4 Tips to Know Before Starting Your First Garden

So you want to start a garden, but you have no idea where to begin? Rest assured, despite what the world wants you to believe, it does NOT have to be perfect or difficult. You don't have to have beautiful pergolas with vines of grapes at the entrance, or build planter boxes, or even till up a giant space of ground.

I asked my husband what tips he would give a first time gardener, and I wanted to share his thoughts:

1. Work up the dirt in the Fall, and let it mellow out all winter long.

2. Don't start with a huge space. Small to start is best, and you can always make it bigger the next year.

3. It doesn't have to be fancy. Keep it simple.

4. Keep up with weeds as much as possible.

It's true, the more surface area you have, the more weeds you're going to have to keep up with. Starting out small will also ensure that you don't plant TOO much. (If you do plant too much and desire to put up your harvest, check out the Harvest category on the blog!) It's nice to have little helpers in the garden, too! :)

It really is as simple as working up the dirt, planting at the right time, giving adequate water, and pruning/weeding as needed. It requires work, but the bountiful harvest is well worth it.

Curious about when to plant what? We explain our early Spring schedule in Kansas here (later Spring planting post coming soon!), or click here for the almanac.com Spring and Fall planning calendar by zip code!