How to Start a Garden: Tips for Beginners

Imagine entering your backyard to find a perfectly ripe tomato, warmed by the sun. You pluck your fruit from the vine and savor a bite, or plunge your hands into the earth to reveal a perfectly (or imperfectly) formed carrot, dirt still clinging to its tiny white root hairs. While the offerings of your backyard garden might look similar to the grocery store vegetables you have stored in your crisper drawer, they taste anything but. A fresh tomato has a sweetness unmatched by anything wrapped in plastic, and while homegrown lettuce lasts only hours or days once picked, it brings a tenderness that makes the simplest of salads taste gourmet.

If you’ve never tried growing your own food before, this might sound like an exaggeration. They’re just vegetables, after all. Plus, you kill every houseplant — how could you possibly grow things to eat?

Allow me to let you in on a little secret: Gardening is actually a lot easier than you think. It wasn’t that long ago that Americans were growing 40% of their own produce as they grew “victory gardens” during World War II. Even before the war, it was commonplace for people to use their land to grow food for their family, planting during the warm seasons and putting up preserves to enjoy throughout the winter. Eating seasonal and local produce has proven economic, environmental, and health benefits that many of us are no longer reaping as we eat our asparagus in November and strawberries in February. Food that was grown close by and eaten soon after harvesting is better in every respect, including taste.

Eating food grown by local farmers is a great way to introduce seasonality in your life, especially if the idea of eating with the seasons is new to you. However, there’s truly nothing that beats eating with the phases of your own garden.

Last year, my husband and I planted a garden in our postage stamp-sized city lot, where we managed to grow pounds of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, okra, and carrots. We didn’t have the space or budget for fancy raised beds or trellis systems, so we opted to in-ground plant many of our vegetables and used our chain link fence to train up the vines of cucumbers. We did have a vertical planter for herbs, which allowed us to grow plenty while also saving space.

I’m sure our neighbors thought we were a little odd for filling our tiny backyard with a food forest, but we loved it. I could go outside and pick lettuce and cucumbers for lunch, or snip a bit of cilantro for dinner. And the moment that we finally dug up our dozen potato plants to reveal pounds and pounds of russets and yukon golds? Magical. You bet we loved every bite of potatoes that came from our little patch of earth.

Gardening turned our small (and not very beautiful) city backyard into something full of wonder, where new things were growing and changing every hour. Even though our garden was nothing special, it called us away from the artificial and towards the real — a true outdoor adventure available right outside our door.

If this has convinced you that this is your year to start your very own first garden (or improve upon the few sad tomato plants you’ve tried to grow in the past), here’s a quick guide to help you begin dreaming up your gardening adventure.

01. Be creative with your space.

If you have a tiny backyard or even no backyard at all, it’s still possible to grow some of your own food. There are plenty of crops that can grow in small spaces, and container gardening is a great option if you only have a patio or balcony. Make sure to observe how much sun your area gets, as completely shaded outdoor spaces will have fewer growing options. You can also get creative with how you use your area, such as using fencing as a trellis as we did, or using vertical planting to maximize the unused space in your yard. There are even DIY options to grow vertically using recycled plastic bottles, which could be a fantastic option if you have both a low budget and a small space.

If you live in an apartment that does not have any balcony or outdoor space, you could also try starting a small kitchen herb garden. You can place small pots of your favorite herbs on your sunny kitchen windowsill or counter, or even use grow lights if there’s no direct sunshine streaming into your kitchen.

02. Go for easier-to-grow plants that you actually like to eat.

Early success in gardening is a surefire way to help you gain confidence and want to grow more things, so start out with some beginner-friendly plants, which can include herbs, leafy greens like lettuce or spinach, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and zucchini. There are plenty of lists online where you can find which vegetables are the most beginner-friendly, and I recommend doing some research on that. There are also some crops that grow more quickly than others, which is more satisfying than waiting the months it takes for a watermelon or pumpkin to ripen on the vine.

When you decide on your first plants, make sure you are choosing fruits or vegetables that you will actually eat. In fact, choose produce that you are excited to harvest and take into your kitchen. If no one in your family would appreciate freshly grown kale or turnips, don’t grow them.

03. Know your climate and what grows well there.

As you plan your first garden, make sure you do some research on your growing zone, which helps you determine what grows best in your area and when to plant it. For example, if you live in northern Wisconsin, you won’t be able to plant your tomatoes until months later than I can plant mine here in Texas, as you experience frost later in the season. Different climates have differing growing schedules, and it’s important to understand your unique area. This resource from the Farmer’s Almanac is what we used—we entered our ZIP code and were able to see when to plant various crops.

You’ll also need to consider whether you want to purchase seeds and germinate them yourself or buy baby plants (also called “starts”) from a nursery or garden store. There are pros and cons to both, but it’s much easier to buy already started plants for your first garden, as more can go wrong during the germination process.

04. Visit your garden as often as you possibly can.

One of the best things that you can do for your garden is visit it often and give it attention. A finger pressed into the soil is the best measure of whether or not a plant needs watering, and the most reliable pest control is often merely picking the bugs off your precious zucchinis. If you’re away from home during the day, try to visit your plants every morning or evening, inspecting them for bugs or harvestable produce. Not only will your garden grow better with your close attention, you’ll also enjoy the peace of watching things grow.

As a bonus, there are soil microorganisms that actually help you relieve stress, so having some time to dig in the dirt after a long day might help you unwind.

05. Utilize both online and in-person resources—you don’t have to know it all.

The gardening world has many words and practices that might seem foreign to you as a beginner, so try not to feel like you have to learn everything. You won’t do it perfectly (especially not the first time!), so allow yourself to just enjoy the process. Bugs will probably eat some of your veggies, and plants will probably die, but that’s okay. Luckily, there is a wealth of online resources on gardening. We’ve found YouTube to be our best source—Epic Gardening is one of my favorites for accessible gardening content, but it’s also easy to just search for your specific zone or desired crops and see what advice is out there.

An even better resource than the internet is simply talking to local gardeners. If you don’t have any friends or neighbors who also like to grow food, check out your local nursery and talk to the people working there. Many of them would love to give you advice on growing your first garden, and they will have specific tips on growing in your area. There are also Facebook or Nextdoor groups for local gardening, and some public libraries host seed swapping events or other gardening days that are a great place to meet others who are more knowledgeable.

Maybe 2024 is your year to start growing something, even if it’s just a pot of basil on your windowsill. However small your garden, you’ll be surprised at how much it will teach you and draw you ever closer to the source of your nourishment.