I spent many months thinking about starting my own garden. For those of us blessed to have a patch of land no matter the size go into overdrive in the mind of all the things that we would like to do with this commodity. Where are the kids going to play, what about colour, where do I grow the vegetables, what water source will I use? The questions are endless. The biggest question is what to do with the lawn. Lawns are nice to look at but what purpose do they really serve? Your kids might play on it, you may have a picnic or family bbq in the back yard and it gives you somewhere to sit, but its uses are few. The biggest inconvenience is mowing it, especially week after week in summer!

Unfortunately I am no garden designer, I have enough dreams for my own, but one of the easiest decisions should be that it is imperative that we establish our own food growing family business. That’s right, growing produce should be central to any family home if we are to sustain the planet, fill our mouths will good food and minimize our spending at the supermarket. Please don’t get me wrong I am all for supporting Australian farmers, my concern is that Australian agriculture needs to move away from traditional European styles of farming to methods that suit the Australian climate.

We can spend hours, weeks and even years discussing sustainable farming, in fact the whole world has for many years. The biggest lesson we are learning is that change comes in incremental steps. Starting small is exactly the right approach when starting your own garden. I have learnt and continually learning as every season and year passes by. The more I try and fail at growing different produce and plants it gives me the determination to try the same produce the following year. The method I am in favour of when starting out veggie growing is to start small, try a 1 metre x 1 metre raised bed. Maybe start this season growing in pots, simple herbs on a window sill. Once you realize that you do not kill everything then move up to something slightly bigger, then grow season after season until you have enough produce growing to feed your household and possibly pass some onto the neighbours.

My second tip is to ask questions. We all know someone who is an experienced gardener. No matter how determined we are to succeed in growing our own produce and plants, a little (or a lot in this case) help will help you understand your garden, its soil, the weather patterns and how they affect what you are growing. The most important thing to understand is the seasons, something we have really lost touch with due to the fact we can buy all of our favorite produce all year round in our supermarkets.

h4>Work with what you have

When I first starting gardening, the soil was in terrible condition. Heavy, boggy, totally lacking in any nutrients and organic matter, it took me weeks to bring the soil to life. If this is a good description of your backyard, you may consider creating a raised bed, no dig garden.

To get started in creating a garden, water the ground where you are going to work the day before. This will make digging easier.

• Remove any weeds, a tedious and boring job, but one that is essential if we are going to grow healthy produce or plants. There is nothing worse than growing something that is weak because all the weeds and grass around it are sucking the nutrients out of the soil.
• Feed the soil with organic matter and compost. Buy a bag of blood and bone mix, chook manure pellets and some seaweed solution and dig them into the soil.
• Cover the area with mulch to keep the soil moist.
• Repeat this process in a couple of weeks and continue the process until the soil is easy to dig, a rich brown colour, and holds together. While this is a lot of work it is imperative that you prepare the ground for any chance of success.
• Planting anything takes imagination. Read up on where things grow best and in what conditions, then plan your space. You may end up having one veggie patch in a full sun position, while you have another patch in the other corner that is shaded most of the day. Garden beds and structures do not have to be square; they can be whatever shape you like that compliments your garden and home. When planting think about how big each plant or seedling will grow and plant accordingly. I’m all for growing as much as you can within your designated space, but don’t forget about airflow and shadowing other plants that need sunlight. On the other hand planting out too far apart will expose plants to buffeting winds and wastes valuable space. When planning my patches I looked through books and photographs to get an idea of what to grow where and how – use the experts!
• Increasingly, vegetables and fruit are seen in an ornamental light. Using small empty pockets within flowerbeds in between flowers can really add character and a sense of fun and relaxation to your garden. On a serious side, growing plants, herbs and produce together can help combat pests.
• Be careful of planting trees near established beds. Trees have large root systems that will spread right under the earth in search of water possibly taking away valuable resources and nutrients away from the beds causing your plants to struggle. Talking of valuable resources and nutrients, the soil in which everything grows is the life source of what’s growing. Getting the soil mix right in terms of organic matter, compost and living things such as earth worms is the most important lesson for every gardener to understand. Different plants need slightly different soil conditions, some acidic, some alkaline. Through my blogs and seed packet instructions and by purchasing a pH tester kit, this will set you up for success with your planting.

No Dig Gardens

I am a huge fan of no-dig gardening. They are a lot less work to establish and you can make the structure as low or as high as you like so as to avoid bending down. While my patches are only about 50mm deep, the ‘garden’ is contained and much easier to manage and keep weeds infringing on the bed. I use sleepers as my structural material as they are long lasting and easy to work with.

• Ingredients used to prepare the beds are simple:
• Layers of newspaper
• Dried grass clippings
• Soft green prunings
• Chicken or sheep manure – pellet form is good
• Bags or home delivered mushroom compost to fill the patch.
• A few bags of compost/potting mix
• Liquid seaweed
• Mulch

With these basic ingredients, layered within the structure you have yourself a good basis to a healthy veggie patch. This is of course what I sell, and how I do it.

One final tip. If you do decide to buy seedlings before delving into trying to grow seedlings from seed (which I recommend), then make sure you go to a nursery where the seedlings are already outside. Too many places sell the seedlings inside the store and then once introduced to the elements die because of shock. You may have to drive a few extra miles to find an outdoor nursery, but I can tell you it is worth it.

Gardening and success is all about trial and error- go and make some mistakes but thoroughly enjoy your success!

Why don’t you tell me how you went/go with establishing your garden……