I need a new hobby outside of video games and been thinking about starting a small garden.
Never done anything like this before so looking for some beginner tips and what types of vegetables etc a novice should try.
The part of my yard i aim to use gets sun all day and thinking about buying planters instead of planting in the ground (pros and cons of that?).
Thanks fellow hannityites.
Zucchini will even grow in sidewalk cracks, so it’s a good veggie for beginners.
Start out with something like this.
Easier on the back, we don’t have to worry about rabbits because it’s up off the ground.
I’m not a gardening person, but I bought and built one for the wife and it seems to be working.
Start small.
She’s added some other potted herbs to the side.
WW
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NOTE: Stock photo for visual.
Thanks for that, yes I think a planter would be easier to start with. My back is already â– â– â– â– â– â– â– 
I remember, around 2000, after we moved into the new home.
Daughter and wife wanted a garden.
I said fine, here is the deal. I build it you maintain it. Response was “sure”.
OK, so I laid out a garden area length was 2 - 8 foot landscaping timbers long by 1 - 8 foot timber wide. Stacked 3 high with spikes to keep them vertical. Dug up the sod. Hauled in top soil to prep. Poles with Chicken wire to keep out the varmints.
One year of planting, then it became a weed bed.
I was pissed.
WW
Lmao well that sucks.
Build a simple box, line it, fill it with dirt, and grow one or two beginner plants.
Let yourself experience a whole grow cycle with as little/basic as possible before going all Uber-ADHD on everything.
Take notes along the way:
“How laborious was this? How can I reduce that?”
“Which monotonies can I automate?”
“Why buy that next time if I can just build it/mix it myself for way cheaper?”
“How well does XYZ scale up (or down)?”
It’s going to be work, but it doesn’t have to be a job. By next year, you’ll have a really good idea of what else you want, how you’ll want it laid out, and how efficient it will be, all customized to your liking.
Few things are as frustrating as rushing to build something just to end up realizing it’s now in the way of a more thought out approach.
First question is how old are you?
As for starting a garden it’s little late.
If you’re going with planter base gardening I would look for vertical garden if possible. There is plenty of info out there. I would recommend your garden be on north end of your property facing south.
Read, read some more. Start small and add onto it over multiple years.
Read some more and plant veggies that you love to eat…and if you have plenty of tomatoes I’ll take em. 
I am 53 and i wondered if it would be too late this year
We have two harvest seasons here in Eastern North Carolina. Currently harvesting tomatoes, leek, cucumbers, green onion, peppers, watercress and other things in my wife’s oriental garden that I don’t what it is. After seven years, our Asia Pear tree is bearing fruit!
Start planning, having a good vertical vegetable garden would be nice to have. Having tomatoes growing/weaving through a trellis with tons of tomatoes, not laying on ground etc. String beans, strawberries. You’re love it.
In my youth our garden was a quarter acre plot. Pretty much you name it, my parents grew it. My little brother and I were considered labor on the weekend while school was in session from April to June, then daily from 6:30 am till about noon, as maintenance demanded all summer. Dad had been a farm boy in his youth. Hated it as a child, miss it greatly now. Don’t over do it in the beginning. Cucumbers, sweet peppers, maybe a tomato plant. Remember elevated planters dry out quickly and need to be watered every day, unless it rains. Currently putting a blackberry patch in my back yard. I won’t get berries this year, but should begin getting a good showing in about 2 seasons.
Took me years to figure out that my raised garden bed needed more raising. Added two levels of 2x8x12. All of a sudden more veggies lol.
Tomatoes bell peppers jalapeños and pickling cucumbers (cuz Russians pickle everything)
Gardens are kind of expensive to start (compared to super market prices for vegetables.) so you are alreadyoff the a good start thining of it as a hobby. Good for you!
—>The best most important advice I can give to a new gardener has to do with laying out your garden.<—
Garden in plots . . . like 4’ x 4’ or 2’ x 8’ and leave enough room for a lawn mower between plots. (raised bed, or regular bed, is not terribly important.)
Do not garden in rows ---- a row of radishes, a row of onions etc. with dirt paths in between.
The right garden layout will make a HUGE difference in you experience and if you do the wrong way, you’ll be stuck with that for several years.
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This guy now has dirt paths in his garden.
He’ll be stuck with those for a long time.
I am so jealous of people who have soil lol. I live on the tip of a very stony (read probably mountain at some geological period) hill. So all my soil has to be brought in by car 
Great thread. I am going To follow every bit of advice. My thumb is whatever is the opposite of green
No beets?
Funny 
Not enough space for roots
I’m working on making the back yard into different beds along the fence. Wife was given a small walk-in green house at work by one of the parents of the children she works with. I’m going to set it with raised beds, irrigation and a winter heat source to maintain about 55 F degrees.
Same here. It’s about 2-6" of top soil if you’re lucky, then it’s all clay and rock.
I prefer to make my own soil, but FoxFarms is typically my goto for commercial bulk.
