Photos By: Unsplash

You don’t need a huge yard to start your own veggie patch, a small area is adequate to plant and grow delicious herbs, fresh veggies, and some fruits. The only few things you need are:

• Soil
• Sun
• Water
• A planting pot, pan, bed, or planter box
• Enthusiasm and the willingness to learn

Using a small place to plant your garden might sound a bit cramped, but it won’t be if you follow our top tips on how to create the perfect veggie patch in a small area:

Consider the Space Available

Many of us have much more space to our disposal than we actually realize. If you have a small yard at the back or front of your house, you don’t have to turn the entire lawn into a garden. Especially if the soil is poor or if there’s a lack of sun. Instead, you can grow vegetables and herbs in raised beddings, planter boxes, and containers. For more on how you can fully use your space with different containers, visit here. Remember that containers need to have decent drainage systems to avoid rotting. Because of these draining systems you are probably going to have to water your greens much more often than you would if they were in the soil.

Look at different container options, sizes, and shapes. If you have an area with poor soil, you can either fertilize the soil with compost and fertilizer or start from scratch by using a raised garden. Raised gardens are typically made from palette wood and can be as big or as small as you’d like.

Plan the Layout and Placement

Before you even start buying different types of containers, you need to plan ahead. Measure the space you want the plants to occupy and then plan accordingly. Keep in mind, that you should also be aware of the sun and shade exposure of different parts in the space. It’s important that your veggies get enough sun for them to grow strong. Veggies like cucumbers, beans, and squash can grow vertically – thus saving you a lot of space. You can use triangularly placed trellis or fence under which you can plant these veggies to guide them in a vertical growth. Vertical growing plants not only look great, but they save a lot of space too. Your garden can look beautiful too. Create a gorgeously vibrant layout by placing different colored plants together with all the greeneries. Purple beetroots and red tomatoes give that pop of vibrancy. Combining different herbs with textures can also give you garden a gorgeous aesthetic appeal. Make a complete drawing of your garden layout and create a shopping list according to your plan.

Choosing the Different Vegetables

When you don’t have a lot of space to your disposal, you should choose plants that don’t mind growing on a patio, balcony, or in a small container. You should also prioritize types of veggies that you are most likely to eat and that will thrive in your new garden. Planting a bunch veg only for experimental purposes will only go to waste. There are many different types of veggies that are cut-and-grow types. This means that once you’ve harvested them, they’ll grow back even better. This means you can snip a few leavy greens for your salads on the daily and never worry whether they’ll grow back. The best veggies to plant in small spaces are:

• Tomatoes
• Chard
• Kale
• Basil
• Snap Pea
• Zucchini
• Shallots
• Radish
• Lettuce
• Bean
• Eggplant
• And of course, all kinds of herbs

Cultivating a Healthy Garden

Unfortunately, you can’t just drop a seed in soil and hope for the best. You have to put in some added effort if you want your patch to grow to its optimum capacity. The first thing you should keep in mind is planting season. Veggies grow throughout the year, but their best time to bloom is during spring and early summer. This will be the best time to start planting new seeds. Do your research on what veggies grow best through different seasons. True gardeners will even alternate vegetables from season to season. This will ensure that the space isn’t unused during winter months. Winter varieties include leafy crops, roots like carrots and turnips, as well as brassicas like cauliflower and cabbage. Veggies that love spring and summer are spinach, snap peas, chilies, eggplants, and all kinds of lettuce.

Because you will be trying to save space, you’ll probably plant a few different vegetables in one container. When you do this, make sure that your combinations are successful. Some crops are great companions while others aren’t. Planting beans among sugar snap peas is a great idea. Once the snap peas have been spent after the warmer months, the beans will be there ready to take over its place for the winter. Remember to look out for pests who like to eat leaves and veg. Even though snails are cute, they can be really damaging to your crop when left unattended to. Make sure that you remove old and dry leaves, to give your plant time to grow some new ones. Also remove any weeds from the soil and other pesky plants that robs nourishment from the soil. Go here and click to live grow garden for more top tips on nurturing and cultivating your new patch.

When you carefully plan the small area available for your new patch of freshness, you’ll be able to optimize growth and produce. Keep an eye out for pests, the right amount of sun exposure, and don’t forget to regularly water your new patch. If you’re not home for a long period of time, ask someone to take over the watering. Before you know it, you don’t ever have to visit a grocery store again.

Photo: Holder Design Associates

Spring is just around the corner, which means you might be feeling that itch to get back outside. Warm weather and clear blue skies make being outside so much more enjoyable, and you might even be encouraged to start an outdoor hobby. This is the time when many people decide to start gardening. Gardening is a great way to try something new, hone a skill and spend time outdoors all at once. If you live in a rented space or a community with lots of housing rules, you know this can be a challenge.

Determined gardeners have found that even when they can’t dig into their own yard, raised garden beds work just as well to grow everything from flowers to fruits. How your garden bed works is all about how you plan it out before you start, so check out some clever hacks you should consider before you build your raised garden bed this spring.

1. Plan Your Irrigation System First

Irrigation is key to having a successful garden. You might think you’ll be able to get outside and water your plants regularly, but they’ll require more water as the days grow hotter, and you might have a busy schedule. Instead of leaving your watering up to chance, think about installing an irrigation system like a drip hose. It’ll water your plants slowly throughout the day without raising your water bill too much.

