My backyard used to be a junkyard: a tragic mix of rubble, tires, pipes, chew toys and glass shards. I didn't know what to do with the space.
Then I got an idea during the pandemic. As I was standing in a long line to get into the grocery store waiting to buy food, I realized I could turn it into a garden. That way I could grow my own fruits and vegetables.
With a little planning, I was able to watch three gorgeous baby trees take root in my yard. One of them recently yielded its first fruit — sweet little apricots. The yard has totally transformed too. We aggressively collected heat-treated pallets and then made a giant raised bed in the shape of the letter S (as in Shahani).
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Here are five expert tips to help you break ground on a garden of your own this spring.
1. Create a vision based on your location
Before you turn into Johnny Appleseed, think about the space you're cultivating. Is it a yard? A rooftop? A windowsill? A fire escape? How much sunlight does it get?
Then figure out which kind of fruits and vegetables grow well in your hardiness zone. These zones, based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, go from 1 (the coldest) to 13 (the hottest). The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a map. Plug in your ZIP code to see your zone and find out which plants thrive in your region.
2. Work with healthy soil
Making sure that your soil is healthy is one of the first things you should do when starting a garden. Photo Illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
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Photo Illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR
Making sure that your soil is healthy is one of the first things you should do when starting a garden.
Photo Illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR
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Set the stage with healthy soil. It's full of billions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes and helps plant roots grow.
Consider the texture of the soil. That's how much clay, sand and silt is in the ground. "The most ideal soil [is] right in the middle of those three, which is a sandy clay loam," says Benjamin Fahrer, a professional landscaper with Top Leaf Farms.
Different plants require different soil textures. For example, carrots and beets want sandier soil, so their roots can more easily penetrate. Tomatoes want more clay for water retention.
Then consider the structure of the soil. The ideal structure is granular or crumbly. You can get that structure by buying your garden soil in bags at the hardware store or by composting at home.
There's also pH level — how alkaline the soil is. To find the pH and other chemical properties (like whether the soil has lead), you can send soil samples to a lab. The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, charges $20 for a soil fertility test. Your local master gardener program can point you to other labs.
If you find that you have lead in your soil, don't stress, says Fahrer. You can still grow fruits and vegetables. For the most part, plants do not absorb lead into their tissues. But it gets on their skin. This is one reason it's important to wash all your veggies, even organic ones from a farmer's market.
3. Plant seeds or transplants
When you're starting a garden, think about whether you should use seeds or transplants. Starting plants from seed is more affordable but less predictable. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
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Becky Harlan/NPR
When you're starting a garden, think about whether you should use seeds or transplants. Starting plants from seed is more affordable but less predictable.
Becky Harlan/NPR
Should I plant seeds or transplants?
It depends on what you're comfortable with growing, says Fahrer. In general, a seed is like an infant. It needs tons of care, but not everyone knows how to get it to survive. Transplants, plants that are a few inches high and grown in small pots, are easier to grow. "They still need your love but they're not going to fall down and kill themselves."
Though seeds are often more affordable than transplants, they are less predictable. It's hard to know how many of them will actually sprout. If too many end up sprouting, they'll overcrowd and compete with each other to survive. So you may need to pull some out.
4. Make a container garden or build a raised bed
You can start a garden in pots or containers, or you can build beds. The decision depends on your preferences, space, what you're growing and your budget. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
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Becky Harlan/NPR
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Just about anything can be a container for your plant: wooden wine boxes, milk crates, old pots or dresser drawers, so long as you drill holes in the bottom and don't let any paint touch the soil.
Stay away from any container that's been used for toxic materials, such as oil drums, and avoid plastics, which can leach chemicals into the soil as they break down from ultraviolet light.
You can also build your own containers from wood. Plain white wood, like the pine sold at Home Depot, is not ideal. "It will last probably for three years or so, but then it's going to start to break down," says Yolanda Burrell, owner of Pollinate Farm & Garden in Oakland, Calif. Ideally, make boxes from cedar or redwood. These types of wood are more durable but they are more expensive.
Reporter Aarti Shahani and her nephew Akshay Shahani prepare to make raised beds from pallets in Aarti's backyard in Oakland, Calif. Manu Gujrati for NPR hide caption
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Manu Gujrati for NPR
Reporter Aarti Shahani and her nephew Akshay Shahani prepare to make raised beds from pallets in Aarti's backyard in Oakland, Calif.
Manu Gujrati for NPR
Another source of wood that is totally free: pallets, which you can find on Craigslist or behind grocery stores. Burrell says you want the ones that are stamped with the letters HT, which stands for "heat-treated." That's imperative, as they're rot-resistant and baked at high temperatures to get rid of invasive insects and larva.
Pallets are great for making raised beds. In addition to preventing soil compaction, raised beds can help with drainage, prevent weeds and serve as a barrier to pests. The internet has many how-to videos. Here's one of my favorites.
5. Understand how much sunlight your plants need
Plants that have fruit, like tomatoes, often require more sunlight than leafy greens like kale. Becky Harlan/NPR hide caption
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Becky Harlan/NPR
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Not every plant needs a ton of sun. Burrell has a simple rule of thumb for sunlight: "If you pick the fruit off of the plant, then it needs more sun. If you're just eating the leaves, then you need less sun."
So tomatoes, squash and cucumbers need sun to ripen. Leafy greens, not so much. And the smaller the fruit, the less sun it needs. You may not have the sunlight needed to grow a beefsteak tomato. But you may be able to pull off sun gold tomatoes, which can be as small as half an inch in diameter — and really delicious!
Additional Reading
One of Burrell's favorite books on home gardening is Food Grown Right, in Your Backyard. "It's the right level of detail, not dumbed down too much," she says. (Though it is written for a Pacific Northwest audience.)
Fahrer recommends The New Seed-Starters Handbook (free online).
The audio portion of this story was produced by Audrey Nguyen.
