Starting your own garden is one of the rewarding things you can do. Whether you are planting fragrant flowers or starting a vegetable garden, you can benefit from getting your hands a bit dirty. The time to start digging and growing plants is spring but there are some things to consider first.
Do you want to make money from your yield or simply eat from your own garden. Because both are easily possible and you don't even need much land.
Below are the 10 steps to start your own garden today:
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Get Some Ideas
Would you like a flower garden, herb garden or vegetable garden? If you like to grow flowers, do you like annuals that you should replant yearly? Or do you want perennials that have shorter bloom time and come back after a year? Well, you can combine any of the above. Besides, it is your garden and the choice is yours. If you are a first timer, you can start with a small garden first. You should also consider, do you want to save money on food cost. Or do you possibly even want to make money.
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First choose the Perfect Place for Your Garden
Most flowers and vegetables require about 6 hours of full sun daily. Find the perfect spot for your garden. Choose the area that gets more sun and check for good soil. You may have to groom the land and starting a mulch pile can do some major benefits and lower cost on ground soil.
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Clear the Ground
Eliminate the sod covering the place where you like to plant. If you want fast results, you may dig it out, yet it is simpler to smother it with the newspaper. Point is you need to kill weeds, roots and other issues with the soil before planing.
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Improve Your Soil
Soil requires a boost. The best solution for this is organic matter like the mulch pile. This is basically putting your food scraps that are beneficial and putting a tarp over it so it decomposes. It is best to do this when it is hot outside, you can continue to do this all year long. You can also add layer of decayed leaves, compost, old manure, and dry grass clippings. Once you dig soil, put organic matter to your soil. To know more about your soil, consider having a soil test done through the cooperative extension office. They will lead you throughout the procedure.
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Dig Properly
Roots can penetrate easily if you dig as it loosens soil. However, digging when soil is too dry or too wet can ruin the structure. So, dig only if the soil is moist enough to form loose balls.
- Choose Your Plants and what you want out of it. (Make Money?)
Others pore over catalogs for months. Some head to garden center and purchase what wows them. Those methods work regardless if you have chosen the plants adapted to your soil, climate, and amount of sunlight in your garden. Now, do you want food to save costs? Then pick vegetables and things your family likes to eat. If you are considering making money off your garden. You can plant enough to sell at stands or flea markets. A very cool way to make money and more then you would expect. Is to carefully pick herbs that you can make products off of. Once couple makes around $100k a year making unique soaps, lotions and other products with herbs in it from their garden. They actually have only a small parcel of land, but creatively made great products with wonderful packaging. These are sold at local stores, amazon and many other platforms. So let your creative side out and start something unique. All sorts of things can be made from herbs and flowers. You can even jar the food and make jams, also an easy thing to brand and sell.
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Putting Plants in the Ground
There are plants that can tolerate cold, so you could plant them in late winter or autumn. However, the majority of annual flowers are sensitive to cold. If you want to plant perennial flowers, you should plant them in mid-autumn and mid-spring. If you want to buy young plants, you can dig a hole and consider planting them in the ground. Be sure to research the plants you buy or talk to a local nursery to get the best information. Don't think you can just plant these and disregard them. Growing anything is a skill and will take some learning. You need to recognize diseased plants and colors of leaves as they tell a lot about the health of them. Also if you are going organic, learn about beneficial microbes and teas to treat health issues.
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Water
While your plants are small, you must water daily. You must water deeply and slowly so water soaks rather than running off the street. Water your plans early morning to reduce evaporation. Watch the leaves to make sure there is not over watering or under watering. If you want, get into some engineering and make a water drip system. There are many youtube videos on how to make this.
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Mulch
To eliminate weeds and keep water in, cover your soil with about 2 inches of mulch. All kinds of mulch are available. However, make sure to choose the right mulch for your plants. This protects the plants and soil in many ways.
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Keep Taking Care of Your Garden
It is harder than you think, so before taking this on make sure to study and get a good idea of what your plan is. You will have to put in some daily time each day to produce the healthiest garden food, flowers and herbs.
Overall, this is good for the soul. Getting outside and being productive in the garden reaps lots of benefits. Not only will you be eating your own food that you know is healthy and what went into growing it. But you can also get going on a business and eventually be self employed doing something you love.
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