5 Easy Steps To Get Started

By Ava Green

There’s a common myth that you need a lot of space to grow vegetables, but whether you have a few containers, a small sunny corner, or a larger garden bed, there’s lots you can grow! Here in Norfolk County, which is Zone 6 in Southern Ontario, some vegetables can go in the ground as early as the beginning of May, while many others are usually safe to plant around the May 24th weekend, once the risk of frost has passed. Here are five simple steps to get you growing your own food this season if you’re new to vegetable gardening.

Step 1: Decide What You’d Love To Grow

Start with a list of the vegetables you actually want to eat. Coming into Eising Garden Centre with a list in hand makes choosing plants so much easier! When building your list, consider:

• Vegetables you love
• High-value vegetables, the ones that are expensive at the grocery store but easy and economical to grow yourself
• Anything that tastes better when it’s freshly picked, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs

Step 2: Make a Simple Plan

You don’t need an elaborate design; a rough sketch on a scrap of paper is just fine. The goal is simply to get a sense of your space and where things will go before you start digging. We recommend starting a garden notebook or journal to track what you plant each year and how it performs. It will be especially helpful next spring!! A few planning tips to keep in mind:

• Most heat-loving vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant and beans, need at least six hours of sun per day
• Cool-weather and shade-tolerant crops like lettuce, chard, kale, radishes, and beets do well with just three to four hours of sun 

• Spacing in a vegetable garden can be much tighter than in other types of gardens. Less empty space means fewer weeds and bigger harvests. Square foot gardening is an excellent method to explore
• Layer your garden beds with plants that are great companions. For example, basil and marigolds planted beside tomatoes are said to improve flavour and repel pests. Carrot and beet seeds tucked in beside and between your lettuce plants (which are a cool-weather crop) are a smart pairing; as your lettuce finishes in the summer heat, your carrots and beets will be sprouting up to take their place. This is referred to as succession planting and optimizes the space in your garden
• Make use of vertical space with poles or trellises for peas, pole beans and cucumbers
• Tuck herbs into any gaps between your vegetables; they’re useful, beautiful, and most pollinators love them

Step 3: Prepare Your Space

Once you’ve chosen a spot with enough light, it’s time to get the soil ready:

• Remove any sod or weeds before planting. If you’d rather not dig, the No Dig gardening method uses a layer of cardboard as the base for the new bed. This suppresses weeds naturally and breaks down into the soil over time
• Add a good-quality compost to your soil by either spreading a layer across the top of the garden bed or scooping some into each plant hole 
• For container gardening, almost any container works, just make sure it’s deep and wide enough for the mature size of your plants. Also, drainage holes are a must! Fill containers with a soilless mix containing compost, peat moss or a peat alternative, and one of the following: sand, vermiculite, or perlite. Avoid using garden soil, triple mix, or topsoil in containers, as they compact easily and will restrict root growth. Learn more about soil mixes, amendments, and fertilizers here

Step 4: Water and Feed Consistently

Consistent watering and feeding are the foundation of a productive vegetable garden:

• Vegetables need regular, reliable watering. Inconsistent moisture leads to stressed plants and poor yields
• Always water the soil, not the leaves. Plant roots take in water, and wet foliage can invite disease. Water deeply so moisture reaches the roots. Use your fingers to check how far down the water has penetrated into the soil
• Containers dry out faster than garden beds and will need more frequent attention
• Morning is the best time to water. If your plants are struggling on a particularly hot afternoon, a second watering is fine. Just be sure to aim at the base of the plant and avoid the foliage, which can scorch in direct sun
• Feed with organic fertilizers throughout the season to keep your plants healthy and productive. Follow the package instructions for the product you choose

Step 5: Plant Flowers for Your Pollinators

A vegetable garden without pollinators is a garden that won’t reach its full potential. Attracting bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects to your garden is one of the best things you can do for your harvest. Some of our favourite pollinator-friendly flowers for the vegetable garden include marigold, calendula, nasturtium, borage, sunflowers and culinary lavender. As a bonus, most of these are edible, so they earn their space twice over.

It’s Time

Starting a vegetable garden is one of the most rewarding things you can do with an outdoor space. There’s a quiet satisfaction in growing something from seed or a seedling and bringing it to your own table. 

Start simple, grow what you love and don’t be afraid to learn as you go. 

The team at Eising Garden Centre is always happy to help you choose the right plants for your space and answer any questions along the way. This could be the season that changes the way you think about your garden!

