Growing your own food at home is fun and easy. You don’t need a lot of space, time, or money. Below are some quick ideas for starting a garden.
Fun Facts
- Try a container garden near your patio or backdoor. Grow tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in their own pots.
- Grow smaller plants like carrots, lettuce, herbs, and spinach together in boxes or pots.
- Don’t use garden soil in pots. It’s too heavy and doesn’t drain well. Choose a light, fertile potting soil instead.
- Potted plants dry out more quickly than plants grown in the ground. Water them more frequently and move them into the shade on hot afternoons.
- Grow vegetables in raised beds if you have more room. A raised bed can be a few inches off the ground or even a few feet. Add lots of compost and manure to the soil and plant seeds more closely together than you would in a big garden. Planting crops closer together gives you more produce. The plants shade the ground so you use less water and weeds are less likely to grow.
- Try growing plants up on trellises or walls to save space.
- Use a hoop tunnel or cold frame to grow lettuce and other plants during the winter.
- Native Americans used the “three sisters” method of planting corn, beans, and squash together. The beans enriched the soil, providing nutrients for the corn. The corn gave the beans something to climb on. The squash shaded the ground.
- Grow a sunflower house by planting the seeds in a square.
- Choose plants that grow well in your area and plant them at the right time. Lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, and peas thrive in cool, wet springtime conditions. Tomatoes, peppers, and squash need long warm days.
Questions and Answers
Question: What are the benefits of growing a garden?
Answer: Growing a garden is fun and relaxing, and raising your own food can save money. Fresh produce tastes great and it’s something to share with friends. Also, growing your own garden teaches you about soil and water conservation.
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