Organic Vegetable Garden: 5 Easy Steps to Start

Introduction

Why not start your organic vegetable garden?

Not only does it provide a source of fresh, healthy produce, but you’ll also be reducing your carbon footprint and promoting sustainability.

Not only that, but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that the food on your table is fresh, nutritious and free from chemicals, herbicides and pesticides.

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner, there are a few simple steps you can take to get started.

Steps to Start Your Organic Vegetable Garden

Step One: Set Your Goals and Choose Your Crops

The first step in starting an organic vegetable garden is to solidify your garden goals.

Consider what you want to achieve with your garden, whether it’s growing your own food, saving money on groceries, or creating a habitat for pollinators.

Take time to draw or write about your dream garden, and use this as a guide as you plan and plant.

Debby Ward, the Founder and owner of Prior Unity Garden, gives this advice about starting your organic vegetable garden planning:

“Make a list of what you want to grow based on what you like to eat. Start simple, with the “must-haves,” just like you would if you were trying to find a new car or place to live.”

Choose Vegetables that are Going to Thrive

Over time, you may decide to adjust the plan you made in the first year, as you reflect on the way your garden performed the first time around.

Garden plans are important to start your organic vegetable garden and to figure out which plants you want to grow, but you’ll find that you learn from experience once you get started.

Selecting and Planting Your Vegetables

Understanding Seeds and Transplants

When it comes to starting an organic vegetable garden, selecting the right seeds or transplants is crucial.

Seeds are a cost-effective option, and you can choose from a wide variety of non-GMO and organic seeds.

On the other hand, starter plants, or transplants, are already established seedlings that can save you time and give you a head start on your garden.

Buy organic seeds from my favourite trusted source by clicking here.

fall and winter seeds-image

If you decide to start off your organic vegetable garden with seeds, you can start them indoors before the growing season or sow them directly into the ground.

Some vegetables, like lettuce and radishes, prefer to be sown directly into the soil.

Others, like peppers, tomatoes, and herbs, are best started indoors and transplanted once they’re established.

Choose The Right Crops For Your Organic Vegetable Garden

Choosing the right crops for your organic vegetable garden depends on a few factors: consider your climate and growing zone to ensure that you’re selecting crops that will thrive in your area.

You’ll also need to consider the space you have available in your garden.

Some vegetables, like tomatoes and cucumbers, need a lot of space to grow and should be planted in areas where they won’t shade out other plants.

Other vegetables, like radishes and carrots, can be planted in smaller spaces and even in containers.

garden

Image credit to Irina_kukuts on Pixabay

Understanding Organic Vegetable Gardening

Organic vegetable gardening is a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to grow your own produce.

It involves using organic matter, organic materials, and organic methods to cultivate plants that are free from synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

One of the key principles of organic gardening is to maintain and improve soil health by adding organic matter such as compost or manure.

This helps to create a healthy ecosystem in the soil which in turn promotes healthy plant growth.

Organic matter also helps to retain moisture and nutrients in the soil, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

Of course, the benefits of growing your own food organically are many: the main one being the knowledge that you and your family are not ingesting any chemicals when you consume the food harvested from your garden.

The price of organic fruits and vegetables in the shops tends to be higher than non-organic produce, so growing your own at home can offer substantial savings on your food costs.

Organic Pest Control

Organic pest control is another important aspect of organic gardening.

Instead of using synthetic pesticides, organic gardeners use natural methods such as companion planting, crop rotation, and the use of beneficial insects to control pests and diseases.

Bugs That Are Beneficial To Your Organic Vegetable Garden

To learn more about beneficial insects for your organic garden, read this post: Beneficial insects garden

Ladybugs on a leaf

Credit for image to PollyDot on Pixabay

Companion Planting

The idea of ‘companion planting’ is all about planting combinations of plants that actually work together, which reduces the amount of work that you have to do.

Did you know that nasturtiums, marigolds and fragrant herbs can repel pests from tomatoes and cucumbers?

