INTRODUCTION: GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR NEW VEGETABLE GARDEN
Starting a new vegetable garden can seem intimidating, but with a little preparation and planning, it can be a fun and rewarding experience. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a beginner, following these tips will help ensure a successful harvest.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SPOT FOR YOUR GARDEN
The first step in starting a new vegetable garden is choosing the right spot for it. Look for an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight per day and has good drainage. Make sure it’s also easily accessible, so you don’t have to trek across your yard every time you need to tend to your plants.
PREPARING THE SOIL
Once you’ve chosen your spot, it’s time to prepare the soil. Remove any weeds or debris, and then loosen the soil to a depth of at least six inches. If your soil is poor, you may want to add compost, manure, or another organic material to improve its quality.
DECIDING WHAT TO GROW
Next, decide what you want to grow in your garden. Consider the size of your garden, the climate in your area, and the amount of time and effort you’re willing to put into maintaining it. Don’t be afraid to start small and work your way up as you gain experience.
PLANTING YOUR VEGETABLES
When planting your vegetables, be sure to follow the planting instructions for each one. Some plants need to be sown directly into the ground, while others should be started indoors and transplanted later. Be sure to space your plants properly to prevent overcrowding and to allow for proper growth.
CARE AND MAINTENANCE
Once your vegetables are planted, it’s important to care for them properly. Water them regularly, but not too much, and be sure to fertilize them according to the instructions on the package. Keep an eye out for pests and diseases and take action if you notice any problems.
HARVESTING YOUR VEGETABLES
Finally, the best part of starting a new vegetable garden is the harvest. Be patient and wait until your vegetables are fully ripe before picking them. Some plants, like tomatoes, will continue to ripen after they’ve been picked, so don’t worry if they’re not quite ready yet.
CONCLUSION: ENJOY THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR
By following these simple tips, you can be well on your way to starting a successful vegetable garden. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Gardening can be a fun and rewarding hobby, and there’s nothing quite like enjoying fresh, homegrown produce. So get started today and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
My wife and I are looking to buy a house with a nice area for starting raised beds. I grew up on vegetables right from the garden at my parents place and I really want to continue that when we find and buy a house! This video was very helpful in giving out tips on how to get started!
Your dog is adorable🙂
Great video!
I overthink everything! Do I need to wait 2 months for the cardboard to rot down before planting? Can I use leaves instead of sticks? Thanks!
Hi I’m a novice gardener. And I bought few cucumber and tomato seeds this year. But I am worried as I get very limited sun in my garden. It is south west facing very small garden in London. So only get sun 2-3 hours max. Would this be okay for tomatoes and cucumber? Also I can grow dwarf beans in more shadier part of the garden? Thanks
This is the best channel ever. I learned how to sow all my seeds from here. I hope to have a successful harvest on my 2nd of year growing, i will be digging instead of raised beds. Keep the effort going!!
thoughts on adding something like seasol or other liquid fertiliser?
Where can i buy the garden raised beds?
Hi Ben. I absolutely love your videos. Your personality is so fun & I love your dog too. I live in the US zone 9a. Very sunny and hot. Am going to try growing veg in pots so I can move around with a dolly if plants are getting too much sun. Would love it if you could do a video for my climate.
This is awesome! Its going to be my 1st time starting a garden, so i subscribed to learn more with you. Thanks
Just came across your videos last week and I've subscribed 👍😊 I've grown vegetables a few different times in my life some have gone well and some not very well as in turned into caterpillar hunt for my kids and having butterflies hatch out all over the house 😂 this year I'm expanding to fill most of the back garden in growing space apart from chicken shed/run, picked up a few tips from your videos on improving and making it more manageable and not a chore 👍☺️
What a great video!! I want to start a garden but it seems so intimidating . Excellent tips !
wont the cardboard mold?
I have wanted to grow my own vegetables for the last 5 years and attempted it 2 years ago only to have to stop (just when I was reaping the rewards of my hard work) because my selfish neighbour decided to use a herbicide which made me abandon my plans to grow for that year.
Now I'm determined to learn how to grow my own veg.
I'm wondering if you could please help me by telling me where you bought your palets/boarders because the majority of the ones I've found have been chemically treated.
Thanks ")
Great work btw, I can only hope to be as good as you one day.
Me and my partner recently moved from renting in to our own home and the previous owner was quite the green thumb. She left us two raised beds to utilize. We uprooted the current residents to make way for planting some vegetables and herbs. Thanks for the helpful advice, hopefully we will see a good first harvest this year! If not, there's always next time. Will take in to account of also planting some flowers to attract bees and the rest to help the veggies.
What did you do with the grass that was there? Can I put the cardboard directly onto the grass? Or do I have to dig that up and take it out?
