Start Small – For most beginners, smaller is better. A 100 square foot garden – say, 10 feet by 10 feet – is plenty. Even a 4 ft. by 5 ft. garden or a few containers on your deck or patio can be very rewarding.

The Basics – there are 5 basic requirements:
- Good soil
- Seeds and/or plants
- Water
- Fertilizer
- Weed and bug control.

Good Soil – Good gardening starts with good soil. Good soil contains a mixture of small and large mineral particles, organic materials, air, water, and millions of living organisms, from micro-organisms to worms. If you have either thick clay or loose sandy soil, the best solution is to add compost or top soil to your garden. Rent or borrow a mini-tiller, like the Mantis tiller, to do this most effectively.

For a more thorough discussion of garden soil, see The Dirt on Soil.

When You Should Start – Ideally, you should prepare your soil a couple of weeks prior to your last frost date. To estimate your last frost date, see Victory Seeds.

Start gardening anytime after your last frost date. You can even start a garden in mid summer.

Seeds and Plants – Rule #1 is to grow what you’ll eat. And, grow the right quantity. Six zucchini plants will produce more squash than you and all of your friends and relatives can handle! Start with 1 or 2.

Tomatoes – 1 or 2 beefsteak tomato plants for sandwiches, salads, and sauces. One cherry tomato plant for snacking and for salads.

Leaf Lettuce – easy to grow, and high yielding.

Spinach – easy to grow, very nutritious, and somewhat more heat tolerant than lettuce.

Bush Beans – easy to grow and very nutritional. The big seeds are easy to handle.

Summer Squash – options range from buttery yellow varieties of squash to the traditional green zucchini.

Beets – easy to grow and good for you. Thin the young seedlings so that the remaining plants have room to develop.

Water – Plants get their food by absorbing water and dissolved nutrients through their roots. Rule of thumb - about 1” of rainfall or watering per week.

To reduce the amount of soil moisture lost to evaporation, add a layer of mulch to the top of your garden soil. Grass clippings, shredded dry leaves, hay, and straw are excellent mulches.

Fertilizer – Plants, like people, need food. Organic fertilizer can be added when you plant and throughout the season.

The best long-term solution for creating healthy soil is to continuously add compost. For lots of practical information, see Composting 101, or visit HowToCompost.org.

Weeds and Bugs – The best treatment for weeds is prevention – lots of mulch will significantly reduce weeds.

Bugs are more complex. Some bugs are good, some are bad. Consider using a natural pesticide like Pyola® or Bulls-Eye™; both are environmentally responsible and available from Gardens Alive!

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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Your First Vegetable Garden