These work as ‘companion plants.’  You can also grow corn for climbing plants to grow up, like a living trellis.

Therefore, when you’re starting your organic vegetable garden, think strategically about which plants you can grow together.

Crop rotation

Avoid planting the same plants in the same patch year after year: each time you grow the same plant it will remove the same nutrient from the soil.

Instead, try to work on a four-year cycle of crop rotation.

This will also help to break any cycle of pest infestation that may have developed.

For more advice on crop rotation, see this blog post:

Crop rotation 101 tips vegetable gardens

Step Two: Choosing the Right Location

Once you have a clear idea of your garden goals, the next step is to choose a suitable location.

Look for an area in your garden that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day and has good soil drainage.

Consider building raised beds or using containers if your soil lacks the nutrients that plants need or if you have limited space.

You could also consider growing plants that will grow vertically. Green beans will grow well up a trellis, for example.

In fact, most vegetables can be grown very successfully in a vertical garden, or Garden Tower.

Understanding Your Climate

The first step in choosing the right location to start your organic vegetable garden is to understand your climate.

Different vegetables thrive in different climates, and it is important to choose vegetables that are well-suited to your climate.

If you are located in the USA, you can find out more about your climate by checking your USDA hardiness zone.

This will help you determine which vegetables will grow best in your area.

Assess Your Available Growing Conditions Before Starting Your Organic Vegetable Garden

Once you understand your climate, it is time to assess your garden.

If you can find a location that gets full sun for six to ten hours a day, then you may well have identified the sweet spot for optimum growth.

However, lettuces and many leafy greens will grow quite cheerily in partial shade, so don’t feel that you have to leave those areas empty.

lettuce plant

Credit for Image to Van3ssa_ on Pixabay

Good Soil Drainage is Vital in Your Organic Vegetable Garden

It is also important to ensure that the area has good soil drainage and is easily accessible for watering and maintenance.

Avoid areas with standing water or areas that are prone to flooding. Unsure about the drainage scenario in your garden?

Ann Marie Hendry, writing on www.growveg.co.uk gives this advice:

“If you’re unsure, dig a pit to the depth of a spade’s blade and fill it with water. Watch how quickly it drains away. Fast-draining soils will need regular watering and require more fertilizer. If your pit takes hours to drain it may be a wise move to install raised beds or look for a better-draining spot elsewhere.”

You can read more here: Plan your first vegetable garden in 5 easy steps

Step Three: Preparing the Soil

To grow healthy and productive vegetables, it’s essential to start with healthy soil.

To improve and enhance the health of your soil, you need to feed it with lots of well-rotted organic matter.

The worms and other microorganisms get to work breaking all this down, which releases the nutrients to feed your veggies.

A well-established compost heap is really an essential component of every garden, so it’s a great idea to start creating one.

It will take about six months to a year before your compost will be ready.

Creating a Compost Heap

To create a compost heap, you will need a mixture of organic material, such as leaves, straw, and well-rotted manure.

Choose a location that is convenient for you and has good drainage

Layer your compost material in a pile, making sure to mix in some soil to introduce beneficial microorganisms

Keep your compost heap moist but not too wet, and turn it regularly to aerate it and speed up the decomposition process.

compost

Credit for image to RosZie on Pixabay

It’s easy to believe that just putting organic compost onto your garden soil or raised bed is going to work its organic magic, but it takes a bit more work and strategy than that.

First of all, you want to get busy with your garden fork to loosen up the subsoil to make it more receptive to the nutrients you’re going to add.

Then add a layer of organic compost, two or three inches deep.

After that, lay down a layer of cardboard or newspaper.

Water it, then cover this with more organic compost, to a depth of around four to six inches deep. Top this with a layer of mulch.


To learn how to create your own mulch click here.


Over time these different materials will decompose, feeding the microorganisms underneath and creating a healthy and nutritious soil for your plants.

You may wish to make holes in the cardboard for your plants to grow down through.

