So, you would like to start a vegetable garden. Good choice! Having your own vegetable garden brings many benefits. You can have your own produce store right in your backyard without paying supermarket prices. Plus, by growing your own vegetables, you know exactly what goes into them. And finally, with the great variety of vegetable seeds and plants available to home gardeners, you get produce that simply tastes better.

The biggest hurdle that new vegetable gardeners face is how to start. In this series of posts I will attempt to help you put aside your fears and take action. We’ll start with site selection and finish with planting and mulching tips. So, grab a cup of coffee (or your favorite beverage) and let’s get started building your first vegetable garden.

Choosing A Site

This is perhaps the most important step in starting a vegetable garden. Many, if not all, vegetables require full sunlight throughout the day. If possible, your site should be situated in an open area that receives at least six solid hours of direct sunlight. Anything less and your results will be sub par. 

The slope of your potential vegetable garden site is important as well. The image above shows an open area with a slight slope.  You should try to pick an area that is level. I know many gardeners who grow on a slope and that is fine if it is your only option. The problem comes in, though, when you water or your garden receives rainfall.

On a slope the water applied will tend to run off to the lower portions of the garden. Common sense, I know, but some people are not aware that this could cause a problem. Your soil in the upper areas will tend to dry out quicker while the soil downhill will remain wetter and could lead to rotting issues with the roots of your vegetables. Therefore, it’s always advisable to choose an area that is level.

What about soil conditions? Well, that should be a consideration too. If you have a garden plot picked out and it contains many rocks you will have a tougher time preparing the soil in the first few years. I have this problem at my home. But, by removing as many rocks as I can each spring, I have been able to form a vegetable garden that has quite good soil.

Sandy or mucky soils should also be avoided where possible. Sandy soils tend to dry very quickly as they do not have the holding capacity for water. Nutrients are also an issue on sandy soils. Nitrogen in particular is very mobile in the soil meaning it is carried down by irrigation easily. Plus, the nature of a sandy soil does not allow for much holding capacity of nutrients in a similar way as with water.

Mucky soils, those high in clay, tend to work in just the opposite way as sandy soils in terms of water holding. They are often wet year round and will bring many problems for vegetable roots such as rotting and a lack of air transfer.

In summary, try to pick an area for your vegetable garden that gets plenty of sun exposure, is free of rocks, and does not have too much sand or clay. Sound like the perfect garden? It is! I would be willing to bet that your location won’t be perfect. Mine never have. However, don’t despair if you are limited to a less than ideal vegetable garden location. Many of the issues can be dealt with as long as you know what you are up against. The biggest step is to choose a spot and start working.

Part 1 – Choosing A Site

Part 2 – Garden Size Considerations

Part 3 – Site Preparation

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your garden soil may be compacted and need to be loosened.  Your garden may benefit from a practice called double-digging.  This task is not for the weak of back, however, and may require more than one person (or more than one day, depending on the size of your plot).  Here is how the process works:

• Start at one end of the area and dig a one-shovel-deep trench across the width of the plot.  Place the soil in a wheelbarrow or off to one side of the garden.
• At the bottom of the trench, thoroughly loosen the soil with a shovel, pitchfork, or pick axe.
• Next, dig another trench beside the first.  Place the soil from the second trench into the first. 
• Loosen the soil in the bottom of the second trench in the same manner as done in the first.
• Continue this process until the entire garden area has been completed.
• Fill the final trench with the soil from the first.

Here are a few suggestions and tips for double digging your garden:

• Never work the soil when it is extremely wet.  You will damage the actual structure of the soil particles.  This will do more harm than not double digging.
• Compost can be added to the top layer of the garden during this process.  Just remember to use well rotted (or finished) material.
• If you have an extremely large garden and have access to a tractor, a large plow can turn the soil over at a deep level.  This can be a quick and easy way to accomplish the double dig process.

The best way to avoid needing to double dig your garden is to walk on the soil as little as possible.  This may sound counter intuitive.  However, if you or your family will walk mainly on designated walkways, your garden will not compact as much.  Also, incorporating organic matter into the soil on a yearly basis and rotating crops properly will reduce the need to double dig your garden.

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Happy Gardening!

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