You’ve just cooked the perfect pasta and need a bit of basil to top it off, or need just that little something extra to top your homemade pizzas… wouldn’t it be nice to just walk into your backyard and pick these straight from the plant?

No backyard? No worries… it’s also possible to create one for your balcony, or even a small kitchen set up.

Werther you’re a seasoned green thumb or have no experience at all, you can easily create and maintain your own edible garden.

Below are a few helpful tips to help kick off with the basics!

What’s easy to grow?

To get you started, the easiest things to start your garden are herbs and vegetables.

How to make an edible garden?

You can grow a surprisingly sizeable garden in small spaces…however, be aware of your space restraints so you can determine how much you can plant.

Where to put my edible garden?

If your garden is outdoors, it’s best to use raised garden beds. For an indoor garden, you’ll likely be using smaller container – but either way, find a nice sunny spot (bright window, sunny corner of your backyard or balcony/patio)

Choose what to plant

Selecting the plants to include in your edible garden isn’t as simple as deciding what you want to eat. Your garden will be most successful and produce higher yields if you choose plants that thrive in your local area.

Chat to your local nursery and ask for advice on what is in season, as well as what grows well together, and what they would recommend for the size of your garden.

Also, take into consideration what you’ll actually eat – the aim of the game is to be able to enjoy your hard labour at the end of the day!

Planting your garden

Now for the fun part – seeing your garden coming to life.

To start, fill your container about halfway with soil. This will give your plants some stability. If you’re working with seedlings, gently remove them from their plastic containers and loosen the roots a bit. Once you have them in place, fill the rest of the container with soil, leaving about an inch of space from the soil to the top of the container. Finally, water the plants and place the container in a sunny spot.

If you’re working with seeds, be patient. You may be looking at only dirt for a couple of weeks… but boy is it exciting when they start to sprout!

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