No-Dig Method

This method is known as the ‘no-dig method’ of soil maintenance.

It replaces the old method of digging over the soil each year to remove weeds and aerate the soil.

Instead, the cardboard helps to keep the weeds down, and all the microorganisms in the soil break it down to keep it healthy.

Your part is applying the organic matter and the cardboard onto your organic vegetable garden at the start of each year to prepare for planting.

Adjusting Soil pH

Before you start your organic vegetable garden, it’s essential to measure of how acidic or alkaline your soil is: this will ensure that you choose suitable plants.

Most vegetables prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. If your soil is too acidic or alkaline, it can affect the availability of nutrients to your plants.

To adjust your soil pH, you can add dolomite to raise the pH or sulphur to lower it.

However, it’s essential to test your soil pH before making any adjustments. You can buy a soil testing kit here.

Step Four: Setting it Up

Plan Good Access Around Your Vegetable Beds

Before you start planting your organic vegetable garden, it is important to set it up properly to ensure that your plants thrive.

Remember to plan for access to your veggie patches before you get to work creating them.

You’re going to need to create paths that are wide enough for you to trundle down with your wheelbarrow.

Don’t create veggie beds that are so wide that you have to trample all over them to reach the plants in the middle, because it’s inevitable that you’re going to end up standing on some of your precious crops.

Create Paths

wheelbarrows

Credit for image to andreas160578 on Pixabay

Paths can be created with slabs or concrete, or you could use organic matter, such as woodchip, bark or sawdust.

Just bear in mind that organic paths need more maintenance in the form of topping up, as they tend to get washed away and subside into your beds.

They also tend to create ruts where your wheelbarrow wheels can get stuck. This may well drive you bananas, as the whole thing tips up, dumping out the contents! You will not be a very happy gardener when that happens, I can assure you.

Using Raised Beds

Raised beds are a great choice for those who have poor soil quality or who want to make gardening more accessible.

They can be made from a variety of materials, including wood, concrete, or stone.

When setting up your raised beds, it is important to consider drainage.

To ensure that your plants do not become waterlogged, make sure that your raised bed has adequate drainage.

Add a layer of gravel or sand at the bottom or drill holes in the sides of the bed.

Container Gardening

Containers are a great choice if you have limited space or want to move your plants around.

As with any other vegetable bed, just make sure that your containers have adequate drainage holes.

You can also add a layer of gravel or sand at the bottom.

Maintaining Your Organic Vegetable Garden

Once your organic vegetable garden is planted, it’s important to maintain it to ensure healthy growth and a bountiful harvest.

Here are some key steps to keep in mind:

Watering and Fertilizing

Water is essential for plant growth, so it’s important to make sure your garden is getting enough of it.

A good rule of thumb is to water your garden deeply once a week, rather than giving it a light watering every day.

This will encourage deep root growth and help your plants withstand drought conditions.

An even better idea is to set up an automatic watering system with a timer.

This will ensure that your plants get watered exactly when you want them to be, without you even having to leave the house.

Organic Fertilisers

In addition to water, your plants will also need nutrients to thrive.

Organic fertilisers, such as compost and manure, are great options for providing your plants with the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they need to grow strong and healthy.

You can also use inoculants: these are products that bring beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi into your garden.

These improve the health of your plants while reducing infestation from pests.  Click here to buy.

Other Organic Fertilizers

Paul Nauta, a certified expert in organic gardening, from www.thesmilinggardener.com, recommends the following organic fertilisers:

  • Liquid seaweed fertilizer. An organic gardening standard that’s especially known for boosting plant health. Use it at least monthly with EM or compost tea.
  • Sea minerals fertilizer. This provides broad-spectrum nutrition. Use it every other month with EM or compost tea, rotated with the liquid fish below.
  • Liquid fish fertilizer. Another excellent organic fertilizer is a great source of nitrogen and phosphorus. Use it every other month with EM or compost tea, rotated with the sea minerals above.
  • Molassesis used along with EM to feed the microorganisms in the EM.

