Simple Vegetable Garden Plans, Tips, and Ideas

A simple vegetable garden is the best way to get started when you want to grow some of your favorite vegetables at home. You don't need a huge backyard to grow a garden. Find a sunny spot on your porch, deck, patio or balcony and you are ready to get started. Here are five easy-to-grow plants to start a simple vegetable garden.

Growing Tomatoes

Plant tomatoes in rich well drained soil in full sun, allowing 3 feet or more between plants for good air circulation. Mulch with straw in a wide band around the vegetable garden plants to provide consistent moisture over the growing season and suppress weeds.

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

Tomatoes are easy to grow in containers, or planted directly in the ground in your backyard garden. Choose a smaller variety when planting in containers. Make or purchase a "cage" to support your tomato plant as it grows.

Tomatoes have extensive root systems and should be watered deeply and often in the first month or two. As fruit begins to ripen, irrigate less frequently. Prune non-fruit bearing branches to encourage more tomatoes to develop and grow on your plant.

During hot weather, lettuce plants will "bolt" or grow tall and go to seed very quickly. Provide a cooler and shady location for your lettuce plants in mid-summer if possible.

Growing Green Beans

Green beans are vegetables that enrich the garden by adding valuable nitrogen to the soil. Plant smaller-growing bush beans to save space in your garden. Tall varieties will need to have a tee-pee or fence to support the vines as they grow.

Green beans grow in all zones. Broad beans thrive in full sun and well drained slightly alkaline soil. A mild growing season is essential. The preferred environment is cool, moist air and adequate water or rainfall.

Growing Radish

Along with lettuce, turnips, and beets, the radish is one of the oldest grown vegetables in cultivation. The vegetable is good-natured and easily grown making them an excellent choice for a simple vegetable garden or a child's garden.

Radishes can be planted in all zones, require full sun, and regular watering. Because the vegetables are so easy to germinate, they are often sown as a companion crop to other larger and slower growing plants in the vegetable garden.

Mixed Planting

Carrots are a popular choice to grow with radishes, as row markers and to simplify thinning. Other slow-to-germinate seeds include cabbage, lettuce, peas, and leeks.

Growing Onions

Growing onions is easy in a beginning simple vegetable garden. Plant onions from seeds or "sets", which are small onion bulbs that can be purchased at your local garden center. Onions do not require much space, and grow easily in a variety of soil and climate conditions. Frequent watering will help your onions grow more quickly.

Buying Tip

When choosing varieties, consider the color, shape, and size you desire. The hardest part will be narrowing your choices to something simple and manageable for a simple vegetable garden!

Planting Tip

Follow the planting instructions on the seed packet carefully. Each variety of vegetable may have different space requirements.

Putting It All Together

Try your hand at building a 4' x 4' square foot vegetable garden. Use two by six lumber to build the frame. Fill with gardening soil. Divide into 16 sections, and plant! Here is a sample square foot garden design to try at home.

Click Here to Download Sample "Square Foot" Garden Design

Planning a simple vegetable garden is the best way to get started. Choose your five favorite vegetables, a sunny location, and you are ready to get started. Keep it simple, and build on your success each garden season. You can always try something new or different in your next vegetable gardening adventure.

Back To Top

Simple Vegetable Garden to Vegetable Gardening

Simple Vegetable Garden to Small Vegetable Garden

You Might Also like to Read:

"Get the Dirt!" on Vegetable Gardening! > > A FREE Vegetable Gardening Tips and Ideas Newsletter < < "Where to begin with my own vegetable garden? I need some help!" Should I just try planting some seeds in the ground? Is there more to vegetable gardening than meets the eye? How about a container garden? Get the answers, tips, ideas, and more by subscribing to our FREE "Get the Dirt" newsletter.

New! Comments