Sometimes one will need more or less sun, and there are various sizes of racks with wheels on them that you can put the pots on, to facilitate moving them around. Good luck with it, it sounds as if you have an ambitious plan, with fruit trees and vegetables, as well.