Grow Your Own Vegetable Garden at Home

Have you started any seedlings yet? If not, it’s not too late! Here are my tips for growing your own vegetable garden at home.

How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

1. Plant more seeds than you’ll need. Some seeds will not germinate (wake up from their dormant state) and you want enough that you can pick just the strongest to transplant into the garden later. It’s hard to pull out the weaker plants when they’re growing but you want to give the stronger plants the best possible chance.

2. I find my seeds from a local garden market or from Canadian Tire, grocery stores, or Walmart. If you’re just starting out, start simple. Lettuces, beans, peas, and zucchini are usually good bets. Growing watermelon or peppers can work, but they’re a little trickier and you want to have some crops that will be a huge success to keep you motivated. Read the package – some plants like Scarlet Runner Beans can grow up to 3 metres tall.

Also, plant what you love to eat! Here are some of my favourites: (The bag with no label is buttercrunch lettuce.)

3. I like these seed trays from the dollar store. They have small sections for small plants and they’re really easy to pop plants out when it’s time to transplant. I keep mine on a plastic boot tray (also from the dollar store).

4. Pack the seed trays together so you can fill all of them at once. Pour seed starter soil on top and level it out. Choose good quality soil – it makes a big difference! Try to avoid the peat pellets you often see in seed starting kits. They’re not good for the environment.

5. Know your plant hardiness growing zone and find the dates when you should plant. Here is a map of the zones in Ontario. There are also links to other provinces, territories, and states. I am in Zone 5b. Here is my highly organized plan for this year, but we’ll see how well I stick to it.

If you want to find out when to plant lettuce, for example, search “Zone 5b when to plant lettuce”.

6. Look at the seed package for planting instructions. Once you plant your seeds, they need a good soaking and they need to stay wet until the seeds germinate (sprout). If they dry out in between, the seeds might not work. Cover them with plastic wrap or clear plastic containers from strawberries or blueberries until they germinate. Label your plants right away! I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten what a plant is, and many look similar.

7. Some seeds need light to germinate. Others don’t, but they’ll need light as soon as they’ve sprouted, so keep them near a south-facing window that gets lots of light through the day. Water by pouring water into the bottom of the tray. The cells will soak up the water and you won’t be washing away fragile little seeds.

8. In Ontario, the light in the spring is barely enough for growing seedlings. A grow light goes a long way and you’ll have stronger plants because they won’t be reaching for the sun. I bought one similar to this one with 3 bendable arms. This light is not strong enough on it’s own but I use it with plants next to a window for extra light and extending the hours of light in the morning and evening.

9. Tomatoes are one of the most popular plants to grow at home, and it’s definitely worth it! They taste unlike any tomato you’ve eaten from a grocery store and they are so rewarding. BUT, they need more light than many plants as seedlings or they grow tall, thin, and “leggy”, and will not support the heavy yields later on. I plant lots of seeds for other vegetables, but I have decided to buy tomato seedlings from a nursery or farm when it’s time for them to go directly into the soil. I’ve had much more success this way.

10. Get kids involved! Teaching a child how to grow their own food is a lifelong gift. My students and my own kids love choosing their seeds, planting them, watering them, and watching them grow. Best of all, they love harvesting food right from the garden and are curious and motivated to try all kinds of new foods.

I started with a tiny container garden, years ago, and each year I have learned a little more. I choose one or two new plants to try (last year we tried tomatillos and watermelon) and take lots of pictures so I remember any lessons for the next year.

This week, we’ll be planting seeds for the coming season! Stay tuned to see how it goes!