Starting Vegetable Gardens Part Two

The Next Four (Still Painless) Steps:

So, you've figured out what you have, done your 'sun research', and at least tenatively planned what you'd like to grow. Pretty easy so far, yes?

Step Five: What is your zone?

Before you start planting your garden, it's helpful to figure out what climate zone you live in. Each zone comes with it's own timeline as to when it's safe to plant your garden to be (relatively) free from harmful frost and low temperatures.

 

Step Six: Firm up your vegetable selections

If you still haven't decided on the vegetables you'd like to grow, now's the time to do it. What you decide to grow will affect your seed and plant purchasing as well as where you plant what and if you need to start early with indoor planting.

Step Seven: To plant indoors or not?

Some plants require a longer growing season than others. Maybe some of the plants you're thinking about planting require a longer growing season than your zone says you have. This is when you decide to either starting vegetable seeds indoors, or buy plants (instead of seeds) to help jumpstart the process and lengthen your growing season.

Step Four: Consider your dirt

Depending on where you live, you may or may not have great dirt. You might not even have any dirt at all. But don't panic. A truly successful garden imports many organic additives into the soil (or starts from scratch and doesn't bother with the dirt already present). Whether you're starting with an existing garden space or not, there is information you need to know about preparing your soil for planting.

More about the layout for a vegetable garden here.