There’s nothing more rewarding than growing, harvesting and enjoying produce that you’ve grown yourself, and we’d love to see everyone growing some of their own vegetables at home. But, starting a vegetable garden can be a bit overwhelming, we know – there’s a lot to think about!

Happily, we’ve created a free guide for you which will help you get started – to design, build, plant and grow the veggie garden of your dreams.

This guide breaks down the basic process into manageable steps, and contains HEAPS of resources and ideas for you to explore.

This guide is a condensed snippet from our Organic Vegetable Gardening online course, which we run once a season.

What’s inside our Beginner’s Guide to Veggie Gardening:

1. Define your garden goals – get to the heart of what you want from your veggie garden.

Starting a garden can feel a bit overwhelming. Where to begin? What’s most important? So a great first step to creating the garden of your dreams is to articulate your Garden Goals – so you are clear on what you are trying to
achieve.

Clarifying your garden goals allows you to create the right garden for you, and to meet your needs and not waste your time, energy or money by going off track. We want you to create a garden that works for YOU, and your unique resources and abilities.

2. Design your dream garden – create a design that is right for the land and the people who’ll use it.

The basics of how to tackle your garden design. What matters from this process is that you’ve got the information you need to begin, by the end of it – your design doesn’t need to look pretty at this point, just functional – scribbly diagrams welcome!

3. Soil & Garden Beds – get to know your soil and build your garden beds.

Once you’ve made a solid plan for your veggie garden site, it’s time to get better acquainted with your soil, and decide what type of garden beds will meet your veggie growing needs.

4. Crop planning – make a smart plan for which crops you grow when and where.

There are so many veggies out there, how do you choose? A good first step is to consider ones that you like to eat, will thrive in your location and that are suited to the season. Matching your veggie choices to the conditions in your patch, and considering bigger weather patterns and climate, will save you time, energy, and money.

5. Seeding, Planting & Tending – plant seedlings or direct sow seeds, then care for your new plants as they develop.

Once you’ve built your garden beds, and they’re ready to go with a lovely layer of compost or aged manure on top, you’re ready to rock and roll and plant those veggies! You’ll need to source, plant and care for your new plants and veggie patch, including dealing with weeds; or as we like to call them, ‘plants out of place’.

6. Watering & structures – water wisely, and help plants to grow and climb with clever structures.

With your veggies planted and growing, you’ll need a little infrastructure to help them be their best! Soon, your tall plants may need support structures to climb. And before summer comes you’ll want clever ways to water your thirsty veg, and possibly some shade solutions, too.

7. Nourish your garden – fertilise and care for your crops, and deal with pests, diseases and wildlife.

Once you’ve planted out your garden you’ll need to continue to maintain your garden’s health through feeding your soil, and keeping an eye out for unwanted visitors: pests & diseases. Don’t worry, there’s always a way!

8. Harvest!! – the delicious part! With extra to share and preserve for a resilient future.

Once you’ve learned how to plan, build, sow, water and love your veggies, it’s time for the ultimate reward… veggies aplenty. Learn to cook and preserve everything you can, for maximum harvest and happiness.

9. Further resources & learning – gardening is a journey – and there’s always more to discover, and folks to help you learn

By now, you’ve realised that there’s a fair bit to think about when getting started with your veggie garden design – and it can be helpful to have some help as you design, build, plant and grow. So – we’ve got a resources section of great guides, books, and other ways to keep learning, once you begin.

Wherever ‘home’ is for you, big or small, you CAN grow veggies, if you have some outside space.

Whether you’re renting a townhouse with a courtyard, or a big backyard, or out in a rural setting – there’s so many veggies that you can grow where you live, on any budget. We know this from experience!

We’re Kirsten & Nick: gardeners, growers and founders of Milkwood

As life-long gardeners, we have designed and created veggie patches of all sizes and shapes, on farms, on rooftops in the city and in every rental we’ve lived in or land or farm that we’ve stewarded.

Now we have a big backyard patch in lutruwita Tasmania, which we’re developing into our bestever permaculture backyard system.

Over the years Milkwood has worked with amazing gardening experts to teach courses of all types, from balcony gardens all the way up to whole organic market gardens and farms. And now we’ve crafted an online course – Organic Vegetable Gardening – presented by our friend (and exo gardener) Hannah Moloney – to help even more folks take their very first steps toward designing the veggie garden of your dreams.

You can dive into all the extra resources in your beginner’s guide right now, to help you get growing.

If you have any questions – just comment below, or get in touch! Helping folks to get growing is our jam, so we’re always happy to chat.