How to Start a Home Garden In 4 Easy Steps

Gardening is a great way to relieve stress and to switch to 
a more organic lifestyle.It can be very exciting to see your 
first plants popping up and eventually turning into tiny 
bulbs of vegetables.

There are a lot of cheaper ways of starting a garden and as 
it develops, you can then decide on how much you want to spend
in order to make it function properly.

Here are a few ideas which might come in handy one day you 
decide to start a home garden:

Step 1: AVAILABLITY OF SUN

The first thing that you should do is look at the availability 
of sun in your yard. Where exactly do you get the most sun?

Your garden might not need 8 hours of sun a day, so a shady 
garden will work just as well.

In fact, take note of the following tidbit:

* A lot of vegetables thrive in the shade with only 3 hours of 
  sun a day. 

* Vegetables that grow well in the shade include salad 
  greens, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, Brussels sprouts, 
  radishes, Swiss chard, leafy greens and beans.

* Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash and corn, on the 
  other hand, thrive in sunlight.

And please, start these seeds yourself – you will save yourself 
a lot of money!

Step 2: LOOK AT YOUR SPACE

You don’t need a lot of space to grow a garden, so if you have 
limited space, that is totally fine.

You can then consider one of two options:

* Container gardening: plant your veggies in containers. Simple!
  You don’t have to use fancy terracotta pots for this. You can 
  use chipped teapots, vintage oil cans, and other containers that 
  you can pick up at flea markets. Put them on your patio, and Bob’s 
  your uncle!

* Vertical gardening: instead of planting a garden out, plant a 
  garden up. Attach rain gutters to the side of your house and plant 
  shallow crops like lettuce and herbs. You can also use canvas shoe 
  hangers or build outdoor shelving.
  Of course, if you do have the space available, you can then be as 
  creative with your garden as you want to be.

You will probably have to invest in a fence of some sort to keep 
pets and other animals out of your garden.

Step 3: CONSIDER WATERING NEEDS

Is your garden easily accessed by the water hose?
If it’s not, you will need to analyze the situation and make a plan.
A rainwater tank works well if you want to save water and direct it 
towards the garden in those dry summer months.

And if that’s not an option, you may want to look into some sort of 
automated irrigation system!

Step 4: PLANT YOUR GARDEN

Once you have:

* analyzed the sunlight in your garden,

* measured your spacing and

* sorted out your watering system, it is finally time to plant!

As a rule of thumb, your garden will likely need water about twice 
a week, but all of this depends on how much rain you locally get 
and what you end up planting!

In other words, research the plants that you are growing so that you 
can water them appropriately.

On a closing note, it is better to water your plants in the early 
morning or later in the evening. Watering them in the afternoon might 
actually burn the plants.

And before you know it, you’ll be on your way to a happy, organic 
garden; one that not only you will be proud of but any future owner!

SOURCE:  Immoafrica