new gardeners.
photo credit: themissiah

If if you have limited space in the backyard, you can find room for a small space garden. A 4 foot square plot will produce enough foo for one person and if you add containers or only have room for containers you should still be able to grow your own fresh food.

If you are new to vegetable gardening, here are a few tips to get you started:

Start small. New gardeners often over plant and become overwhelmed. Its amazing how much one packet of seeds will produce and two squash plants will give you more squash than you need. If the vegetable you are planting has a shorter growing season plant a smaller amount of seeds and plan to plant two crops. If one crop produces enough produce, use the space for something else.

You don’t even need a separate vegetable patch to begin with. Use containers placed on a patio or porch, hanging baskets and window boxes. Tomatoes, squash, lettuce and herbs look great scattered among flowers. My favorite is using bok choy in flower borders; the green and white color accents the bright colors of annual flowers. A half barrel of herbs such as basil, parsley, thyme, thyme and chives placed near a door will make adding fresh seasons to a meal a snap. These kitchen herbs also make great edging plants for your vegetable or flower garden. And a garden add to the backyard oasis feeling of your yard or patio area.

If you have a garden plot, choose a level, well-drained spot that gets at least eight hours of full sun each day. Make sure it’s close to a water source or that you place a rain barrel near the garden. Carrying water to the garden takes time and energy. And remember the closer the garden is to the house, the easier the plants are to tend. If the garden is near a path or area you travel during the day you will find you pull a weed or pick a vegetable while passing by.

Grow only veggies you like to eat. You will notice that homegrown vegetables are tastier than store bought. I have found that I actually like certain vegetables grown at home that I will not touch if bought in a store. They have no taste.

Grow what you cannot buy in your area and that is high priced because it’s shipped in. I like heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers. The varieties I like are not sold in the stores and are a fortune at the farmers market. There are two reasons store bought produce is not as good. One, by time you purchase it; it is old and has lost the fresh out of the garden taste. The other reason is many vegetables are now being raised to ship better. Taste is not as important to the producer as durability. This is most noticeable in tomatoes.

Plant the vegetables that cost more in the stores. Arugula, mesclun salad mixes, baby vegetables, asparagus, strawberries and blueberries are a few that are more expensive. And winter squash varieties cost per pound in a store. So if you have children you may want to plant each a pumpkin or two.

And I always plant something for fun, possibly a new vegetable, gourd or vine. Gardening can be work, but it should also be relaxing and fun.

Plan ahead and plant a vegetable or two to can or freeze for later use. Or share a crop with you neighbor. Having a garden can save you at least $500 or more depending on the size, what you grow and if you store produce for later in the year.

My backyard always has a mix of flowers, vegetables and herbs. They grow in raised beds, theme gardens and hanging baskets. I guess you would call it a backyard jungle. But it’s relaxing and fun. And that is what gardening should be, fun!

Flowers tend to be the easiest gardens followed by vegetables and the last garden variety that tends to be more work are fruit gardens. Fruit gardens need more maintenance to keep insects away. Insects are attracted to the sweet in the fruit and don’t like to take no for an answer

In order to make sure you have a healthy fruit crop you will have to decide if you use a chemical for insect control or use natural insect control. I always use natural pest control that I mix up using home ingredients. I also hand pick insects if necessary. I may loose a few fruits this way but its worth it knowing I have healthy produce and have not hurt the environment.

My backyard fruit garden consist of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. I also grow melons in the garden area. These smaller fruits produce well and are relatively insect free. This is because I make sure I have the best-fertilized soil I can mix up and use a heavy ground cover to keep moisture in the soil. I also grow a few fruit crops in hanging baskets.

My larger fruits do include fruit trees, which is a whole other category when it comes to care

When considering fruit trees I would carefully check your growing zone conditions and take into consideration how much space a fruit tree will take. You will also need to check and see if the fruit trees you select need another tree to help pollinate the fruit crop.

Dwarf trees or espalier trees may be a consideration. They take less space and espalier fruit trees are very pretty and often are used to help create privacy in smaller backyards.

Fruit trees need to have sun and be located in an area where the wind can move through the trees. Growing too close to a larger tree or a building that blocks sun and air current will cut back on your fruit crop. One last consideration is do you have the time to prune your trees? Fruit trees need pruning to keep the tree healthy and let the sun get to the fruit.

Growing fruit in your backyard garden oasis will add more work but there is nothing quite as nice in the morning than a fresh peach that is warmed by the sun or homemade strawberry shortcake. As with all gardening and additions to your backyard oasis you need to consider time and the additional value it adds to your property and your needs.