Growing a vegetable garden is a great way to bring fresh nutritious veggies to your table.
How to start a small vegetable garden at home.
Grow what you like to eat.
If you have kids vegetable gardening is a fun way to get the whole family out in the fresh air and sunshine.
Whichever garden style is chosen start small.
Knowing where your food came from is just one benefit of home vegetable gardening.
Penny pinchers and green thumbs alike often tout gardening as a way to save on groceries yet it s equally possible to spend a small fortune on it.
But vegetable gardens that make efficient use of growing space are much easier to care for whether you re talking about a few containers on the patio or a 50 by 100 foot plot in the backyard.
Unless you want to have zucchini taking up residence in your attic plan your garden with care.
The garden should be fun and fascinating not a chore to be dreaded and avoided.
Here are some tips for a good size beginner vegetable garden that can feed a family of four for one summer with a little leftover for canning and freezing or giving away to jealous neighbors.
Raised beds are a good choice for beginners because they make the garden more manageable.
See the 5 easiest vegetables to store for more information.
It s probably best to start your garden mainly with fresh eating in mind but some vegetables are extremely easy to store.
You ll also save money by buying less from the grocery store.
Vegetable gardening at home is a great way to save money while you get up close and personal with nature.
For example william alexander author of the 64 dollar tomato explains how all his startup and maintenance costs resulted in an average expenditure of 64 for every tomato he produced buying seeds plants grow lights soil tillers.
For example even just one plant can be super affordable think 3 to 5 and provide up to 10 pounds of tomatoes over the season which can easily run you 20 or more.
The best way to determine the size of your garden is by drawing up a list of each vegetables you would like to grow.
If you re too ambitious you ll end up starting big and then getting overwhelmed.
2 choose a location to start your garden.
Only plant the amount of space that you can manage joyfully.
That s why it s best to start small when planning your garden.