It’s that time of year! A lot of people began planting gardens in the last four years. This year, gardens are still a big thing! And who could blame us? Creating a garden can help us feel like we have control over something in a world that feels out of control.
For those of you who are newer at gardening, it would be easy just to start by seed shopping. And seed packets are very visually enticing. Grabbing up many different varieties of seeds is incredibly alluring. But starting our garden needs to begin with a plan. Which fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even nuts should you grow?
I’ve included some links to seeds, but if by the time you to go purchase them, you’re having a hard time finding the seeds that you want, you should check out these two articles here and here on how else to propagate plants and seeds.
***There are links in this post. Some of the links may be affiliate links. My promise to you is that I will only recommend the most economical version of the best quality of items to serve you. All of these are the items that I have bought for my own family. If you click on a link, your price will remain the same. If you make a purchase, we may make a small commission that aids in the cost of the running of this website.***
Your Garden Starts with a Plan
Your plan should start by choosing seeds BEFORE you go seed shopping. Here’s a list of veggies. Start by asking yourself which ones your family will eat. Cut and paste this list into a document, print it out, and circle all the foods that your family will eat. This is the start of your garden plan.
Veggies
- Artichoke
- Avocado
- Black eye peas
- Bush Beans
- Kidney Beans
- Lima Beans
- Navy Beans
- Pinto Beans
- Pole Beans
- Beats
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Leek
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Red leaf Lettuce
- Romaine Lettuce
- Mustard green
- Onion
- Okra
- Parsnip
- Pea
- Pepper
- Potato
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Spinach
- Acorn Squash
- Butternut Squash
- Crookneck Squash
- Delicata Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Summer Squash
- Sweet Potato
- Tomato
- Turnip
- Zucchini
Perennial Garden Vegetables
Herbs
Annual Garden Herbs
- Bay Laurel – in most zones
- Basil
- Cilantro
- Coriander
- Chamomile
- Chervil
- Dill
- Marjoram
- Parsley – Biennial
Perennial Garden Herbs
- Anise
- Bay Laurel (in warmer zones)
- Bergamot
- Chicory
- Chives
- Chamomile – This is actually an annual, but it reseeds itself if you’ll leave some blossoms on the plants
- Echinacea
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Hyssop
- Lavender
- LemonBalm
- Marshmallow
- Oregano
- Parsley – Biennial
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Spearmint
- Tansy
- Tarragon
- Thyme
- Winter Savory
- Valarian
- Yarrow
Fruits
How Do You Determine What To Plant? 
You’ve gone through the list, printed it out, and you’ve circled which foods your family will eat. Awesome! The next thing that you want to do is to rank those foods that you’ve circled from the ones you enjoy the most to the ones you enjoy the least.
Once you’ve ranked your foods that you enjoy growing, choose 3-5 foods from your top 10 foods that you enjoy eating. As you make this decision, here are a couple of guiding principles:
Start with at least a couple of perennials.
Why? Perennials are planted one year and continue to come back year after year! If you are adding to your perennial garden each year, you’ll have less planting to do for a greater yield. That’s a win-win for everyone!
Don’t neglect Fruits and Herbs
Most people think of growing vegetables before they grow fruits and herbs. Instead of vegetables, fruit was the first thing we started with on our 1/4 acre homestead. The first things that we planted were 2 apple trees, 2 peach trees, and 4 black raspberry bushes. Since then we’ve added 2 more apple trees, two grapevines, and now 80 strawberry plants to our perennial fruit production!
In your first couple of years, why should you limit the foods that you grow to 3-5?
(1) It takes to learn how to grow specific foods.
Each year as we work on our garden, I take time to learn about the fruits and vegetables that I’m gardening. Oftentimes, I’ll put together a word document with tidbits of information for each of the plants that I’m growing for the first time that year.
Before you actually put a seed into the ground, you should take time and learn about that plant. Here are some questions that you should be asking BEFORE you plant any seeds.
- When is the optimal time to plant not just that vegetable, but that variety of vegetable?
- How far apart should the seeds be planted?
- And each seed needs to be planted at a different depth. At what depth does that specific seed need planted?
- What type of soil does that seed need? For example, if you’re going to plant blueberry bushes, did you know that they need acidic soil? However, tomatoes and cauliflower do NOT do well in acidic soil. The soil that they are grown in should be slightly alkaline soil.
- Are there amendments that you should add to your soil to grow a specific vegetable? Tomatoes – if they doing have enough calcium tend to get blossom end rot. However, if you add crushed egg shells to the hole in which you are planting your tomato start, you will be going a long way to preventing blossom end rot.
(2) It keeps you from feeling overwhelmed by caring for too much.
If you jump in and plant your top 20 plants – as you determined them above, you’re going to find out that not only is that a LOT of learning up front, but, you’re going to be out in the garden for a lot of your time – you’ll be caring for the plants – removing bugs from the plants, continuing to amend the soil to take care of problems that your plants are having. You’re going to be out there a LOT!
If this is your first year or first of a few years of gardening, you will easily feel overwhelmed and can honestly, lose your desire to grow the garden. This means that you’ve wasted the time and money that you’ve already invested.
(3) It will keep gardening fun – instead of a chore
I’m betting that you want your garden to be something that you enjoy – not just another chore to add to your day’s to-do list. By starting small and learning only about 3-5 plants in one year, then you’re going to actually enjoy spending time out there as you’re learning how to care for those few plants. You have less that you’ll have to do in the garden as you work toward self-sufficiency. You’ll enjoy your time out there more – because it will demand less of you.
And each year as you master another 3-5 plants, those will probably take less time for you as you grow them because you’ve already understood the pitfalls and solutions that are needed to grow those plants.
What About You?
How many years have you been gardening? What are the ways that you decide what to plant on any given year? Do you have favorite fruits, vegetables, or herbs that you enjoy planting? Do you have any tips for growing your favorite foods? Share with us in the comments below so that we can all be better prepared.
Don’t forget when you’re planning your garden that
You’ve got this, Mama!
I have been reading your posts for about a year and one of the first things that really hit me in a past post was this (my paraphrase): “Start gardening now so you give yourself time to make mistakes and learn how to improve each year.” This has really stuck with me over the past 12 months because I realized in the past, I would haphazardly throw some seeds in a big pot of dirt and hope for the best. I always got out of it what I put into it (which wasn’t much). I joked, “If we had to live off what I can grow, we’d starve.” It was a hobby, but it was never a necessity. As of March 2020, I realized how quickly the supply chains can crash. So as 2021’s gardening season opened, I had a new resolve to garden smarter, and I’ve looked to your posts for advice — and you always have GREAT suggestions. This post is getting printed out and put in my notebook! I especially like this post’s tidbit: “Creating a garden can help us feel like we have control over something in a world that feels out of control.” YES! Thank you for helping us all to find ways to cope in this unusual time!
Cindy,
I appreciate every one of your comments that you leave for me. You are always so encouraging. I’m glad that some of the things that I say really resonate with you and encourage you! I’d love to see pictures of your garden as you work on it this year!
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