Whether you want to do hobby gardening or prepper gardening, you should prepare accordingly. Having an abundant garden requires proper planning and research. Since you are reading this article I am going to assume that you are not an expert farmer. Do not let yourself get discouraged by the amount of time and research you must do. I promise you it will be worth it! Just like with anything, practice makes perfect. The first year or two you may have a smaller crop while you perfect your techniques. But after the third and fourth year, you will have more crops than you know what to do with.
So where should you start? Before you plant anything, answer these 3 questions.
What should you plant?
Begin with planting food that you love. After making sure you have room for the crops you love, you can fill in the rest of your garden with seeds for crops that are relatively easy to grow. Any extra crops can be sold at local farmers market which can help supplement the costs of your personal garden. A successfully managed garden should produce larger crops each year. If you have friends who garden, you may be able to arrange a crop swap to get more of a variety with less work.
Every crop will not grow in your geographical location. You need to research what can grow in your area. Buying online is always an option, just be careful to check the grow details of each seed you purchase. Seeds purchased from your local hardware stores will generally be your safest bet, since they are intended to be sold and planted in the area.
When should you plant?
When you plant crops is very important. Each geographical location has different planting seasons based on the climate of that area. Most seeds need to be planted after the last frost. Some seeds can withstand a light frost such as peas and broccoli. The best place to get information about when the appropriate time to plant seeds is the back of the seed packet. Most have a hardness zone map on the back of the packet which lists the recommending plant times by geographical areas.
So how can you keep track of which seeds should be planted when? The best method to keep planting on track is to use a small recipe box or file folder. You can label the tabs with months and place the seed packet in the section for the month that the seeds need to be planted in.
Where should you plant your garden?
The location of a garden can affect how much crow you can sow. The amount of sun that a garden receives can influence crop production. Some plants, such as tomatoes and corn, should be grown in direct sunlight. However, leafy plants tend to produce best in shady areas. The details on the back of the seed packets will usually discuss how much sunlight/shade a plant will need. It will also tell you how much space to leave between seeds.
Another factor to consider is the nearest water source. Your garden is going to need water. Some people eventually have sprinkler or irrigation systems in place. I recommend gardening the old-fashioned way for at least a year. You want to make sure that you are going to fully commit to growing a garden before spending a great deal of money on a watering system. You may decide that gardening is more hassle than it is worth to you.
There is a lot more to gardening than just answering these three questions. Determining what, when, and where to plant before getting started will make your chances of a successful garden much better. Spending time on proper planning before getting started will keep you from making some of the costly mistakes that beginning gardeners frequently make.