I’ve been talking about starting a vegetable and herb garden for over a year now. When we completed our backyard renovations, we assumed it would be the next step. But the “perfect” spot for it inevitably turned into a storage area… and after a few months the thought of a vegetable garden sort of fell into the background.

And then I saw an article that said it wasn’t too late to start your summer vegetable garden, and the wheels started spinning again. So last week, after work, TJ and I tackled the “storage” area (well TJ did, I supervised)… and then we got to constructing. With the help of my mom, I selected the vegetables and herbs… and then we planted them. It was such a fun and easy project, that I thought I would share the simple how-to steps below in case anyone has been considering it, but just wasn’t sure where to start!

Now, I’m just crossing my fingers that we actually get some vegetables this season!

SIMPLE HOW TO STEPS

1. Decide how big you want your garden to be. We went with a 4ft x 8ft raised garden bed. This particular brand is great because it lets you add on easily (which we fully intend to do assuming our garden grows) and snaps into place (took us a total of 10 minutes to assemble). 

2. Select your vegetables and herbs, and pay close attention to how far apart they need to be planted to insure you have enough space in your garden bed. We planted the following:
strawberries
cucumbers
bell peppers
tomatoes
squash
butter lettuce
chives
thyme
rosemary
basil

3. Assemble your garden bed, and then lay down the weed control landscape fabric 

4. Add in the soil. For this project we ended up needing 16,1.5 cubic feet, bags (we underestimated how much we needed at first…). Then we topped it with 1 bag of mulch (my mom said this helps to maintain moisture in the soil). 

5. Lay out your vegetables and herbs according to planting instructions to get a feel for space… then plant and water.

(Garden Beds | Weed Control Fabric)
______