You can buy all of these products from his site.

As well as organic liquid fertilisers, rock dust is a great way of boosting the mineral content of your soil, no matter what kind of soil you have in your garden.

Lava sand is a great mineral supplement to improve the quality of your soil. The growth of healthy microbes can also be boosted by adding sugars, such as ground cornmeal.

Managing Weeds and Pests

nettle

Image credit to Couleur on Pixabay

Weeds can quickly take over your garden if left unchecked, so it’s important to stay on top of them.

Regular weeding with a hoe or rake can help keep weeds at bay, while also aerating the soil and promoting healthy root growth.

Pests can also be a problem in any garden, but there are organic pest control options available.

Beneficial insects, such as ladybirds and lacewings, can help control pest populations.

Organic Pesticides

Organic pesticides made from natural ingredients like neem oil and garlic can also be effective.

Neem has been used for thousands of years as a natural insecticide, fungicide and bactericide.

Neem oil comes from the seeds of the neem tree, Azadirachta indica, now grown in over 70 countries around the world.

it repels pests without harming the beneficial organisms in organic gardens. Phil Nauta, from The Smiling Gardener site, says:

“I successfully controlled aphids and mildew, and the really cool part is that the leaves I sprayed were noticeably healthier than the ones I didn’t, which proved to me that this is not like most pesticides, which often harm plants to some degree.”

Garlic pepper tea is another organic mixture that has been shown to ward off unwanted insects from plants.

You can also protect your plants from moths, birds and other flying pests by covering them with netting.

If you’d like to learn more about organic pesticides, then read this blog post about how you can easily create your own: Organic herbicides

Harvesting and Storing Your Produce

Once you have successfully grown your organic vegetables and fruits, it’s time to harvest and store them for later use.

Harvesting your produce at the right time is critical to ensure maximum flavour and nutrition.

When it comes to harvesting vegetables, it’s best to pick them when they are at their peak ripeness.

This means that they are fully mature and have reached their optimal size and colour.

Different vegetables have different harvesting times, so it’s important to research each one individually.

Carrots, parsnips, beetroot, turnips, swede, kohlrabi, and celeriac are all root crops that can be harvested when they are fully matured.

Your carrots should be ready to harvest around 12-16 weeks after sowing. Don’t be tempted to leave them to get too big, as they tend to get tough and lose their sweetness if left in the ground too long. 

As a general rule, think about digging up your potatoes from late August through until October. Take care when harvesting these crops to avoid skin damage.

barrels with apples

Image credit to lumix2004 on Pixabay

How To Store Your Organic Produce

When it comes to harvesting fruits, it’s best to pick them when they are fully ripe.

This is when they are at their most flavourful and nutritious. This is usually between July and September.

Fruits like apples, pears, and plums should be stewed before freezing, while raspberries can be quickly frozen individually on trays before bagging up.

Strawberries, on the other hand, do not freeze well and tend to go mushy when thawed.

Best idea is to enjoy them with a good dollop of cream right away, so just pick them when you need them.

Alternatively, you could harvest a large crop and make some lovely strawberry jam to eat with fresh scones and a cup of tea. Delicious!

Once you have harvested your produce, it’s time to store them properly. The ideal storage conditions will depend on the type of produce you have harvested.

For example, some vegetables like potatoes and onions prefer a cool, dark, and dry place, while others like tomatoes and peppers prefer a cool, dry place with good ventilation.

Fruits like apples and pears should be stored in a cool, dry place, while berries should be stored in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage.

Conclusion

I hope you’ve found my article helpful and that you feel confident and inspired to start, or continue, your organic vegetable garden.

I am sure you’ll find it immensely satisfying to know that the food you produce is free from any toxins and chemicals, and that you have worked sustainably alongside nature.

Affiliate Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links. Should you click on any of them and make a purchase, then I will make a small commission. This will be at no extra cost to you, but will go some way to funding my expensive coffee habit.