2. Think About a Root Barrier

Even raised garden beds sometimes fall victim to the inevitable weeds that will find their way into your plants. You can prevent these without using harsh chemicals by putting a root barrier at the bottom of your garden bed before you shovel in the soil. Old squares of carpet or a rug work wonders to prevent weeds and roots from wreaking havoc in your garden bed.

3. Compost in Your Garden Bed

Composting is becoming more popular these days as people become more concerned about going green to help the Earth. You can compost without having to get your hands dirty by using your raised garden bed. You can learn the dig and drop composting method in minutes and use it as soon as your garden bed is finished.

4. Try to Solarize Your Soil

Another way to avoid the chemicals in insecticides is to solarize your soil. It’s easy to learn and you can do it over any sized garden bed. Just lay a plastic tarp over your bare soil for a few weeks when it’s warm outside to heat the soil and kill any pests in it. Then it’ll be safe for planting whatever you’d like to grow.

5. Build Your Borders

There are tons of different types of borders you can create to raise your garden bed. Some require no tools, like laying logs or sandbags. While others will require a little more work and tools. If you have an air compressor, this is a great time to whip out your nail gun and quickly put up those four walls so you can get your garden on. If you do plan on using an air compressor, just make sure to abide by these safety tips.

Building a raised garden bed doesn’t have to be difficult. Like most things, it’s easiest if you spend some time planning ahead for what you want to make. Think about things like weed barriers and solarizing soil, and don’t forget to take care of whatever equipment you might use. You’ll find that your raised garden bed gets put together faster than you thought, and soon you’ll have a blooming garden you can be proud of.

Children love getting their hands dirty in the great outdoors. Working together on creating a vegetable patch is one of the best experiences you can have with your children, and it will mean you all reap the rewards of clean, healthy free food free of charge. It will also demonstrate to your children where food really comes from, and that nature is the one that provides our sustenance, not a supermarket chain.

Involving your children in growing a garden will teach them responsibility, self-confidence in their own abilities, cooperation and the importance of good nutrition. Use these pointers to get started with plants that are relatively easy to grow.

Designing Your Garden

Firstly, talk to your child about what they want to grow. Children are notorious for not wanting to eat their vegetables, but involving them in all aspects of growing their own vegetables will encourage them to enjoy eating them as a reward for all their hard work. Take your children to a nursery and make collaborative decisions on what plants you all want to grow. You can make a garden bed, or a series of various shaped pots, you don’t have to stick to the basic square edged garden.

Location

Find some prime real estate for your garden bed that will encourage your plants to grow. Find a sunny spot that also gets shade for a decent part of the day. Use your balcony, or courtyard, or position the garden as close to the house as possible so that the garden is always under your watchful eye. Making the garden a part of your home, and not just a patch of dirt in the far corner of the yard, will encourage both you and your children to take more interest in it and care for it.

Irrigation

You need to make sure your plants are getting ample water, regularly. Your children might enjoy using a watering can, just make sure they don’t drown the young plants! Alternatively, you can try using a well designed and installed watering system that can help you keep your plants and lawn fresh, green and happy. These days, there’s a vast range of affordable home watering systems, so have a look into irrigation supplies in Sydney.

Foundation Plants 

Some plants are easier to grow than others, so do yourself a favour and start with some of the easier options to boost your children’s confidence in their ability to grow things and to make it easier on all of you. Some great vegetables to start with include peas, beets, carrots, radishes and cabbage. Also, try your hand at some herbs; mint, coriander and basil generally grow well without too much fuss.

Pest Control

While one of the best measures to control pests from ruining your crops is to keep a regular eye on your vegetable patch and see if you have some unwanted guests rolling in. There are also a variety of other measures you can take, such as hanging yellow sticky traps throughout the veggie patch to attract and catch fruit flies and other airborne assailants. Placing some old pantyhose over your tomato vine can keep away fruit flies (and give them a unique style).

Labels

A great job to give your children control over is creating little signs to stick into you patch so you remember where you planted what and don’t have to play guessing games when they start to grow. Let your children get creative and make weather durable sign posts declaring what vegetable, fruit or herb has been planted where.

The most important thing to remember when making your veggie patch is to have fun! Join in with your children and get your hands dirty. Then enjoy making some beautiful meals with home grown and cooked vegetables!

Placing a few sculptures in your flower bed or even your vegetable garden can add interest and a magical touch. From glass spheres to antique buckets, anything goes! A garden should reflect you, so choose a sculpture that best reflects your personality. So, get creative and take a look at these unique sculptures!

These grapevines spheres are adorable, and are perfect if you’re going for a rustic look for your garden. You can easily replicate this by wrapping grapevine around various sized inflatable balls. For an industrial look, try using wire instead of grapevine.

We’re loving these whimsical purple chicken wire spheres! They look great in groups.

We can just picture fairies living amongst these mushrooms! Make your own using stones with similar shapes, or concrete poured into molds.

This bucket, spout, and crystal would look great in a veggie patch! Choose a large crystal so it can catch sunlight better and really sparkle!

Place these gazing balls in an empty space in your flowerbed to add interest, and reflect the beautiful colors of the flowers!

Try a unique take on a regular fountain using tea kettles! We love the way the kettles are suspended with clear fishing line, making it look like they’re floating.

Photos: E Grapevine Store, Pinterest, Serenity in the Garden, Each Little World, Houzz, Ravelry.