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Have you always wanted to grow your own vegetables, but have no idea how to start? Are you planning your first vegetable garden at home, but not sure what to grow, how and how much to grow and when to grow?

You have come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, you will get all the information you need to start growing your own vegetables in your home garden.

There are three parts of this article:

Part 1: Vegetable Gardening Basics: As a beginner, your first task is to gather foundational knowledge needed to grow vegetables. It will include the basic vocabulary related to vegetable gardening, some common facts of growing vegetables, the four types of vegetables, and why it is essential to know how many harvests you can expect from each plant and how to best support the growing plant. [If you go through the entire post, a sharable info-graphic is attached at the bottom of the page]

Part 2: How to start a home vegetable garden: The second part covers how to plan your vegetable garden according to your local area, set up a raised bed with organic soil and amendments, and optimize the gardening space for maximum yield. It also includes a sample vegetable garden plan for a 4’x4′ raised bed.

If you are limited by physical mobility or can’t bend down, no worries! You can set up an elevated garden box with legs on a balcony or patio.

Part 3: How to start a container vegetable garden at home: The last part covers how to set up a container vegetable garden on your deck, balcony or patio. It also includes lists of best vegetables for container gardening.

Look for the tips, dos and don’ts through out the article.

Ok, let’s get a cup of coffee, and get started!

Part 1: Vegetable Gardening Basics

Gardening Vocabulary:

The first step is to familiarize yourself with a few basic gardening terms used in a vegetable gardener’s everyday life.

Annual: A Plant which has a lifespan of one season or one year. It grows, forms flowers, produces seeds, and dies in one year or less.

Bolting: A phase when roots, herbs, and leafy vegetables produce flower and seed pods. The flavor of the consumable part deteriorates and becomes unpleasant when the plant bolts.

Harvest: Picking the edible part of the vegetable for consumption.

N-P-K: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium ratio in a fertilizer.

Organic Gardening: A gardening philosophy that emphasizes feeding the soil for long term benefit, rather than feeding the plant for temporary gain. Healthy soil produces healthy plants that are naturally more tolerant to pests and diseases, thus reducing the need for additional fertilizer or pesticides. When needed, only naturally derived, carbon-based products for fertilizing, pest control, and disease control are used in the garden.

Perennial: A hardy plant that forms flowers and produces seeds year after year.

pH: A number between 0 and 14 that shows the acidity or alkaline level of a substance. Water has a pH of 7.0, which is neutral. Most vegetables prefer soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Invest in a good soil pH meter to check the soil pH yourself, before planting the next season crop.

Pruning: Removing some branches to maintain the size or shape of a plant.

Seedling: Baby plants or starter plants, also called ‘Sapling.’

For a complete list of gardening vocabulary, visit this page: Dictionary of Gardening Terms

The next step is to familiarize yourself with the basics of vegetable gardening. Here are some facts and general foundational knowledge helpful for beginner vegetable gardeners.

Vegetable Gardening Facts:

• One seed = one plant. This might sound strange, but many people new to gardening do not know that no matter how large the mature plant grows, it starts with one seed. Single tomato seed can produce a 5+ ft tall tomato plant and tens of pounds of tomatoes.
• A plant needs three things to grow: Soil, Water, and Sunlight. How much of each of these is required depends upon the type and variety of the vegetable.
• Most of the vegetables are ‘Annuals,’ which means they have a life span of less than one year. You will have to replant the seeds for the next crop.
• Each vegetable prefers a particular weather condition or season of the year. For example, Carrots, Peas, Cabbage, and Broccoli like to grow in cooler weather like Spring and Fall- they are called’ Cool Weather Crops.’ Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, etc. like to grow in warmer months of summer- they are called ‘Warm weather crops.’
• The length of your primary gardening season depends upon where you live. You must know how long is your growing season to optimize the planting time for each vegetable you want to grow. You can figure this out by calculating time between the last spring frost date and first fall frost date in your area.

Types of Vegetables:

Based on the most commonly consumed part of the plant, vegetables are divided into four main types:

Leaf:

All leafy greens like Spinach, Kale, Swiss chard, Cabbage, etc. belong to the leafy vegetables. Herbs are also considered part of this group.

Legume:

Beans, Peas, and peanuts are ‘Legumes.’