Resources:

Why Use a Garden Journal?: https://eising.ca/why-use-a-garden-journal/

Square Foot Gardening: https://www.almanac.com/planning-square-foot-garden-grow-more-less-space

Fertilizers & Soil Amendments: https://eising.ca/fertilizers-soil-amendments/

Companion Planting: https://eising.ca/companion-planting-with-herbs/ and https://eising.ca/incorporating-vegetables-into-your-garden/

Optimizing the Gardening Season: https://eising.ca/optimizing-the-gardening-season/

No Dig Gardening Method: https://charlesdowding.co.uk/blogs/no-dig-resources/beginners-guide

Reading Plant Tags: https://eising.ca/full-sun-part-shade-what-do-plant-tags-actually-mean/

Growing Vegetables in Pots: https://eising.ca/planters-are-for-more-than-flowers/

As we all start to settle into our new routines and get the hang of homeschooling (common core math, anyone?), we're quickly realizing how important it is to have some variety in our lives. Too much monotony can make us pretty squirrelly—kids especially—so breaking up long stretches of time indoors with fresh air and exercise really helps the cause. After all, that's why schools have recess. 

Time spent working is more productive and valuable when you get the chance to get some sunshine, so it's good to try and squeak in a couple of 20 - 60 minute activity breaks outdoors. It isn't always easy to think of activities to keep kids occupied when you're juggling all the other duties at home, but these six ideas for outdoor games should go over well with the little ones. 

5 Creative Outdoor Games For Kids 

Soak up some sun and enjoy some playtime with your kids; it's amazing how quickly it can lift the spirits and give you a second wind to tackle your next project. These fun activities will require you to help with setup and supervision, but you'll still be able to get a chance to kick back and enjoy a cold drink in a lawn chair while the young ones run around. A little exercise and a little relaxation—the best of both worlds!

Make a Chalk Obstacle Course

A set of rainbow chalk and a little imagination is all you need to create a wacky obstacle course all the way down your sidewalk. You can help them with the colouring, and then sit back and watch while they run through it over and over. Of course, there are the classics like hopscotch, but you and your kids can probably come up with some more creative ideas. 

For example, you can colour a long stretch of bright orange and red lava, then add a few "stepping stones" to hop on. Draw a big, long, slithering anaconda and walk on it like a tightrope! Add in some squares with different actions like "Hop on one foot ten times," or "Spin around five times." Use the stopwatch on your phone to time their runs through the course and challenge them to try and get the fastest time they can! 

Paint Some Rocks

Rock art can be a fun, inexpensive outdoor art project that kids of all ages can enjoy. The little ones can go the abstract route, covering rocks with fun splashes of colour (these actually look really pretty lined up on a windowsill or placed throughout the garden!). Older kids with more developed motor skills can try painting scenes on rocks or transforming them into their favourite characters. To avoid getting paint on the grass or cement, put an old bedsheet or some sheets of newspaper down. Make sure to provide plenty of paper towels along with a basin full of water!

Melt Old Crayons Into New Ones

If you've got cookie cutters, tin foil, old crayons, a cookie sheet, and a sunny afternoon, then you can pull off this super fun outdoor activity that gives new life to old, broken crayons. Cover the cookie sheet in tin foil and arrange the cookie cutters on top. Peel off any labels remaining on the crayons, snap the bigger ones in half, and put a mix of assorted coloured crayon bits in each cookie cutter. After you've got them all set up in the sunshine to start melting, you can go back inside for another activity, and then come back out to retrieve them once they've melted. Place the cookie sheet on the counter to cool off, and then once they're solid, pop out your new crayons and get colouring!

Let Them Power Wash The Windows

Okay, hear us out—kids love any opportunity to play with tools, and a sprayer nozzle on the garden hose is arguably the safest tool out there. If your windows are looking a bit mucky now that the snow has cleared, let your kids blast off all the dirt! You'll be amazed at how eager they are to help you clean. "Power washing" with the hose is definitely one of the most fun chores around. If they can't get enough, ask them to give the patio furniture or the family car a good rinse!

Plant A Kid-Friendly Garden

Of course, we're a little biased, but we think gardening with kids is one of the best outdoor activities imaginable. It's like a long-term, hands-on science lesson that results in some pretty spectacular end results. Sprout some seeds on the windowsill, or pick up some small starter plants. Grab them some child-sized garden tools and gloves so they can dig up some holes and get all their flowers and vegetable plants in place.

Encourage them to make some little signs to stick in the garden so they can keep track of which plant is which. It's a great way to expand on their vocabulary and work on their printing skills! Make a plant journal for them, and take note of exciting new developments or growth spurts in the garden. They'll love the sense of ownership they feel for their personal gardening project, and at the end of the summer, you'll have a cool memento to hold onto and look back on. 

 

Spending time out in nature and getting some exercise is so important, whether you're 8 years old or 80. Check out our new web store to see all the brand new stuff we've got in for gardening and outdoor activities! Remember, we have curbside pickup service available to make your spring plant purchasing as fuss-free as possible!