Tips to make your first edible garden a success

Before you consider growing an edible garden this summer, figure out a few of your favourite vegetables and herbs and start small if this is your first effort. That way, you are more likely to enjoy success and eat all that you grow. With a little experience under your belt, you can expand next year. 

Whether it’s in a backyard, balcony, patio or community plot, once you have your favourite veggies chosen, you can figure out how much sun you’ll need and space. 

Most vegetables need at least six hours of full sun daily. If you don’t have that much available to you, consider growing less sun-dependent plants such as lettuces, radishes and spinach.   

Sun, water and soil are the most important elements in a successful growing season. For greater growing success, buy an established seedling at the local market or garden store. 

Water to keep plants moist, not drenched. When you’re watering the garden, water the soil more than leaves, to prevent disease. Mulch will help conserve moisture and keep weeds at bay. And make sure your soil drains well. Peat moss and compost are good choices for healthy soil.

As much as you love to eat what you sow, so do rabbits, deer and other hungry foragers. To keep them out of your garden, surround your plants with chicken wire fencing dug at least six inches deep and standing as high as the plant will likely grow. 

Stake plants using cages, hockey sticks or branches to help vines such as tomatoes, peas and beans stay upright. 

Companion plants may be your best defence against pests. Marigolds, for example, do right by tomato and basil plants warding off slugs and aphids. Pull weeds so they don’t steal nutrients from the plants that matter most to you.

Harvest as the veggies are ready so that the plant can invest its energy into producing more.

If you are keen on container planting, be sure the pots are deep enough to handing growing roots and that they drain well. Be sure to use potting soil, not top soil or garden soil, because it is too compact and waterlogged and will suffocate the plant’s roots. Tomatoes, lettuce, Swiss Chard, hot peppers and herbs do well in containers.

Just as location matters in real estate, so it does in gardening. Put your pots or garden plot nearer to your back door. If you see it daily, it’ll remind you to water and harvest.