Roots:

Carrots, Radishes, Beets, Potatoes, Onions, and Garlic are the ‘Root Vegetables.’

Fruits:

Tomatoes, Eggplant, Peppers, Squash and Melon, are ‘Fruits.’ Yes, that’s right, they are ‘Fruits.’

For a vegetable gardener, it is crucial to know the type of each vegetable he is growing. The eggs and larvae of the pest that affect a kind of vegetable can survive the dormancy in the soil and attack the vegetable plant of the same type if grown in the same space. It is advisable to not plant the same kind of vegetable in the same area consecutively.

For example, you should not plant Peppers in the same space you had Tomatoes last year, because they both are ‘Fruits.’

Sunlight Requirements For Vegetable Plants

Before laying out the vegetable garden in rows or raised beds, it will be useful to know how much sun that area is getting on average per day. Different vegetables need a different amount of sunlight.

Full Sun: 

Most of the vegetables that produce large fruits need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight to grow optimally. They need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight. For example: Tomatoes, peppers, corn, eggplant, melons, okra, potatoes, zucchini, and other squash.

Part Shade: 

Beans, beet, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, small chili peppers, peas, and radish can survive with 3 to 5 hours of sun every day.

Shade: 

Most of the herbs and leafy greens like spinach, kale, Swiss chard, and lettuce can tolerate less than 3 hours of sun. In fact, these vegetables prefer shady location over sunny space during summertime.

Support For The Growing Vegetables

While planning your first vegetable garden as a new vegetable gardener, it is helpful to know what kind of support each plant needs to grow optimally.

Root crops like Carrots, Radish, and beets grow green leaves above the ground, but the edible part of the plant grows under the soil. You won’t know the quality of the harvest until you dig out the plant.

Most of the leafy green vegetables like Cabbage, Kale, Chard, etc. don’t require support.

Vegetables like Tomatoes, Eggplant and Peppers need a plant cage or pole for support to grow tall and sustain the wind and rain, especially when loaded with the fruits.

Vining type vegetables like Cucumber, Melons, Squash, and Peas crawl on the ground and need adequate space to do so. They can be trained on a trellis to save space if you have limited space for growing vegetables.

Refer to the table below that summarizes how each vegetable prefers to grow, and how to support the plant to grow vertically to save space in the garden.

How Many Harvests From Each Plant?

Now that you know that most of the vegetables are ‘Annuals,’ does that mean you can harvest from one plant all season long? Good question. The answer is No.

The number of harvests from each plant depends upon the type of the plant, as well as on the time the plant reaches maturity and the end of life.

Single harvest per plant:

All the root plants produce the harvest just once. That means, once a plant is ready, you pull out the plant from soil to harvest the edible root and discard the green growth. That’s it. You will not get another round of Carrots or Radishes from the same plant. Lettuce (head type), Cabbage, and Cauliflower are also single-harvest vegetables.

Few harvests (2 to 4) per plant:

Some vegetables provide multiple harvests from the same plant. For example, the mature leaves can be harvested from Leaf Lettuce, Spinach, Cilantro, etc. while leaving the baby leaves on the plant to produce another round of harvest. But eventually, the plant will ‘Bolt’ (develops flower that will produce seeds). Once the leafy plants are bolted, the taste and flavors deteriorate significantly.

Peas and melons can also produce 2 to 4 harvests depending upon the weather and growing conditions.

Many harvests per plant:

Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Squash, Kale, Swiss Chard, etc. can provide multiple harvests over the long term, usually 3 to 6 months. They are the most efficient vegetables to grow in the home garden.

As a home vegetable gardener, when you plan your garden space, consider what you learned here. If you have limited space to grow vegetables, grow the ones from the ‘Many Harvests’ list to get the most out of your garden space and growing season. 

Vegetable Growing Season

One of the most common mistakes beginner vegetable gardeners make is to plant seeds in the wrong season. It is essential to know the difference between ‘Cool season vegetable’ vs. ‘Warm season vegetable’.

Cool Season Vegetables:

Some vegetables prefer to grow when the temperature is between 30F to 70F. They can tolerate light frost. For this reason, they can be sawn in the garden as soon as the soil is workable in the spring. These vegetables can be planted again in the fall when day time temperature starts to come down.

