Starting My First Garden

[susieeQT]

I've decided to start up my own little veggie garden, something to get me out of the house every day and doing something productive. I figured I'd start off with some simple vegetables, something that is easy to take care of and good to eat. I've helped my grandfather in his garden my whole life, but I've never done any of it on my own.
What plants are best for beginners? I'd like to try carrots or cucumbers, but I'm not sure how easy that would be or how much space I'd need. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chuck]

I've decided to start up my own little veggie garden, something to get me out of the house every day and doing something productive. I figured I'd start off with some simple vegetables, something that is easy to take care of and good to eat. I've helped my grandfather in his garden my whole life, but I've never done any of it on my own.
What plants are best for beginners? I'd like to try carrots or cucumbers, but I'm not sure how easy that would be or how much space I'd need. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Where do you live?

 

[susieeQT]

I live near Atlanta, Georgia in the US

 

[Chuck]

I live near Atlanta, Georgia in the US

I live near Atlanta, Georgia in the US

Good, now I have some idea of your climate. I guess the first thing you need to do is to lay out your garden and decide how you want to garden, such as raised bed, square foot, French intensive, conventional etc. So what are the measurements?

 

[Trellum]

If I were you I'd start with cucumbers, they are fairly easy to grow and you don' need that much space to grow them. Tomatoes and herbs in general are also a good idea! Specially mint and basil, those are easy enough for beginners. Best of luck with your first garden Please keep us posted!

 

[susieeQT]

I'd probably start in my backyard, which isn't huge, but its a good size, lots of space. The only problem is that there are a lot of bunnies and stray cats that wander through, and I'm afraid they'd mess with my plants. I was considering trying some sort of raised bed, or at least have some sort of fence surrounding it to keep the critters out.

 

[sweetkymom]

I'd probably start with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. They are so easy to start and really don't need a whole lot of space. I actually did these three in my porch garden last year and they turned out great! Tomatoes tend to never stop growing so you would need to keep picking as they ripen.

 

[Abigail]

Great advice, about to make my own thread about starting my vegetable garden.

 

[gata montes]

As most vegetables are easy to grow you actually have quite a choice and I know that if it were me - I would be choosing to grow the ones that I liked the best and would use the most but if looking for something that once planted would more or less look after itself - then I would suggest trying some cucumbers, squash, zucchini, eggplant or peppers as well as some tomatoes - which although tomatoes do require a little extra work are well worth the effort

Although erecting a fence or some kind of barrier does help to a degree in keeping unwanted visitors away from your vegetables - it doesn't entirely and especially not if they are really determined to gain access - as they soon find ways of burrowing under it or climbing up and over it but to be honest I think that you are possibly worrying unnecessarily on this score. As even though I also have very many regular furry visitors that frequent my garden including a large number of cats - strays and otherwise - they've never ever done any real damage to my plants and even the mom cat that pinches tomatoes to feed to her kittens - is always very careful how she takes them off the plants

 

[claudine]

Have you thought about planting zucchinis? They're easy to grow. We have them in our garden, my mother really likes growing them. They produce a lot of food! During last summer, I had to eat zucchinis almost every day. I'm not a big fan of this vegetable, so it was quite awful for me, but I know that many people find it very tasty

 

[Momhardatwork]

In my opinion susieeQT, cucumbers and tomatoes were pretty easy for me to grow. I did not have a lot of space when my husband and I first started out so I grew cucumbers and tomatoes out of a large pot on the patio and we had tomatoes forever it seemed. (This may help you to monitor the bunny activity being your first time). I had enough of a yield from the cucumbers to make hot pickles! I really like tomatoes because they are so resilient and you can cut them off at the top and plant them in the ground with or without root starter and they will grow roots. Just need basic trimming to let them breathe primarily near the bottom of the plant. I wish you all the best and keep us posted.

 

[rz3300]

Well that is certainly some good news and it sounds exciting, and it is always nice to have some fresh veggies on hand. I cannot say that I have much experience here but I do consider myself lucky to live next to some amazing neighbors and they share their goods with us. Tomatoes are certainly the most abundant, but I also love it when there are spinach and basil on the list. Best of luck, and thanks for sharing.

 

[Rosyrain]

Good luck to you with your first garden, you are going to be in for a treat. I love the satisfaction of planting seeds and watching them grow everyday. You should expect that a couple of crops won't make it and it will probably make you want to cry, but keep at it!