Planning a Home Vegetable Garden

When planning a home vegetable garden, there are several excellent methods to choose from. Depending on the space you have available, you might want to consider a container, French intensive, Hugelkultur, or square foot garden. Watch our garden planning video below for more ideas!

These are all vegetable garden plans that work well for planting a small home vegetable garden.

Home Vegetable Garden Planning Video

Download Free Garden Planning Worksheets, Garden Diary, Zone Chart, Or Planting Guide

Planting a Container Garden

A container vegetable garden is one of the easiest gardens for a beginner to grow.

Growing tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, onions, parsley, peppers, and carrots in container gardens is quite simple as long as you have a sunny location on your porch, patio, deck, balcony or in a flower-bed on which to place your containers.

Follow directions on the individual seed packets for planting and spacing instructions.

Tomatoes and cucumbers will grow best in containers if you provide a "cage" to support them.

Lettuce, radishes and onions can be planted every 3 weeks to ensure a continual harvest throughout the growing season. For more information on planning and planting a container garden, click here.

Square Foot Gardens

Click Here to Download Sample "Square Foot" Garden Design

Square foot gardens are a great way to grow lots of vegetables in a small amount of space. Layout one 4' x 4' garden space for each person in your family. This type of vegetable garden can be in-ground or raised bed. Mark the one foot squares with string or strips of wood. Plant one type of vegetable in each of the 16 squares. Space each type of vegetable by following the directions on the back of the seed packet:

This applies to everything you plant in your square foot garden; vegetables, herbs and flowers. Square foot gardens are a very simple and easy way to grow a good variety of vegetables in a very small space. They are easy to plan, plant, and care for.

Planting a French Intensive Method Garden

One variation of planting a traditional home vegetable garden is the French intensive method.

Be advised, the French double dig system is not for the faint of heart! As the name implies, it will be twice the work investment but on the other hand it can more than double your production.

Extra Work Up Front Pays Off Later

It is a lot of initial work but lessens as the seasons pass. There’s an old saying in France, “When in a hole, stop digging!”

Digging in the dirt can be difficult, but the aim is worthwhile in maintaining excellent soil structure.

Certain microbes only live in the top inch of soil while others always live a foot below.

When you change its places, the organisms could die and cost you valuable fertile soil. This method requires attention to where the shovelfuls of dirt land.

French Intensive Step-by-Step Plan

Sheet mulching is not as backbreaking work as shoveling dirt. Although, since it is a no-dig no-till system, it does require time to complete the task properly. A similar method is lasagna gardening.

Decide which strategy works best depending on what materials, and how much time you have available to devote to preparing a home vegetable garden. The idea is to allow the vegetables to become a part of the composting process, as it happens naturally.

Hugelkultur Gardening Method

Planning a home vegetable garden is a great way to have an outdoor adventure, while providing some fresh delicious home-grown food for your family. Depending on your space and the amount of time you have available, you can find a method that works best for you. If you are not sure which to try, just choose the garden type that seems easiest to you. You can always select a different type garden next year! You will learn new things with each garden, and before you know it, you will be an experienced gardener.