Are you interested in gardening? Need a few tips to start? Where to get help? This is the post for you! I am a fairly new gardener myself. Growing up my family had large gardens, and my dad had a really beautiful one in his later years in town. Last summer we started a large garden and are planning an even larger one this year. These are my Top 10 Tips for New Gardeners, that I think can help any new or fairly new gardener.
1. Know Your Goals for the Garden
What are your goals? Do you just want some fresh veggies for the summer, or do you want to can and preserve your harvest for the winter? There is no wrong answer. My goals are to harvest as much as I can and preserve it. I love knowing that I can grow our groceries. Now I didn’t get as much as I needed my first year. The Farmers Market became my source for most of my canning. This year I am taking measures to not go to the Farmers Market as much. I will still need apples and a few items I can not grow here.
I have canning tips for beginners post you can visit here. Essential Tools For Canning
2. Know Your Zone
Knowing your zone is so important! I am zone 5b in Colorado. Your zone will help guide you in when to plant. First and Last Frost dates are what you are going to need to plant at the right times. You still need to be cautious and check your weather apps, my last frost date is May 24, and we have gotten snow at the beginning of June.
Here is a free and handy website that will help you find your zone.
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
First and Last Frost Date website:
https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates
3. Garden Spot
Where are you going to put your garden? Are you going to grow on a deck or patio? Raise Beds? Or do you have a plot of land that you have designated for your garden? Sun is an important factor in where to place your garden. Most plants like the full afternoon sun, but if you only have a deck or patio, don’t let that stop you! Many items thrive in partial shade.
Raised Beds are a great option if you have back problems and little pests like bunnies who will get to your lettuce right before you are going to harvest it. It is amazing how much you can grow on a small deck or patio. Vertical gardening is one way you can grow a lot in a little space. I will be doing a blog post on Vertical gardening and patio gardening soon.
4. Soil Testing Your New Garden
Soil testing is so important to get a handle on what you are dealing with as far as the dirt you are planting in. Is it lacking ingredients, what do you need to add to make your growing more successful.
You can buy a PH meter to test your soil at home. I have this one,
Your local Extension office usually offers soil testing for a minimal cost. The cost for my soil test is $35.
Gardening Know How is a very resourceful blog. They have this handy form to find your local extension office. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search
5. Seeds For the Garden
Oh now the fun part! Seeds Seeds and more Seeds! So many seeds and so little space is usually the problem. There are so many great places to get seeds. Do you want to raise heirloom varieties or not? Non Gmo? or hybrid seeds. These are all questions you need to figure out. I do a variety of each.
Territorial Seeds has a great article outlining all the options and meanings. Instead of me re-writing a post on it, I suggest you read this article. (I am in no way affiliated with this company)
https://underwoodgardens.com/what-are-heirloom-seeds/
My favorite Seed Companies I buy from: ( not affiliated with any )
2. Botanical Interest I love this company because it is local to me. If you can find a seed company in your area, you will find seeds that work well for your garden. They are also very helpful since they know the conditions we work with.
4. Burpee Seeds
This is just a small list of seed companies available. Get on mailing lists, they send them out for free and are so fun to look at!
6. Visit Your Local Nursery
Fieldtrip! Find a local nursery and go visit. I am not talking about a big box store, but a real nursery. A plant nursery will be your greatest resource. They love their product, they sell things that grow well in your area and they can help with any problems that may arise. You can find some helpful people in your big box stores like Walmart, but you’re not always going to get the seasoned gardener to help you. So your local nursery absolutely make my Top 10 Tips for New Gardeners list!
8. Master Gardeners
Master Gardeners are amazing! They are willing to help you and that is why they train and go through the Master Gardener class. To help! You can locate your nearest Master Gardener from your local extension office. I was delighted to find out my neighbor is an MG and she loves nothing more than to talk about gardening, help, and give away plants she has grown. I think they are not talked about enough, or utilized enough. MGs go through extensive training to help the community learn to garden. Look one up! You will thank me later! One day you may become one yourself!
9. Extension Office For New Gardeners
So I have mentioned Extension Offices several times now in this article. They are a huge resource that also gets overlooked. Besides soil testing, their services are free. They also can get you connected with your local Master Gardener. Extension offices should be in the top spot of my Top 10 Tips for New Gardeners that I think can help any new or fairly new gardener.
We live on four acres and through the local extension office we were able to buy small trees, lilac bushes, wild rose bushes and shrubs.
Your local extension office usually will have gardening workshops, canning classes and many more classes for a minimal fee or free. Here is the link again. Go find yours!
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search
10. Journal For Gardening
Track your progress with a journal. I so wish I would have done that last year! It would be great to go back and see what day I started my tomatoes and how they did. When did I plant my potatoes and how many pounds did I get. Will I need to plant more of this or that to meet my goals next year? Tracking the weather is a great tool also. It could be a bright sunny day, but if you go back to your journal, you may see that two weeks from this day last year you got a foot of snow!
Resources I Love
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The First-time Gardener: Growing Vegetables: All the know-how and encouragement you need to grow – and fall in love with! – your brand new food garden Best book for the new gardener, and experienced.
The Family Garden Plan: Grow a Year’s Worth of Sustainable and Healthy Food If you want a plan for how much food you would need to grow for your family to last the year, Melissa’s book is awesome!
TomCare Upgraded Garden Kneeler Seat Widen Soft Kneeling Pad Garden Tools Stools Garden Benchhttps I love this stool, I also use it for milking my cow!
Scuddles Garden Tools Set – 8 Piece Heavy Duty Gardening Tools with Storage Organizer, Ergonomic Hand Digging Weeder, Rake, Shovel, Trowel, Sprayer, Gloves All the tools you will need to get started!
These are my Top 10 Tips for New Gardeners, that I think can help any new or fairly new gardener.
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