A Simple First Garden

When I mention the garden, people often comment that they would love to do the same, but simply do not know how. Looking back, here are the three things I would suggest to get up and running with as little effort, knowledge, expense or equipment as possible.

1. Buy this book All New Square Foot Gardening. I do not think it is possible to make starting a garden any simpler and easy to maintain than the information in this book. If space is an issue, keep it small and plant small things. Lettuce, carrots, radish, and herbs do not take up much space at all. Tomatoes will do just fine grown in a big planter on a patio.

2. Buy seedlings at the local nursery. Seedlings are plants the nursery has already started from seed in the greenhouse and buying the plants already started takes away a lot of the risk of just getting the plants to sprout. Worry about seeds, organics, etc ... after you get the hang of the basics. Cucumbers, beans, peas, and squash are the exception as they are fairly easy to start from seed.

3. Buy a hoe. Weeding by hand is time consuming and a lot of work. As soon as the garden becomes work, it stops being fun. Simply chop the weeds into the dirt with the hoe and turn them into mulch to feed the dirt.

Set up the garden bed as outlined in #1, purchase the plants as outlined in #2, and water and hoe as required. Use the first year to have fun and learn the basics and use the winter after the first year fill in the gaps in your technique for the second year.