Growing your own fruits and vegetables in your own backyard and using them to cook for and feed your family can be an extremely rewarding activity/ hobby. Especially if you have little children in the house that are old enough to help. Getting them outside to help with the garden is a great way to spend family time, teach them about hard work, patience, and just get them away from electronics for a few minutes a day!

Saving Money?

While having a garden in some cases can help cut down on a family’s food bill, it is not the reality for most people with gardens. In order to actually make a garden cost efficient, you would have to have a very large scale garden which just is not practical for people in non- rural environments.

Not to worry though! Even with that disclaimer above gardening is still one of the cheaper hobbies you and your family can have, and at the end of the day you still get something out of it.

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Start Small

It can get very easy to get overwhelmed when trying to grow a garden if you never have before so start out small. One of the best ways to start out is by having an above ground garden in pots. Most outdoor stores and supermarkets have some sort of low cost gardening pots. Even old plastic buckets or tubs will work as long as you cut a small hole in the bottom for the water to drain.  These are perfect for people with minimal back yard space or even people who live in apartments. All you need is a sunny balcony or corner on your patio.

Know your climate

Different types of plants grow better in different environments. Depending on where you live you will have better luck with different plants. A quick search on the internet or a trip to a local store and it will be easy to find out what will work best in your climate and your individual situation.

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Beginning Struggles:

When first starting to get into gardening, just like at the beginning of any new venture, there can be a learning curve. Too much sunlight and too little water and your seed will quickly die. Too much water and too little sunlight and you can wash the seed right out of the soil.

To up the chances for your garden to survive and make it to the point of harvesting consider planting the seeds in paper cups of soil first. You can first plant a seed in a paper, plastic, or biodegradable gardening cup and keep it inside until it sprouts. Using this strategy you are able to keep your future plants in a controlled environment out of the wind and away from rabbits and birds during their most vulnerable time. Once they sprout and gain a small root system you are able to carefully remove them from the cup and plant them into their permanent place whether that be a in the garden in the backyard or a planter on your patio.

 

Starting a garden for the first time can be a daunting and difficult task. However, it is great healthy hobby for everyone in the family to learn and grow from.