Examples of cool-season vegetables are beet, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cilantro, leafy greens, peas, radish, leek, etc.

Warm Season Vegetables:

Vegetables that prefers warmth and heat, usually daytime temperature above 60F, are called warm-weather vegetables. They are very susceptible to frost damage, so it is best to wait until the last frost of the spring before planting a warm-season vegetable.

Examples of warm-season vegetables are beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, okra, pepper, tomatoes, zucchini, and other squash. Melons and basil also need warm temperatures to grow. 

Part 2: How To Start A Home Vegetable Garden

This part covers the step by step guide for planning the garden space, setting up a raised bed, filling the bed with organic soil and recommended vegetable varieties to grow.

Step 1: Find a sunny location:

Most vegetables need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun to flourish. Find a spot in your yard that gets good sun most of the day. If that area is covered by lawn, you have two options:

(1) Strip out the lawn, if you are allowed to by your home owner’s association. Till the ground below for about 4” depth. Add compost or cow manure and mix the soil.

(2) Cover the existing grass with a weed control fabric, and add a raised bed on top of the fabric. Again, make sure you are following HOA guidelines. If you are looking forward to growing your vegetable for the long term, Vinyl raised bed, as shown in this picture, is the best investment. If you are just trying out this season, a fabric raised bed is a much more affordable and quick solution.

If this is your first-ever vegetable garden, stick to an area 4’ x4’ or at the max 6’ x 4’. Whereas if you are an experienced vegetable gardener, knock yourself out with a garden as large as you can handle!

Step 2: Get soil and/or compost:

Add aged manure, Chicken manure, or well-rotten compost to the tilled ground. You may want to add topsoil if the soil is very heavy or clay-like.

For the raised bed, mix equal parts of compost, perlite, and peat moss. They should be commonly available at your local home improvement stores.

Step 3: Gather gardening tools:

Whether you are growing directly in the ground or in the raised bed. You will need a few essential gardening tools.

• Garden Shovel
• Hand Trowel
• Bucket
• Pruner

You don’t need to buy them all new. Ask your neighbors, friends, or family. They might be willing to land you the tools or give them away.

Step 4: Gather seeds and plants

If you have about 5 to 6 weeks left before the last frost of the spring, you may want to start seeds yourself. Check out the step by step guide to start your own seeds. It will save you money and allow you to grow the vegetables and varieties that might not be available as seedlings in your local stores.

Regardless of the time left before the last frost, some items like Cilantro, carrots, radish, sald greens and Lettuce are best to grow from seeds directly.

Step 5: Sample plan for home vegetable garden:

Here is a sample Vegetable Garden Plan for the 4′ x 4′ garden for the beginner gardener. You don’t have to follow the exact plan. Feel free to modify it as you like, but keep these pointers in mind:

• Grow fast-growing vegetables like Lettuce, Radish and Spinach, as well as crops that will give you harvest for a long time. For example; Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants.
• Plant tall-growing vegetables in the back of the garden (Farther from the sun) and short growing vegetables in the front (towards the sun). This will make sure all tall and short crops are getting enough sun and not hidden by the shadows of each other.
• You should provide support for some of the vegetables, like cages for tomatoes and trellis for cucumber. This will allow the plants to grow vertically, off the ground, allowing room for other plants in the garden bed.
• Water regularly. Don’t let the soil dry out between watering.
• Most of the fruit-bearing plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cucumber are heavy feeders. Using granular fertilizers like Jobe’s Organic Fertilizer or liquid fertilizers like Neptune’s Fish and Seaweed are highly recommended.

Best Vegetables to Grow in your Home Vegetable Garden:

Check out the list below for suggested vegetables and herbs for your Home Vegetable Garden, by their growing style and recommended way to plant them.

Fast-Growing vegetables

Leaf Lettuce (Directly sow in the ground) Sow seeds directly in the ground. The leaf Lettuce is one of the fastest edibles to grow. In about 21 days, it will be ready for harvest. Pluck out the outer leaves for salad, leaving the center in the ground to re-grow the next round for harvest in just a few days. Re-sow the seeds in a new place every week to have a continuous supply of fresh salad greens. 

Radish (Directly sow in the ground)– Sow the seeds as per the packet direction. Most varieties are ready to harvest within 3 to 4 weeks.

