
Preparing the Garden for Planting
For larger vegetable gardens, tilling the soil first makes for the best possible growing. It loosens the soil, breaks down organic materials like leaves and weeds and makes for easy planting. If your soil has never had a garden before you can take this opportunity to add amendments for the long-term goal of healthy, nutrient-rich soil. Peat moss is a fantastic addition to any garden and can be worked in easily with a rototiller, rake or hoe. I add peat moss to my garden at the start of every growing season. For container gardening dirt from your yard will be heavy and can get very compacted in containers, restricting the growth of roots. I prefer to buy bagged potting soil at the home and garden centre. There are all sorts on the market, but I like to go with the most inexpensive. It’s worth a quick trip to the store — your plants will thrive. You can reuse it year after year so you aren’t buying new soil every season. It’s also a great idea to add some peat moss to the soil you’re using in hanging planters and containers as it lightens up the soil and has some water retention qualities.Planting the Garden


Experiment
Don't be afraid to mix things up and experiment. Seeds are cheap and you can never go wrong with a few extra vegetables. You’ll gain experience, learn valuable lessons and become a better gardener! As with any of the articles in the Grow Your Own Food series, feel free to message me or reach out through the various social media channels with any and all questions you have.More Reading
- Grow Your Own Food: Fertilizer and Compost
- Grow Your Own Food: Starting Seeds Indoors
- Grow Your Own Food: Choosing Seeds
- Grow Your Own Food: Know Your Canadian Gardening Zone
- Creating Your Own Edible Small Space Garden
Grow Your Own Food is written by Redawna Kalynchuk. Redawna is the writer, photographer and content creator at Nutmeg Disrupted. She has over 20 years of gardening experience and has gardened from indoors under high-powered lights to frosty zone 2b gardens in northern Alberta. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional gardening and loves empowering others to grow their own food. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
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