Use this guide if you want to start growing vegetables without taking on an allotment. You will need a spade, fork, rake, compost, and optionally timber or a kit for a raised bed.
Step by step
Choose the spot
Pick the sunniest place you have, ideally with sun for most of the day, and sheltered from strong wind. Make sure it is close to a tap or water butt. Avoid areas under trees or right next to hedges, which compete for water.
Size it so you can reach
Keep the bed narrow enough to reach the middle from either side without stepping on the soil, around 1.2 metres wide works for most people. Start small; one well-kept bed is more productive than a large neglected plot. Leave a path wide enough for a wheelbarrow.
Prepare the soil
Clear weeds and grass, including roots. Dig over the soil and add plenty of well-rotted compost or manure. For a raised bed, fill with a mix of topsoil and compost, and water it before planting.
Choose easy crops
Start with reliable crops such as salad leaves, radishes, courgettes, runner or French beans, potatoes in bags, and herbs. Grow what your household actually eats. Check seed packets for sowing times and spacing.
Plan sowing and rotation
Sketch the bed and note what goes where and when. Sow small batches of fast crops every few weeks for a steady supply instead of a glut. Next year, move each crop group to a different part of the bed to reduce pests and diseases.
Keep up with care
Water regularly in dry weather, especially seedlings and crops that are fruiting. Weed little and often, and mulch bare soil to hold moisture. Protect young plants from slugs and birds.
Ready-to-use checklist
- Sunny, sheltered spot chosen
- Water source nearby
- Bed narrow enough to reach the middle
- Weeds and roots cleared
- Compost worked in or raised bed filled
- Easy crops chosen
- Simple sowing plan sketched
- Watering and weeding routine agreed
Practical tips
- Buy a few young vegetable plants for your first season alongside seeds, to guarantee some early success.
- Keep tender crops such as courgettes and beans indoors or under cover until the risk of frost has passed in your area.
- Write sowing dates on plant labels so you know when to expect a harvest.
Common problems
Seedlings are vanishing overnight.
Slugs and snails are the usual culprits, especially in damp weather. Check with a torch after dark, remove them by hand, and protect seedlings with barriers or by raising them in pots until they are sturdier.
Everything is ready at once.
This happens when a whole packet is sown at the same time. Sow short rows every two to three weeks next time, and share, freeze or store the surplus now.
Plants are pale and growing slowly.
The soil may be low in nutrients or the bed may be too shady. Add compost, use a general-purpose feed as directed on the label, and consider moving the bed to a sunnier spot next season.