I so enjoyed your video. It was refreshing; you were joyful, simple materials, clear instructions & enjoyed Rosie (so cute)!
Its too expensive for the app. Looks good but 30 quid is a lot of money.
On my second year of a raised bed Ben so still need your skills to help me. Don't you need netting? I had slugs, woodpigeons, and caterpillars taking advantage of brocolli and chard. CA T.
Would you mix peas with sweet peas with peas? Is it easy to tell them apart?
I have a small garden in a rented house. It has a concrete bed which is just under 3m by 1m which is perfect and one side warms up and I have noticed that on that side plants do grow quicker. But I like to rotate my crops and I have had to remove some fruit trees (pears) because they were deseased with orange leaf spot which also ruined the fruit. I have gotten an old brick pallet. (A pallet with sides) to put where the small tree was to build a raised bed. Just trying to decide what to put in there. In the concrete bed I am doing peas, strawberries, a raspberry bush and radishes and maybe potatoes this year (last year it had peas in the opposite end, corn, squash, courgette, tomatoes, beans and nasturium for ground cover to reduce evaporation. I have started off a lot of cabbages and kale this year and haven't decided whether to grow them in pots of put them in after I lift the radishes yet. I always grow carrots in pots and find that works really well.
Dear Ben! Thank you for your videos – I always lern a lot. 😊 But one question: what kind of wood chips do you use or recommend? (I´m a little afraid to use ones that the soil – or plants – wouldn´t apprecciate…
Thank you Ben for the video. Yes, I’m hoping to start my first veg planting. Wondering if I could put off cut veg in the bed instead of twit? Thanks.
I've just turned 28 and I'm using your technique to start plots in my grandma's garden and become more substanable living
This is the most thorough, detailed, simple and complete step by step fir a new starter like me to learn and follow. Thank you!
Started my first seedlings inside, built a small little indoor greenhouse! Super excited and your videos are helping so much with the process! Thank you!
Help! I'm pricing wood for raised beds. I have only done container gardens–didn't go well. I want to grow vegetables that I use often–lettuce, tomatoes, beets, potatoes, carrots, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, zucchini… I have had good success with herbs in containers, but not other vegetables. I have a small yard, but I want to use a good portion of it for my vegetable garden. Can you recommend the size boards I need and the metal hardware? I don't have a lot of monetary resources. Thank you.
Hi Ben, me and my fiancé are going to start our first garden this year! Your videos have inspired and taught us a lot. They make it seem a lot less daunting. Keep up the good work!
cardboard attracts termites – true or false ?
very instructive video thanks.
Wonderful video, my girlfriend and I just got our first place together and plan or gardening soon! Great advice
this is so informative and brilliant… i had these raised beds from the last owner of my house and they are so big and unnecessary and full of weeds! i didn't know what to do with them but now i know. i'm dismantling them and turning them into these lower types you have made. it's perfect and i can make use of all the old amazon boxes and stacks of branches, i have so much garden waste every year and never know what to do with it seeing as we can't make fires here… i think all i need now is a big compost box. one thing i'd like to know… how do we get rid of loads of weeds in good soil? just pick them all out? won't it still be full of seeds and more weeds?
I've always wanted to start my mini garden since the age of 5. Now i've made a list of everything i need to know. Thx this help so much
Great content. You remind me of the guy from chernobyl.
I'm starting a new veg garden in one third of my back garden – about 14ft x 9ft ish and I'm going to make use of your great tips like putting down some cardboard on the path to stop weeds and grass. Thank you
Glad I found Garden Ramsey. He’s way nicer than his brother.
Last year, I managed strawberries and tomatoes in pots. I'm now making a vegetable plot by the side of the house and adding more plants but trying not to grow loads as I don't want to be overwhelmed. Working quite a lot throughout summer does not help so adding a watering system for when I cannot water. Also have access to a lot of horse manure (2 year old bags!) and coffee grounds. I'm sure this will help! Your video's are amazing and have definitely inspired me to go further. Thank you.
Are the vegetable roots growing right through that initial layer of cardboard? Also, do you ever use grow bags? Thank you. You are very good at anticipating questions, very clear in showing us how.
This was just the video I needed. I’ve been a balcony/ windowsill grower for a few years but have just secured my first allotment – feeling overwhelmed with all the space!
Thanks for the great tips. Got my allotment in November and have been covering it up with cardboard and clearing like mad to get some of it ready for spring. Three raised beds just about ready and going to start on the asparagus bed tomorrow. Can't wait to start growing.
How to ignore my soil and grow in pure compost. Tutorial.
Upon receiving my first order of beautiful heirloom seeds today, I realized how utterly clueless I was about where to even start planting them. Thank you for this wonderfully clear, encouraging, and edifying tutorial! I'm off to start my very first garden thanks to your guidance!
What about the chemicals from the cardboard leaching into the soil?