Spinach (Directly sow in the ground)– Sow the seeds about 3” apart. Just like Leaf Lettuce, pinch out the outer leaves to use, leaving the center in the ground to reproduce the second round in about a week.

Long season vegetables

Tomatoes (Start seeds indoor if you have 4 to 5 weeks before the last frost OR buy seedling) No home vegetable garden is complete without Tomatoes! Plant the seedling deep into the planting hole, after the danger of the frost has passed. See the Guide to Growing Tomatoes Outside for comprehensive details. Provide Cage or pole for support. For beginners, I recommend plum type tomatoes like San Marzano’s or Amish Pastes. They require little less attention and upkeep than beefsteak type tomatoes. Also, add Red Cherry Tomato or Sun Gold cherry tomatoes to the garden plan. The kids will not stop eating them straight out of the vine!

Pepper (Start seeds indoor if you have 5 to 6 weeks before the last frost OR buy seedling) Plant the seedling outside after the night time temperature has warmed up to 45F. If space permits, try a variety of bell peppers, Jalapeno, and other hot peppers. Or just stick with a couple of California wonder Green Bell Peppers.

Cucumber (Directly sow in the ground) After sowing the seeds, provide support for the Cucumber vine to climb on to. In about 45 days, cucumber will be ready to harvest.

Zucchini (Directly sow in the ground OR buy seedling) Even though this is the most productive vegetable in the garden, you might want to skip it if you have limited growing space. A mature Zucchini plant will take about 4’ x 4’ of space! Make sure to get mildew resistant variety.

Swiss Chard (Buy seedling) This nutritious leafy green is a biannual, which means it will last for at least a couple of seasons. Harvest outer leaves regularly, and the plant will reward you with more leaves soon.

Kale (Buy seedling) Kale is a nutrition powerhouse! You have to have a plant or two if you like green smoothies! Like Swiss Chard, it is a biannual and will keep producing leaves for a long time. For a colorful twist on your smoothies, try Scarlet Kale!

Herbs:

Cilantro (Directly sow in the ground) One of the most used herbs in Mexican and Indian cuisines. It is not at all hard to grow on your own. Sow seeds about 2” apart. In about 45 days, the first round will be ready to harvest.

Basil (Directly sow in the ground OR buy seedling) Whether you use the basil for your signature basil pesto, or just to top off the Tomato Mozzarella Sandwich, make sure to have a couple of plants in your garden. The trick to get a full, bushy basil plant is to pinch the top of each branch every so often. This will encourage the plant to branch out and produce more leaves.

Rosemary (Buy seedling) This is a perennial herb that will continue to grow year after year. Make sure to plant it where you can leave it alone for a few years.

Part 3: How To Start A Container Vegetable Garden At Home

It is possible to grow a Vegetable Garden at home even if you have limited space like a balcony, deck, or patio! Just grow them in containers! Here is the step by step guide to help you get going.

Step 1: Evaluate how much space you have for a garden:

Figure out the area in your balcony or deck where you get the most amount of sun. Most fruit-bearing vegetables like Tomato, pepper, and cucumber, require 6 to 8 hours of sun. Having Railing planters or Vertical raised bed gardens are blessings to have on the balcony or patio garden. Also, see if you can utilize vertical wall space for growing greens and herbs. 

Step 2: Gather containers and soil:

Ask your friends and family to see if they are willing to part from their old pots. If not, buy 3 to 6 containers of 16” to 20” diameter.

Buy good quality potting mix (not potting soil) from the local big box store. Also, get a bag of compost. Mix the compost and potting soil before filling each pot with it.

Step 3: Gather gardening tools:

Gather some essential container gardening tools. At least a hand trowel, watering can, and a good quality pruner is a must.

Step 4: Gather seeds and plants:

You will need both. Seeds for fast-growing vegetables to keep re-growing once the initial crop is done producing. And starter plants for high yield vegetables.

Step 5: Fertilize regularly for best result:

Container grown vegetables like Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, and Cucumber require regular fertilizer feedings to flourish and produce fruits. Fertilizer spikes like Jobe’s Organic Tomato Spikes are slow in breaking down. In contrast, liquid fertilizers like Neptune’s Fish and Seaweed fertilizer provide nutrients instantly. Space out the fertilizer applications so that they don’t overlap and burn out the plants.

