Before you start

What are your limitations?

Time

If you are busy and don’t have a lot of spare time, then keep your garden small. Plant only what you can eat as it comes ready. There is a short window to process your vegetables come harvest time and many will spoil if left too long. Not to mention the care needed throughout the summer – do you have time to weed at least weekly and water, sometimes daily? I recommend starting small and working your way up to a larger garden, once you know what demands it will make on your spare time.

Money

If you are gardening for the first time, it can get expensive to buy tools, build garden boxes, or purchase pots and potting soil. If you have a spot already in your yard, or have previously grown flowers in pots, then you have the supplies to get started and it won’t cost as much. There is no limit to how much you can spend on your garden, but there are ways to reduce the costs. Start simple and get a taste for growing your own vegetables and learn from what you like and don’t like.

Physical

Gardening is actually a great way to get fresh air and exercise! But don’t overdo it. If you need to clear some sod and cultivate a patch of ground, know whether or not you can handle it or if you will have to hire someone. Maybe start with some planters (pots) that you can move around your yard to a sunny spot. Don’t go all in with a full garden if you are not up to the chore of weeding – kneeling, bending, and pulling, or hauling water in a watering can or a heavy hose. I am not trying to discourage you, but want you to be prepared for the possible physical demands.

Decide what you want to grow!

What do you like to eat?

Planting turnips, only to wonder what to do with them come fall, is a waste of time, space, effort, and frustrating to say the least.  If you want to experiment though, hopefully you have someone or somewhere you can donate anything you don’t like. 

How long will they take to grow?

Some vegetables like radishes are easy and fast to grow. Radishes sprout and produce in a few weeks.  Come hotter weather though, radishes (and other cool weather crops) will bolt – this means they produce seed/go woody before you can eat them.  If you have the room, plan for successive plantings two weeks apart to spread out the harvest.  Crops like carrots, tomatoes, and peppers need to be planted early though, so it doesn’t work as well for them.  But try it with beans, peas, radishes, lettuce, and greens like kale or spinach.  You can plant spinach in the fall for an early start next year.

Make sure you know the vegetable’s growing requirements.  See the basic needs list to know what to look for.

If you don’t give the plant enough time before it freezes, then all of your effort will have been in vain. Tomatoes and peppers are two common vegetables that people start early because they need a long growing season. One way to extend your growing season is to use a cold frame or greenhouse.

Giantex Wooden Coldframe

35.4″X31.3″X23.0″
Protect your plants from frost and get a head start on your garden!

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Shelter Logic Backyard Greenhouse

Highly rated! Protect your seedlings and bedding plants from frost and get a head start on your garden. Grow your tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash all summer and get fantastic results!

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Most veggies can be started directly in the garden, but lots of people start their seeds indoors for a jump start on the season. Some veggies don’t like to be transplanted and will do better if sown directly in the garden rather than started indoors. You can always buy started vegetables from your local greenhouse too. Just get there early because they can sell out fast or get too leggy or rootbound and not transplant well.

If you are starting your seeds indoors, you need to plan your garden early to allow time for those plants to be big enough to plant and to harden them off. In Alberta, where I garden, May Long weekend is usually considered a safe time to plant and a good marker to count back from when starting your seeds inside.