Vegetable gardening is at an all-time high with over 42 million households choosing to make their backyards a food source.
Gardening is a rewarding hobby that gets you outdoors and provides you with dinner.
If you want to make the most out of your time in the soil you must do a little research beforehand.
This will make your yields higher, keep pests from eating all your hard work, and make your harvest tastier.
Use these top 7 vegetable gardening tips to get started.
1. Start Indoors
One of the most important tips for growing vegetables is to start your plants indoors.
This is especially helpful if you live in colder climates with freezing temperatures continuing into your planting season.
Placing your seeds in pots near a window indoors will also help them get strong before exposing them to the elements of wind, chill, and bugs.
Think of this procedure as a nursery where you nestled your plants until they are old even to survive on their own.
2. Use Raised Beds
While your seedlings are growing indoors, you can prepare your garden.
Use veggie gardening tips like building a raised garden bed to get higher yields and make planting easier.
With raised beds, you can add a deep rich soil stack for roots to grow deep and get enough nutrients.
It also keeps your soil loose so that water can be easily absorbed.
You will also keep some critters out as your plants will be safely contained.
Spacing and planting your vegetables is easy in raised beds.
You don’t have to use walking paths that interfere with spacing.
Plus, you won’t risk stepping on a plant that you forgot was there.
These designated areas for planting organizes your garden while protecting them at the same time.
3. Choose a Sunny Location
When you are looking to buy a house you need to look at more than house prices.
If you plan on gardening you must check out where the sun hits your backyard.
Each plant needs a different amount of sun exposure, but you want at least 8 hours of direct light as a starting point.
This is usually enough for most plants to thrive.
Before you start your garden monitor the sun’s direction and shadows that block sunlight.
Trees or a neighbor’s house might cause your garden to lose light in the afternoon.
Choose a spot that is unobstructed throughout the day to ensure your plant’s complete their photosynthesis.
4. Plant Bug-loving Flowers
Not all bugs are bad ones. Some people forget gardening tips like planting flowers to attract pollinators.
Butterflies and bees pollinate your flowers and flowering veggies to boost their yield.
The nectar from flowers aslo feeds beneficial bugs like ladybugs.
Ladybugs eat caterpillars which are garden eaters.
Adding flowers to your garden also adds color and pleasant aroma to your garden.
They don’t steal much water from your veggies and can be used as markers to divide your crops.
5. Natural Bug Repellant
Certain plants and herbs also repellants bad bugs like slugs, caterpillars, and flies, as well as birds and rabbits who steal your fruit.
Marigolds, mint, and lavender are natural mosquito repellants.
Their smell also keeps out rabbits and other animals.
These plants and herbs can be used in your garden as a bug repellant as an addition to your harvest.
Even tasty herbs like rosemary and basil are great for keeping pests out.
Add them around your garden or even near your door to deter bugs from flying in your home.
6. Irrigation System
In addition to soil and sun, one of the next biggest tips for vegetable garden is proper watering.
Finding the time to water can be difficult when you are not home during the day.
However, the best time to water is in the morning and evening.
Still, you might not have time before and after work to get in your garden.
The solution is an irrigation system set on a timer.
You can use a drip irrigation system that slowly soaks your plants without over-watering them.
This is the best way to water small home gardens as it does not require a lot of set up and does not waste water like a sprinkler system would.
All you need is a set of small hoses with holes punched in them.
You can buy a complete drip irrigation system that includes a timer to water your plants at the right time each day.
7. Pre-Compost Garden
Starting a compost for your garden is a great idea.
What many people do not know id that compost is very rich and can overwhelm your plants of added all at once.
Integrate your compost into your soil before you start your garden.
This with dilute it with your normal soil and ensure the nutritional content isn’t clumped in one spot.
Add the compost at least 3 weeks before you start planting.
Mix the compost with a pitchfork so the soil is loose.
Also, be sure your compost is ready before applying it.
All organic material should be broken down and mixed as pure soil.
Vegetable Gardening Tips for Apartments
If you live in an apartment or do not have a yard.
Then you can still follow these vegetable gardening tips with slight modification.
Use pots to raise your beds, find an area for sunlight, water at appropriate times, and use nutrient-rich soil.
For more at home projects like a veggie garden visit our DIY section.
