Grow your own fruits and veggies with these must-have products
With spring right around the corner, now is the time to start thinking about the plants and flowers you want to grow this year. Colorful flowers are a surefire way to dress up your yard, but growing your own fruits and vegetables gives you the satisfaction of producing your own food. A vegetable garden can also help you save money.
While starting your own produce garden may seem difficult, you can complete the project fairly quickly if you have the right tools and supplies. So if you want to grow fruits and veggies to enjoy this spring, check out these essential items to help you get started.
How to prepare your yard for a produce garden
The most critical decision when growing fruits and vegetables is where you plan to place your garden. Most fruits and veggies need up to eight hours of sun per day, so you want to choose a spot without too much shade. It’s also important that the soil has good drainage to allow the plants to get all the nutrients they need for healthy growth.
When you’ve found the perfect spot for your produce garden, you need to prepare the soil by using a shovel or spading fork to loosen it and break up any large chunks. You should also use a rake to remove any weeds, roots, rocks or other debris that might affect your garden’s growth. Even if your dirt is in good condition, it helps to mix in some garden soil to ensure your fruits and veggies grow healthy and strong.
If you want a successful produce garden, though, choosing the right fruits and vegetables to plant is crucial. Some easy options for beginners to successfully grow include lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, kale, cabbage, radishes, blueberries, blackberries and radishes. You can grow your produce from seeds or plants, depending on your budget and how quickly you want your garden to grow. Seeds take longer to produce harvestable fruits and vegetables, but you’ll pay more for plants.
Best products for starting a produce garden
Spear Head Spade Reinforced Fiberglass Gardening Shovel
Get your yard ready for a produce garden with this powerful garden shovel that features a unique pointed design to make breaking up soil easier. It also has a large, cushioned grip on the handle that provides excellent leverage.
This lightweight, fiberglass spading fork lets you quickly turn over the soil in your garden without your arms getting tired. It has a D-grip handle that allows for better balance and control when breaking up the soil.
Tabor Tools Telescopic Metal Rake
This adjustable gardening rake lets you expand its width between 8 and 32 inches, depending on the size of your garden. It’s made of durable galvanized steel, but it still feels lightweight and comfortable in hand.
This concentrated planting mix is an ideal alternative to traditional garden soil or potting mix. It can be used in containers or the ground and helps plants grow three times larger than native soil. It also feeds plants for up to six months.
This lightweight garden hoe has a balanced weight that makes it easy to mix garden soil with your native soil. It’s also sturdy enough to cut through weeds, and its unique shape lets you cut from all sides.
With this sturdy garden trowel, you can make holes for your fruit and vegetable seeds or plants quickly and easily. It is made of heavy-duty carbon steel that won’t bend and has depth markers along the blade to measure while planting.
Lifetime Raised Garden Bed Kit
This raised garden bed is the perfect place to start growing your own fruits and veggies. It is made of durable, UV-protected, high-density polyethylene that won’t rot or crack and lets you set up your garden in only an hour.
Open Seed Vault Survival Garden Heirloom Vegetable Seeds
These seed packets contain 100% heirloom, open-pollinated vegetable seeds that are the perfect start for your produce garden. They offer seeds for various veggies, such as lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, and peppers.
Burpee Mama’s Girl Watermelon Seeds
These watermelon seeds grow large, sweet fruit that is ready to harvest in just about 70 days. They are annual plants in all zones and typically grow to a height of 24 inches.
This versatile garden hose has a flexible design that doesn’t kink to make it more convenient to water your produce garden. It also has anodized aluminum fittings and an abrasion-resistant cover to ensure it lasts season after season.
Protect your hands while planting with these leather garden gloves. They are soft and flexible but still provide a reliable grip while holding tools. They come in four sizes, too.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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