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How to Start a Vegetable Garden with Organic Plants

Planning is one of the most important stages in how to start a vegetable garden and here are 4 steps that you should take during your garden planning process when you plan to raise a garden with organic vegetables.

how to start an organic garden

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From the very first Spring that Rob and I moved into our house {four years ago!}, we’ve had a garden. He grew up with his parents always gardening and I grew up wishing I had a garden. 

My Mom would set out tomato plants, but that was pretty much the extent of her gardening, other than beautiful flower beds.

So, when Rob and I decided to put out our first garden, we had no idea where to even start. We thought that gardens always consisted of tilling up land or planting in flower beds. A little research online proved a new trend – container gardening. 

I’m going to brag a minute… My husband is quite the handyman so when I started dreaming up garden containers he brought me back down to Earth and made a box.

boxes for container gardening in yard

The truth is – your garden doesn’t have to be elaborate, unless you want it to be. Your garden doesn’t have to be overflowing with a ton of different types of vegetables, unless you want it to be

Your garden can be anything you choose – practical, beautiful… or a little bit of both!

4 Steps to Planning an Organic Garden

The first step in planning your organic garden is… thinking about your garden.

girl looking at container garden

1.  Why Do I Garden?

Are you gardening to raise food?
Are you planning to consume all of the food as it becomes fresh or do you plan on canning and freezing vegetables as well?
Do you plan on your time with your garden to a meditation and quiet reflection time?
Are you planning a garden to get your kids involved?

Whatever your answer to this question is, will depend on what type of garden you should create and where it should be located.

We garden to raise food for ourselves for the summer and to get the girls involved. Sophia is so excited about the garden right now and goes outside to check on it with me everyday.

I also love the idea of being able to reuse food and food scraps in the form of compost for our garden too – making less trash and our family more sustainable.

2.  Plan Your Location and Planting Strategy.

Do you plan to have an in-ground garden or a container garden?

One thing to keep in mind, container gardens are the easiest to set up, especially if you don’t happen to find yourself living on a farm or lots of open land, but your garden will need more water and more tending.

When you’re thinking about a location, make sure that you’ll be able to reach it easily to water, in case it doesn’t rain for a few days and other environmental factors.

Planning an Organic Garden

Our garden boxes are located in the corner of our yard, close to the fence. This way they’re out of the way of backyard play, but still within reach of the garden hose AND not too far that we don’t walk to see them often.

3.  What Will You Grow?

If you’re gardening to grow food, you’ll most likely want to grow an organic garden. You’re already ahead of the game because you’ll be the one growing your vegetables.

You’ll know exactly what is {and what isn’t} being put on those precious vegetables as they grow. You’ll need to decide if you’re going to plant your garden straight from seed or purchase plants that already have a bit of growth.

We always grow tomatoes, because we love fresh tomatoes during the Summer, Zucchini, and Peppers.  This year we’re going to try adding herbs into our garden!

It’s important to consult professionals to know what types of plants grow best in your zones, when it’s safe to plant them, and what type of water and sunlight conditions the plants you want to garden thrive in.

4.   Where Will You Purchase Your Seeds, Plants, and other Organic Gardening Supplies?

If you are truly wanting to make your garden organic, you’ll want to start with organic plants and seeds. You can find a wide variety of organic seeds and even starter plants on Amazon.com.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my organic garden with you and how these 4 tips made my organic gardening adventure an easy one to undertake!

organic plants delivered to your door for vegetable garden

Until then, I would LOVE to hear about your garden!
What is your favorite vegetable to grow and would you consider your garden an organic garden?

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