I’m not going to get super-scientific about this, because there are so many resources available about backyard veggie gardening online or at your local library. I’m just gonna give you some very easy, elementary tips on how to get started with your own backyard veggie garden this spring, based on how we went about it last year. I hope it inspires you!

One of the things I was most excited about when we moved from the middle of downtown Raleigh to the country of Wake Forest was the ability to have a veggie garden! I love being outside, I nerd out over sustainability and minimal living, and I knew I wanted to have garden-tending as a part of my daily routine.

During the winter months last year, I had thumbed my way through some library books and online articles about how to get started, and I’m not gonna lie to you - it was a bit overwhelming. There are many different tactics and levels of commitment with backyard gardening, but it did give me helpful tips and tools to use to get started.

Make a Garden Bed

We decided to start with one small raised garden bed. Throughout the last weeks of winter, we kept an eye out for the part of our yard that got the most consistent sunlight throughout the day. Once we decided around where the bed would go based on the light, we went out and mapped out exactly how big the bed should be. We figured that an 8x4 bed would be plenty for us to start our first season with!

When you’re new, a raised bed is a great way to try out gardening. They are easy to make, and it’s easier to maintain good soil (because you’re putting nutrient-rich topsoil on top of your tilled yard, not just digging into your yard soil and hoping for the best.) John went out to Home Depot, got the wood cut for the garden bed sides, and made/placed the frame in just a couple of hours.

Keeping it small is helpful because you’ll be able to reach all your garden goodies without having to bend too far over, and truly, you can fit a ton in a small garden bed!

Make a Plan

Once you know the dimensions of your garden bed, get out a piece of paper and a pencil and sketch out what plants are going to go where! This was very fun for me. We divided our bed into 1’x1’ squares, where each square housed a different plant. We actually took string out to the garden bed and made the square outlines to help us once we started planting.

I think it’s best to start by listing out a dream-list of any veggies or herbs you know you want. Then, do a quick Google search about how many of those plants can grow in a square foot. For example, I could plant one zuchinni plant in one 1x1 square, but could fit 4 pepper plants in another 1x1 square.

You should also be able to find quick profiles on each veggie regarding how much sunlight they’ll need, how much water they’ll need, and any other plants they like to be near or don’t like to be near (this is called companion planting, or co-planting). That’s when the puzzle-piecing begins, and I found it super satisfying to figure out! For example, tomatoes love to be planted near basil, but do not love being near cabbage.

This was our garden bed well into summer, while I was taking care of my friend’s little girl Stella!

Start from baby plants, not from seeds

Once we made a plan, we checked out our local nurseries and found out about a yearly event called HerbFest in our area, which sells oodles of seedlings (baby plants) of all sorts of veggies, herbs, and other pretty plants ready for spring planting. We knew exactly how many of each plant to buy because we had our handy dandy plan with us.

Starting from seedlings made all the difference for us as first-timers. We put those bad-boys right in the garden bed in their little squares based on our sketch. Then, we got to do the fun work of watching the plants grow!

Maintenance

Even after we planted, it took me a bit of time to remember which plants needed more or less water, and balance that out with whatever the weather was doing. You’ll have to keep an eye out on how many rainy days are coming in the week, and how many hot/sunny days are on the way, and water accordingly.

You’ll also want to keep an eye out for bugs (we had a bunch of stink bugs who loved our plants), pests (like voles and moles), or other critters who like to eat plants (like deer.) Thankfully we didn’t have any deer which was such a blessing, but we had a bunch of bugs we had to figure out what to do with.

Be sure to add fertilizer every few weeks to the soil to really make your plants bountiful and happy. If you have any climbing plants in your bed (like beans or cucumbers), you’ll want to buy or build a trellis so those guys can grow up and away from the other plants, and they’ll also be much happier that way. And before your other plants grow too tall (like tomatoes and peppers), you’ll want to put some cages or stakes around each plant. That way, they won’t get too top-heavy and fall over, or if they are a vine variety, they’ll have something to hold on to.

All that gave me a reason to go out every day and check up on progress, which I loved. Once actual, edible veggies started growing, it was SO MUCH FUN to go out and see how everyone was doing, and eventually, to do a daily harvest.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the fresh produce available just a few steps out of your back door!

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I so enjoyed taking out my basket each day to pick fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs for our dinners. What a delight! We are excited to do another garden this year, and may be adding another raised bed to plant even more goodies!

To see our garden progress from last season, be sure to check out my Instagram story highlight “Country Cottage” - the garden part is towards the end there!

And here are some resources that helped me along the way!