Pick up a soil pH balance testing kit at your local Home & Garden
Showplace to check your garden's topsoil. This will tell you if it needs compost or new
topsoil added. If your soil is in need of beefing up, add fertilizer or composte.
Instead of trying to start your new garden with expensive seedlings, start
out by planting vegetables from seeds into loose soil and follow the directions on the
back of the seed package.
Plant vegetables that will come up in succession so that you will always
have something in harvest. That way your interest will be kept up from early spring to
late fall. Find out the dates in advance and schedule time to plant accordingly. For an
early spring harvest plant peas, spinach and radishes; for summer plant tomatoes, peppers
and summer squash. To enjoy an early fall harvest plant broccoli.
Find out which plants need special care in your climate. For example, if
you have a short summer season you might have to pick your tomatoes early to ripen off the
vines. This information should be considered when you plan your garden and when you buy
the plants.
Once everything is planted make sure you can spend an hour or two a week
maintaining your hard work. You need to fertilize, water and thin your new vegetable
garden.
Find out how to store your vegetables to make sure you can enjoy them long
after harvest.
Make sure to keep a reference log of what worked and what needs to be
improved for next spring's garden.