Easy Vegetable Gardens for Black Thumbs
Think you need to have a natural green thumb to grow your own vegetables? Not so. Just follow this simple guide
Maya Anderson
5 August 2014
Houzz Contributor based in Perth, Western Australia, writer of House-Nerd.com, homes and architecture journalist, newspaper columnist. Renovating our first house, The Crap Shack, step by step! I specialise in writing stories about all things home.
Houzz Contributor based in Perth, Western Australia, writer of House-Nerd.com, homes... More
You can grow low-maintenance vegetables and herbs at home, even if you think you have a black thumb. You just need to invest in good soil, do a little preparation and know what to plant. In Australia we are lucky that our autumn, winter and spring offer great climates for growing many kinds of edibles. So follow these tips and you’ll be eating fresh in no time at all…
Whether you have a large backyard or just a little courtyard, you have the capacity to grow some food of your own. Not only does growing your own herbs and vegetables give you the convenience of always having fresh produce on hand, it can save you dollars at the checkout. If you start your garden off on the right foot, your maintenance can be kept to a manageable minimum – all it will take is regular watering and fertilising with new manure and compost several times a year. Here’s how to start…
Pick the right spot
Look for a position in your garden or on your balcony that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. This is ideal, but don’t stress if you don’t have such a spot – you can still grow many shade-loving vegetables and herbs such as lettuce, broccoli, Asian greens, kale, spinach, garlic and chives.
Look for a position in your garden or on your balcony that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. This is ideal, but don’t stress if you don’t have such a spot – you can still grow many shade-loving vegetables and herbs such as lettuce, broccoli, Asian greens, kale, spinach, garlic and chives.
Invest in raised garden beds or containers
Raised beds or containers offer many advantages over planting in the ground. They are easy to maintain, more difficult for weeds, slugs and pets to get into and you can fill them with great-quality soil right from the start, rather than just trying to enrich poor-quality soil. You can build your own raised beds from sealed pine or cedar pieces or purchase some old jarrah railway sleepers to work as the frame.
Raised beds or containers offer many advantages over planting in the ground. They are easy to maintain, more difficult for weeds, slugs and pets to get into and you can fill them with great-quality soil right from the start, rather than just trying to enrich poor-quality soil. You can build your own raised beds from sealed pine or cedar pieces or purchase some old jarrah railway sleepers to work as the frame.
Corrugated-iron kits, such as Birdies Raised Garden Beds (pictured), are easy to put together and are long-lasting.
BONUS TIP: Line the bottoms of your raised beds with black plastic and layers of rotted down newspaper to prevent weeds from creeping in.
BONUS TIP: Line the bottoms of your raised beds with black plastic and layers of rotted down newspaper to prevent weeds from creeping in.
Consider upcycling
Old wheelbarrows, wine barrels, and even old wicker baskets, make great raised planters and look particularly great in rustic, native or cottage gardens.
Old wheelbarrows, wine barrels, and even old wicker baskets, make great raised planters and look particularly great in rustic, native or cottage gardens.
Use a good soil mix
Good dirt is never dirt-cheap. But if you invest in good soil you will reap the benefits in beautiful, bountiful and flavour-packed vegetables and herbs for years to come. Look for a specially created vegie mix and enrich it further with cow or sheep manure. Then just make sure your vegetable garden gets watered each day so the nutrients in the mix are dissolved to nurture the plants.
Good dirt is never dirt-cheap. But if you invest in good soil you will reap the benefits in beautiful, bountiful and flavour-packed vegetables and herbs for years to come. Look for a specially created vegie mix and enrich it further with cow or sheep manure. Then just make sure your vegetable garden gets watered each day so the nutrients in the mix are dissolved to nurture the plants.
Kick things off with kale
Even those who seriously doubt their gardening abilities will have success growing kale. It is a hardy biennial member of the cabbage family that grows easily, and it can even tolerate poor soil. Rich in iron, fibre, folate, betacarotene, magnesium, and vitamins A, K, B1 and B2, kale’s health benefits have seen it become hugely popular in recent years and many garden centres now sell numerous varieties.
Even those who seriously doubt their gardening abilities will have success growing kale. It is a hardy biennial member of the cabbage family that grows easily, and it can even tolerate poor soil. Rich in iron, fibre, folate, betacarotene, magnesium, and vitamins A, K, B1 and B2, kale’s health benefits have seen it become hugely popular in recent years and many garden centres now sell numerous varieties.
Plant kale in a sunny spot, if possible. You can add chopped kale to winter vegetable stews, make kale chips or add it to a silverbeet, mushroom and pork barley risotto. When harvesting kale (as well as lettuce, silverbeet and Asian greens) pick leaves from around the base of the stem rather than the centre if you want to encourage the plant to keep growing.
Go wild with blueberries
If summer’s blueberry harvest season is over that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little berry bush established at other times of the year. Blueberries love lots of sun, plenty of water and being grown in pots with acidic soil.
