MidlifeStylist

The Simple Joy of Gardening

How to Start a Garden from Scratch

One day’s harvest from our garden last year

There’s nothing better than eating fresh produce that you have grown yourself. Knowing that it’s been grown without the use of pesticides or other dubious additives and has only been handled by yourself adds to the pleasure of eating fruit and vegetables that haven’t been transported many kilometers or stored for months.

My husband and I usually grow our crops between Autumn and Spring because the Summers in Queensland are far too hot. Temperatures are mild here, rarely dropping to frosty levels, and there are fewer bugs around to eat everything before we do. Be sure to check locally to find out when the best time to grow is. If you’re lucky, you may live in an area where you can grow crops all year around.

This is last year’s garden in it’s prime with many of the vegetables ready to harvest.

Start with the Basics

Start With The Basics – the requirements for a healthy garden:

  • Soil that is well drained, full of nutrients and has loose texture
  • Few weeds and bugs
  • Water
  • At least a few hours of sunlight

If you live in an area without ideal conditions like us, you need to create it. That is why we use raised garden beds. Our soil is very sandy and of poor quality so we fill the raised garden bed with the following:

Cow manure – you can buy by the bag like this. You can use any manure as long as it has been mixed with soil and allowed to settle
Organic garden soil – you can buy it by the bag like this or have a truck load delivered if your garden is large enough
This compost is ready to be used. It has composted down to half the depth it was at the beginning, and there are very few large pieces of uncomposted material.

These ingredients are added to the garden bed and stirred and turned over with a garden fork.

Mixing the compost, soil and cow manure with a garden fork

My husband does all the heavy work because I suffer from arthritis in my back, but once the plants have started to produce, I can look after them.

We generally plant seedlings to save time. You can also raise seeds yourself and then plant them out when they’re mature. Instructions are on the seed package or seedling tags as to what favourable conditions to grow them in. Our beans grow from last year’s crop – we save some of the last beans to dry out then just plant the seeds straight in the ground.

We have also grown cherry tomatoes using seeds taken from the previous crop. Our pumpkins grew wild from the compost. It’s interesting to see what crops up each year from our compost!

My husband planting the seedlings. They will come with instructions on how far apart they need to be planted, and other requirements

Daily Garden Tasks

Daily watering is a must except if you have really rainy days. A daily routine would include picking out weeds and squashing bugs before they get out of hand. Remove plants that have died or gone to seed because they attract bugs and disease.

Regularly fertilise your garden. We use our own liquid fertiliser that we make from our worm farm. Read about it in this post. Alternatively choose a commercial product that uses organic ingredients only.

Pick plants as soon as they are ready to eat. Living them to die in the garden only attracts bugs and weeds to take over. You will find that fresh vegetables will keep much longer than store bought ones because they haven’t been stored and transported for weeks or months.

What if you don’t own a garden?

Two garden beds is enough for our needs. If you don’t have a backyard, you can grow most vegetables and fruit in containers. My brother lives on a houseboat and has an impressive array of vegetables and herbs in containers. Another alternative is to grow sprouts in jars. I have easy directions here.

What to Grow

Your choice of what to grow should be based on what crops grow best in your area. Your local landscape supplier or garden supplier should stock a good range of seedlings. Have a conversation with the staff – they are usually very willing to give you local know-how on what the best plants to grow are. Other than that it’s trial and error. In general, don’t grow anything that you don’t enjoy eating!

This year we are growing beans, snow peas, bok choy, baby spinach, parsley, onions, Kent pumpkin, beetroot and cos lettuce. My husband made trellises for the beans and snowpeas and you may need stakes for some of the taller plants. We also have a chilli plant and cherry tomatoes and a range of herbs.

Times vary from when you start the garden to harvest, but generally we’re eating our produce within a few weeks. One of my favourite pass-times is picking the ripe vegetables and making them into beautiful fresh meals.

Three weeks after initial planting. We have added a few more seedlings to ensure a continuous supply of our favourite vegetables
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22 responses to “The Simple Joy of Gardening”

  2. What a lovely post, thanks for sharing your ideas for starting a garden. I’ve always used “the climate is too harsh in WA” as an excuse! But you’re right, from Autumn through to Spring is such a good idea. I love that you shared the daily tasks too, breaking it down so that it doesn’t appear too time consuming for a newbie. I love my garden, but I need to be encouraged to get out into it to do the chores as generally I’d rather be writing! Pinned and Tweeted.

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    • Hi Jo, WA does have some harsh weather conditions. Our main problem on the Gold Coast is the long hot summer, but growing in the winter is the best solution. I find getting outdoors is good for my writing as it relaxes me so much. Thanks so much for commenting and sharing, regards Christina

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  3. Hi Christina, I have never stayed long enough in a house to maintain a garden or veggie patch but would love to. I would be interested in hearing what your brother grows on his houseboat and also what might be suitable for an apartment near the ocean. Thanks for sharing at #MSTL. There is nothing like fresh vegetables is there?

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    • Hi Sue, he lives in Ballina so the climate is not too different to here. He grows lots of herbs, salad veges like rocket, cherry tomatoes, chilli, and beans. Just about anything you can grow in a garden can be grown in containers using really good potting mix, regular fertiliser and watering. In a way it’s easier because the pots can be moved. Hopefully I inspire you to try growing some day! Regards Christina

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    • Hi Michele, yes I agree that gardening is a great booster for your mental health. Just being out in the garden and seeing the plants grow creates joy. I would be so disheartened if my whole garden was eaten so good on you for perservering! Regards Christina

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  5. Hi Christina – I’m the world’s worst gardener – I have a reputation within the family for by brown thumb. I tend to kill most plants and the only success we seem to have is with citrus trees. We’re about to start picking a lovely harvest of oranges and mandarines – so much better than the ones available in the shops! I love all your vegies and good on you for doing it all so successfully.
    Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊

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    • Hi Leanne, we have one mandarin tree which gives us one single mandarin a year! I don’t know what we’re doing wrong. But it makes a nice shrub so it stays. I used to be the family brown thumb too until my husband and I bought this house 7 years ago with it’s garden beds. Through trial and error and research, we improve every year. Thanks so much for commenting and sharing, regards Christina

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  6. These days I grow mostly in pots. We’re in SE Queensland (Sunshine Coast) and I find I have fewer problems with the cane toads digging into the soil, also when the rains come, I can lift them up so my herbs don’t get wet feet.
    Just having a few leaves or a few herbs is, I find, really grounding (no pun intended). #MLSTL

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    • Hi Jo, we’re not too far from you on the Gold Coast. We grow many of our plants in pots because our soil is too sandy. Luckily we don’t have too many cane toads because I hate them with a vengeance! Regards Christina

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  7. Hi Christina, a great reminder of why gardening is such a simple joy. Your post is a joy! My husband loves gardening and I love admiring his work! I have pinned this for #mlstl

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  9. Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips. I don’t have my own garden as I still live at home with my parents, but when I do I’d love to grown my own produce in the garden. I loved growing tomato plants with my grandad as a child!

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