Local experts can be a great place to start your vegetable gardening odyssey. You may not get the one-on-one garden advice you need from a place like Home Depot, but local nursery store owners and master gardeners are great sources of gardening information. Be sure to visit the Farmer’s Almanac page to learn about your local growing season and when the last frost is expected to arrive. This can help you plan when you’ll begin your gardening season. If you’re beginning in late spring or summer, there are still a few quick-growing crops like lettuce and transplanted tomatoes that you may be able to salvage.

The first step in designing a vegetable garden is choosing the right size and location. Firstly, make certain your location . Most vegetables need a good six to eight hours of direct light each day for optimal results. If you have a more shaded area, you can place your spinach and lettuce there. As you assess your yard, make certain to take into consideration the shade cast by your house and trees during certain times of the day.

Ideally, the garden will be handily situated close the kitchen, so you can tend to it with less effort and bring in your crop without hiking long distances. The most satisfactory soil will be full of nutrients and drain correctly, so you may have to add organic compost and use garden tools to ventilate the soil before you begin.

A gardening expert will usually tell you that raised beds are the best method for effective vegetable gardening. Garden guides love raised beds because they increase the growing area by reducing the amount of garden used for paths, they save fertilizer and compost materials, they are easy and convenient to work with, they work well with trellises, they are 12-15 degrees warmer than the ground so you can plant earlier, and they are beautiful to look at. To begin creating your raised beds, measure and stake down each garden bed and outline the beds with string. To raise the bed, loosen the soil with a shovel or fork and nestle your bed into the plot. Smooth the soil on the surface of the bed with the tines and back edge of a rake. Take your time when shaping the beds, for this step is very important. Each bed should rise eight inches above ground when all is said and done and the most productive raised beds are about three feet wide. You can line the beds with bricks, stones or wood, whichever you prefer.

There are several strategies when it comes to choosing which plants to use in your vegetable gardening endeavor. Some vegetables are grown from seeds in a method known as “direct-sow.” A few weeks before the last frost (check the Farmer’s Almanac to get this date), sow your beets, carrots, parsnips, peas, radishes, chard, turnips and salad greens. After the last frost, sow your beans, corn, squash and herbs like dill and cilantro. Next, you may want to use some transplants for broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, parsley, peppers and tomatoes. Your summer squash, lettuce and broccoli will grow equally well from seeds or transplants, so that choice is up to you. Growing plants like beets, chard, green beans, lettuce, parsley, peppers, tomatoes, radishes and summer squash is rather easy in most parts of the country, so you may want to include a lot of these crops to start.

Eating healthfully doesn’t have to be expensive when you plant a vegetable garden. From container vegetable gardening to edible landscaping, you’ll find the information you need at the Vegetable Gardening Site.