If summer’s blueberry harvest season is over that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little berry bush established at other times of the year. Blueberries love lots of sun, plenty of water and being grown in pots with acidic soil.
Half wine barrels are ideal for planting blueberries – and are great for keeping them out of reach of berry-loving pets.
Try Warrigal greens
A native New Zealand variety of spinach, Warrigal greens are not always easy to find but well worth the hunt. In the cooler months of the year, these healthy greens grow like a weed, meaning the couple of dollars spent on a punnet will more than pay off. They do love the sun but will also grow in spots that get very little. When preparing to eat, blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for three minutes as the leaves contain oxates that can have stomach-upsetting effects in large quantities.
A native New Zealand variety of spinach, Warrigal greens are not always easy to find but well worth the hunt. In the cooler months of the year, these healthy greens grow like a weed, meaning the couple of dollars spent on a punnet will more than pay off. They do love the sun but will also grow in spots that get very little. When preparing to eat, blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for three minutes as the leaves contain oxates that can have stomach-upsetting effects in large quantities.
Plant eggplant and cherry tomatoes
If warm weather is ahead, try planting these colourful options. Eggplants and cherry tomatoes love a long growing season, so you’ll be able to enjoy them in abundance.
If warm weather is ahead, try planting these colourful options. Eggplants and cherry tomatoes love a long growing season, so you’ll be able to enjoy them in abundance.
Many newcomers to vegetable gardening find the smaller Lebanese and Thai eggplant varieties, as well as cherry tomatoes, easier to grow than their larger counterparts. But don’t plant eggplants and tomatoes together – it increases the plants’ risk of infection due to disease. Both eggplants and tomatoes generally require staking and love slightly acidic soil – try fertilising them with poultry manure pellets.
Most backyard farmers find cherry tomatoes exceptionally easy to grow. To help your tomato plants grow more fruit, pinch off ‘suckers’ with your thumb and forefinger as they grow. Suckers are side stems that grow directly off the plant’s main stem. When you prune suckers, the plant puts less energy into producing extra leaves and more energy into producing juicy tomatoes.
Grow your own salad leaves
You will get a great return on your investment from planting just two or three punnets of lettuce. Plant several punnets of cos, romaine and butterhead varieties and you will have enough leaves for salads for months.
You will get a great return on your investment from planting just two or three punnets of lettuce. Plant several punnets of cos, romaine and butterhead varieties and you will have enough leaves for salads for months.
In our cooler seasons, lettuce can be grown in both sun and shade and loves being grown in containers.
Rocket, cabbage (pictured) and radicchio are also easy-to-grow leaves.
Pot some herbs
Chives, oregano, thyme, perennial basil and rosemary are super-easy to grow, resilient, will grow throughout the year and are great cut-and-come-again plants – the more you pick them, the better they will grow back. Parsley and coriander are biennials but will also grow in cooler weather.
Chives, oregano, thyme, perennial basil and rosemary are super-easy to grow, resilient, will grow throughout the year and are great cut-and-come-again plants – the more you pick them, the better they will grow back. Parsley and coriander are biennials but will also grow in cooler weather.
Cultivate silverbeet or rainbow chard
Black thumbs, meet silverbeet. Also known as chard or rainbow chard, silverbeet is very easy to grow, hardy and a good source of vitamins A, C and K and iron. A punnet or two will give you leaves for months. Silverbeet likes sun but will also grow in shadier areas.
Black thumbs, meet silverbeet. Also known as chard or rainbow chard, silverbeet is very easy to grow, hardy and a good source of vitamins A, C and K and iron. A punnet or two will give you leaves for months. Silverbeet likes sun but will also grow in shadier areas.
Pop in some garlic
Garlic will grow just about anywhere. All you have to do to grow garlic is push large cloves into the ground with the pointy tip facing up about 6cm below the surface of the soil. While it takes about eight months to grow into a new bunch, it will have benefited your other vegetables in the meantime by helping to deter aphids and other bugs in the garden.
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Garlic will grow just about anywhere. All you have to do to grow garlic is push large cloves into the ground with the pointy tip facing up about 6cm below the surface of the soil. While it takes about eight months to grow into a new bunch, it will have benefited your other vegetables in the meantime by helping to deter aphids and other bugs in the garden.
MORE
Top 10 Plants for Minimum Effort and Maximum Impact
10 Incredible Greenhouse Makeovers – No Green Thumb Necessary
How to Bring Your Subtropical Garden to Life
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Instant raised garden bed. Various sizes available to suit all home spaces. Balcony and courtyard options available also. Greenlife - Raised Garden Beds
I put weed mesh under my raised garden beds and they drain well
Great article here Maya, it all starts with the right soil we say! Ensuring a fertile life-cycle and growing system is key for any fruit and veg.