Here are the suggestions for the vegetables and varieties suitable for container growing.

Best Vegetables to Grow in your container Home Vegetable Garden:

Most prolific vegetables to grow in containers

Tomatoes (Buy starter plant) For smarter watering strategy, use the largest container you have (at least 14” diameter by 14” tall) to grow a tomato plant. Bush type tomatoes are better suited for small spaces. They require less space and support than vine type tomatoes. Some suggested varieties are

Cherry Tomatoes (Buy starter plant) Patio Princess and Baxter’s Bush Cherry varieties will happily produce sweet marble-sized tomatoes in a small container for a couple of months in summer.

Banana Pepper (Buy starter plant) This is one of the most prolific peppers that are easy to grow in containers. You can select Sweet Banana Pepper for mild, sweet taste or Yellow Wax Banana Pepper for slight heat. If you give little attention to the plant’s watering and fertilizer needs, you can easily get 20 to 40 peppers out of one plant! At least 12” x 12” pot is recommended.

Bush Cucumber (Buy starter plant) This type of cucumber grows like a bush than vine and requires less support. Although, a small trellis or placing against the balcony railing will be necessary. Bush Champion is a popular variety for a small garden.

Fast-growing vegetables to grow in containers

Salad mix (Sow seeds) There are seed packets available containing a variety of leaf lettuce, Arugula, and baby spinach seeds. These seeds can be grown in shallow (4” or taller) containers. This fast-growing leafy green will provide the first harvest in just over 21 days. Harvest the outer leaves of each plant while leaving the center in the pot to produce a couple more rounds of salad for you!

Radish (Sow seeds) This can be grown in a rather shallow container as well. Most varieties are ready in about 30 days.

Spinach (Sow seeds) Like Salad mix, harvest the outer leaves to use while leaving the center in the ground to produce more leaves.

Herbs for container

Basil (Buy starter plant) This herb does not need more space to grow. It will be happy in a 6” to 8” wide container. Or better yet, plant them in the same container as the tomato plant! Basil naturally respells some of the harmful tomato insects while filling the base of a bare tomato plant. Trim the top of each branch regularly to encourage branching and delay flowering. Once the basil plant starts producing flowers, discard the plant and fill in with a new plant.

Parsley (Buy starter plant) Parsley is a long-lasting herb. Once planted, it will keep on growing for months! As with basil, plant in a small container, or with the tomato plant.

Related topics:

Why should you start a Home Vegetable Garden?

A garden in your backyard or balcony gives you the opportunity and reason to go outside to get a fresh breath of air. A Home Vegetable Garden has many other benefits too! See why you should start a Home Vegetable Garden:

A Step Towards Self-sufficiency: Planting your own fruits and vegetables may come in handy if the COVID-19 pandemic hits again. It is possible that the world may go through a food shortage if the epidemic isn’t eradicated soon. Having your own supply, no matter how small, will give you some sense of security. And if your harvest is more, you might be able to share with your neighbors or help them set up their own Home Vegetable Gardens.

Keeping Yourself Calm:

Gardening is a known way of keeping calm and relieving stress. While giving yourself the satisfaction of growing your own food, you’re also helping yourself feel less overwhelmed and relaxed. Gardening is a great hobby!

Eating Fresh and Healthy:

Growing your own vegetables is a perfect way to keep yourself eating healthy! Gardening helps you stay fit by working outside and eating fresh, home-grown veggies.

Family bonding activity:

We’ve all been busy with work and other stresses, but by gardening together, you can spend some time with your family! Just imagine working together, talking, and laughing with your loved ones while you work.

Gain valuable life skill:

A functioning vegetable garden can continue providing you organic fresh vegetables for months. A precious life skill that will serve you well for years to come!

Conclusion:

No matter where you live or how much experience you have in growing vegetables, try starting a Home Vegetable Garden this year. 

Please consider sharing this post with your friends, family, and followers.

Ask your questions:

If you have any question regarding growing growing your first vegetable garden or any other vegetable gardening matter, connect with me on Pinch of seeds group on Facebook. You can ask questions, give feedback, post a picture for photo consultation and interact with other gardeners.

Last updated: 7/15/2020

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