How to start your own delicious vegetable garden

How much space do you need to start?

When thinking about how to start your own delicious vegetable garden don’t worry if you don’t have lots of space available to you. You can grow vegetables in whatever space you have. While it is great to have lots of room, this can sometimes be overwhelming. You can begin a vegetable garden in anything from a single pot, or one bed. Gradually build up your space over time as your confidence grows.

Ask yourself what you want to achieve. What do you want to grow? How much time do you want to spend on your garden from sowing to harvest?

How to plan your own vegetable garden

Even the most experienced gardeners I know will sit down at the start of the year to plan what they want to achieve. That could be something as simple as a list of plants they want to grow or as complicated as a full growing diary with details of seeds, sowing and harvest dates alongside succession planting. You can even buy computer programs to help you these days!

However, when you are starting out you will find it easier to keep it simple. Decide what you want to sow in the space you have available. Think about what vegetables you actually eat. If you love tomatoes, have a go. Picking your own tomatoes fresh from the garden cannot be beaten for flavour and smell. Other easy plants to start you off include spinach, potatoes, green beans and herbs.

Make a list of the spaces available and think about what you are going to plant in each one. For example, if you have a large pot you could plant potatoes. Make a simple two column list with the pot on one side and potatoes on the other. If you prefer to try out a printed planner you could try Free personalised online veg garden planning calendar – Less Waste (less-waste.co.uk) for a no fuss approach.

What tools do I need?

You can start your own vegetable garden very simply with a few basic tools. Have a look at my blog 5 basic gardening tools to get you started – Sueps House for help with that. In addition, you will need to buy compost. That is until you can get to a point where you can make your own. Not everyone has room for that so you may always need to factor the cost of compost into your plans.

Try to use peat free where you can as it is more environmentally friendly. If you live in the UK peat compost will be unavailable to home gardeners from the end of 2024 anyway. Then you are all set to being planting whatever your choice of vegetable.

Seeds or seedlings?

This will depend on the time of year you begin your garden and what your own personal choice is. If you are starting off early in the year then you could choose to plant seeds but take care to read the packet carefully. The details they provide are vital. It will let you know if the seeds need to be kept in a warm place; put into seed trays or direct sown (where you put them straight into the bed or pot and they don’t get moved again). The packet will also tell you the month to sow the seeds and when the approximate harvest time will be.

If you are not feeling brave enough to try from scratch yet then go to your local garden centre or nursery and have a look at the seedlings (sometimes known as starts) they have. Garden centres will usually have a great choice during the spring months and you can spend as much time as you want making your choices. I would advise taking your phone with you. If you come across a plant you are not sure about you can look it up on the internet to find out its sowing time and growth needs. Alternatively most centres have great staff who will be happy to give you any advice you need.

The good and the bad

Growing your own food is a highly rewarding hobby to have but there are elements out there which can put off new gardeners in the first year. Whether the slugs and snails come and eat your lovingly tended radishes, or your potatoes and tomatoes develop blight. Whether the British weather decides it’s not going to co-operate, and you still want to put the heating on in June or it is so dry you can’t keep up with the watering and we have a country wide drought. Ultimately it is all part of the gardening world, however frustrating that can be.

Just remember, there is nothing more satisfying than serving up a meal to your friends or family where you can say all the vegetable elements (or part of them) were grown in your garden.