Now that you’re ready to start your first garden, there are a few things you must consider. One of the most important is the area. You want to choose an area that will give you the best exposure for growing your vegetables.
No need to fret if you don’t have a lot of space. Nowadays there is no limit to what you can use to grow your vegetables in, there are lots of unique types of containers that you can use. You also do not need to spend a lot of money on containers, heck you could even use an old rain barrel cut length ways, or a food-grade bucket. Use creativity, because a lot of stuff would work just fine! This is also a great way to repurpose, reuse, and recycle too.
When choosing a suitable area, a couple of tips to follow are:
1. Most vegetables need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. There are a few vegetables that can tolerate some shade, but not many.
2. Water pools, so try to plant in a moist, well-drained soil. Planting in raised beds is ideal for this purpose.
3. High winds can play havoc on plants, so try to avoid planting in areas that have strong winds.
Next is to make a list of what you want to grow, and what you will eat. Now you will be able to see if the space you want to use is adequate for the plants you want to grow. If you only want to grow greens, you will want a morning sun only. If you want to grow tomato or peppers, you will want full sun all day long. If you want to grow both, go for it! This could be accomplished by creating shade areas with the bigger plants that like full sun. An example of this is, I grow my celery in between my tomatoes or lettuce under my cucumbers that trellis above.
Mainly have fun with gardening!
The Gardeners' Wings 