How to start a vegetable garden (Starting a vegetable garden from scratch) – Make vegetable garden
How to make a veggie garden? (Vegetable gardening for beginners.) This time, we will make soil for a vegetable garden. Making soil for a garden is not hard, so I think it’s easy for beginners in home gardening to start.
How big is the vegetable bed?
The plot for making soil is about 60cm by 120cm (2 feet by 4 feet). It’s a little smaller than one tatami mat. The autumn and winter vegetables we grew since last year have been harvested, so one bed is now free. I want to prepare the soil for the next spring and summer vegetables.
For vegetable garden beginners, it’s easier to take care of vegetables if you start with a small garden. I recommend starting with this size (about 60cm × 120cm：2 feet × 4 feet).
Even with a garden this size, you can grow about three types of vegetables. For spring and summer, you can grow eggplants, leaf lettuce, and peppers. For autumn and winter, you can grow cabbage, chinese cabbage, and broccoli.
How to make soil for a vegetable garden (Starting a vegetable garden for beginners)
Use a hoe or shovel for making soil. When you think of garden work, you might imagine a hoe, but you can use either a hoe or a shovel, whichever is easier for you.
I’ve only been growing vegetables for a few years, and I’m not very good with a hoe, so I sometimes use a shovel. Basically, it’s fine to use whichever one you prefer, but for beginners in soil preparation, a shovel might be better than a hoe.
Dig the soil roughly and then leave it. Do not add any fertilizer.
Compost to make the soil soft and improve drainage, and fertilizer for growing vegetables, are added about one month before planting time. So we don’t add them now. (Compost and fertilizer depend on the vegetables you grow, so we will add them when it gets a bit warmer.)
Tilling the soil in cold seasons is called “winter plowing". Digging the soil roughly lets cold air into the ground, helping to keep away bugs and kill germs.
When large clumps of soil are exposed to wind and rain, they break down over time into smaller clumps. These small clumps have gaps inside that let both air and water in. This creates soil that drains well but also holds water, making it good for growing vegetables. (The best soil for vegetable growing = crumbly soil structure.)
In winter, especially around January to February, you can’t sow vegetable seeds or plant seedlings. So, after harvesting autumn and winter vegetables, it’s a good idea to do this winter plowing. Reset the soil during the cold winter months and get ready to grow spring and summer vegetables.
Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.