Something has happened and backyard food production suddenly seems like a VERY good idea. Here is how to create a vegetable growing space in a weekend or less, where to buy compost at the best price and how to find vegetable starts to plant, even if there is a buying panic underway. Let’s start a garden fast!
How To Start a Vegetable Garden Fast
Gardens need good quality soil with nutrients in which vegetable plants can grow. They need 6-8 hours minimum of full sun and regular watering. You also need a way to stop grass from taking over the garden and something to keep the compost and soil in place. The quickest and easiest option is to build a raised bed garden in your backyard, directly on top of your grass.
Identify the Sunniest Spot
The garden needs to go in the sunniest spot of your yard. Identify this area and measure how large you want the garden to be. You will need these measurements when you go purchase lumber next.
Buy Pressure Treated Lumber
Modern pressure treated wood, which is treated with garden-safe copper, is the best way to quickly build a raised bed. Select 2 inch thick by 8 or 10 inch tall pressure treated pine boards in a length that fits your space. You may need to use a hand saw or circular saw to cut some of the boards to size. You’ll also need a box of 3 inch outdoor deck screws to secure the sides together. Buy a watering can because you’re going to be using it almost immediately and make sure you have a 50 foot contractor grade watering hose that does not kink. (Affiliate links.)
Collect Cardboard Boxes Quickly
To stop grass from growing up from underneath and taking over your garden in two weeks, you need to lay down a layer of cardboard. Huge appliance boxes are ideal so if dumpster diving is legal in your state, check behind Lowe’s, Home Depot, Best Buy and other big box stores that sell appliances. Large sheets of cardboard are even better than boxes that you must break down. Avoid anything glossy, printed with lots of colors (you don’t need the ink in your soil), or covered in tape, stickers or staples (which will litter the garden). Stores generally do not mind if you take cardboard or boxes so long as you do not leave a mess around the dumpster.
Layer the Cardboard
Lay the cardboard down FIRST. Wet it with a watering can or water hose so it stays in place. If you have enough cardboard, do a double layer but at the very least, overlap the cardboard so there are absolutely no gaps where grass is showing through.
Place the Lumber Frame On Top
Next you will want to assemble your garden bed frame on top of the cardboard. The cardboard should stick out from under the lumber bed side. This stops grass from growing up inside the bed edge and makes for easier weed eating around the garden.
Measure Your Garden & Calculate Soil
Measure the length and width of your garden. Vegetable plants need 8 inches of soil to grow in, which is 2/3 of a foot or 0.66 feet deep – this is the depth measurement you will use. Use an online soil calculator to calculate cubic yards needed if buying by the truckload or cubic feet needed if buying bags (make sure you switch “volume needed” to cu ft).
To calculate the amount of Garden Soil or Compost to buy to fill the beds, use this equation:
Garden Length in Feet x Garden Width in Feet x 0.66 feet deep = cubic feet of soil needed
Garden Length in Feet x Garden Width in Feet x 0.66 feet deep ÷ 27 = cubic yards of soil needed
Buy Compost by the Truckload
Purchase a good quality green waste or mushroom compost from your local materials center or mulch yard. (Use your map app to search for these businesses nearby.) Buying by the pickup truck bed load is about 1/3 the cost of buying bagged compost from the store. Most pickup truck beds hold 1 cubic yard.
If you have no other option than to buy bags from the store, opt for mostly compost, not top soil. Bags of compost come in 1 or 2 cubic foot sizes.
Fill Your Garden Bed
You will want to fill your garden bed until you have 8 inches of compost after you have watered it down. Top off as needed. You do not need to tamp down or compress the soil in any way, simply water it and it will settle. If you built more than one bed, layer cardboard in the walking rows between them and top with a natural wood chip mulch. This will stop weeds from growing in your walking path areas.
Plant Wisely for the Time of Year
You can’t put any fruit or vegetable plant in the ground at any time of year and expect it to produce. Neither should vegetables be crowded. It will take some research to figure out what can be planted right now. Local nurseries and feed stores are likely to have starts for sale that can be planted now or very soon. Big box stores may or may not be selling the correct plants for your season.
>>> Click Here to Search for your USDA growing zone by zipcode <<<
Next, search for a planting chart, calendar or timeline using your states name + your grow zone. This will get you the very best info for your area and what you can plant right now. For example, here are planting calendars for Texas zone 8a & 8b as well as Texas zone 8b and 9a.
Herbs in Pots May be Best
Herbs are nice and it may be best to plant them in pots, where they typically thrive, and save your garden space for veggies that need lots of space, like tomatoes and squash. You can plant ONE cherry tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. Or you can plant ONE bell pepper plant in a 5 gallon bucket. Do not crowd more than this into a 5 gallon bucket planter or they won’t produce. Tomatoes cannot be grown in regular size flower pots unless they are a micro dwarf variety, which stores typically do not carry.
What if Vegetable Plant Starts are Sold Out?
If a buying panic is underway and you cannot find plant starts to buy, here is how you may be able to locate some:
• Check local feed stores and Tractor Supply. They offer plants for sale through the spring, summer and fall but people often forget to look here. Use your map app to search “feed store” nearby. Call to confirm they have plants before making a long drive.
• Check Facebook for anyone offering vegetable starts. If the starts have already sold, ask to get on their wait list for more. (They may have more that need another week or two of growing time.)
• Post on Facebook Marketplace that you want to buy CUTTINGS or ROOTED CUTTINGS from local vegetable gardeners. Experienced backyard gardeners will know how to take a cutting from a healthy tomato or bell pepper plant and get it to grow roots so it can be its own new food-producing plant. Expect to pay the same price or more as a start and that the plant may come to you in a plastic cup of water where roots are growing. You may need to let the plant stay indoors in a vase of water so it can finish growing roots before planting it in your garden.
• If you have a gardener in your neighborhood, ask them for cuttings to buy and try to pick them up immediately. You will need to root them in a small glass jar of water indoors for 7-14 days and change the water frequently. They can also give you advice about what to plant right now, including what seeds to buy and what seeds can be planted directly into the garden right now.
Water Your Plant Starts Daily
Small vegetable plants need daily watering in warm months for the first 1-2 weeks until they are established. In cooler spring months they may only need watering every other day. They wilt and die very quickly so make sure you check on them every morning and water them.
Add Tomato Cages & Trellises as Needed
Tomato and bell pepper plants need the support offered by tomato cages. I prefer the painted ones that last longer. Cucumbers, runner beans and other vining plants need a trellis. These can be purchased from home improvement stores and nurseries.
Keep Your Garden Going
Plan to spend 15 minutes every day or 25 minutes every other day checking on plants, removing small weeds, watering and foliar feeding your veggie plants. Food producing gardens will need around a half hour of care as the season progresses and the plants get larger.
Your Garden is Underway!
By this time you should have a functioning garden with plants that are starting to grow and flower, which flowers will turn into fruits (veggies). I hope this article has helped you to start a garden fast. Keep reading for easy organic fertilizing tips and how to find backyard chickens to buy fast.
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