f you want the freshest produce possible, consider planting your own home garden—after all, you can’t get any closer to your kitchen table than your own backyard. Growing your own vegetables is thrifty, too.

Vegetable Garden

To get started, here are 10 steps.

1. Choose the right location

Choose a location for the garden that has plenty of sun, ample space and close proximity to your hose or water source. Find a level area to help prevent erosion.

2. Select your veggies

Decide what produce to include based on your climate, space, tastes and level of expertise. Newcomers may want to consider some of the easier crops to grow, like carrots, beans, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce.

3. Prepare the soil

Mix compost and natural fertilizers into your garden to condition the soil for your plants. Garden-supply stores can test the acidity of your soil and recommend supplements, or you can simply purchase specially made soil in bulk.

4. Check planting dates

Growing conditions and ripening cycles are different depending on the plant and the season, so you should not sow all the seeds at the same time. Planting dates can be found on seed packets. Review the ideal conditions for each veggie you want to plant before creating a gardening schedule.

5. Plant the seeds

Place your seeds or plants into the soil, following the depth and spacing directions carefully.

6. Add water

Gently spray the garden with water to keep the soil evenly moist throughout the growing season. Purchase a spray nozzle for your hose so you can create a gentle rain-like mist for your garden.

7. Keep the weeds out

Mulching is the most effective way to prevent weeds. Add a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of organic mulch to your garden to keep the weeds from overtaking your crops. If weeds do appear in the garden, grab them low on their stems and yank sharply, making sure to extract the entire root.

8. Give your plants room to grow

Check the spacing guide on the seed packets and be sure to remove crowded seedlings right away.

9. Fertilize as needed

Lightly till the soil by hand and add fertilizer to keep it rich. You can purchase prepared garden fertilizer or make your own from items like Epsom salt, eggshells, fish tank water and kitchen compost.

10. Reap what you sow

Harvest vegetables when they’re young and tender—but only pick them when you plan to use them. Pull root crops as soon as they reach edible size. Collect leaf crops by cutting them to within 2 inches of the ground. Finally, enjoy your harvest!

What can you grow in pots?

  • Peppers of all types, spicy or sweet, can be grown in large pots placed in the sun. Peppers like summer heat and humidity but will need you to water and feed them regularly. Stake them before they grow large, and then start picking the fruits.
  • Tomatoes grow well in pots, particularly plants with smaller fruits such as cherry or plum tomatoes. These, too, will have to be staked, fed and watered regularly as the plants grow. There are two types of tomato plants. Determinate plants, which tend to be more compact, will provide a tomato crop all at once. Indeterminate plants will provide tomatoes all summer long, but these plants tend to grow larger and spread out.
  • Zucchini and summer squash are easily grown from seed in containers. Just be sure to pick them regularly once they get going.
  • Cucumbers and beans can be grown in containers, but the climbing varieties will need a trellis or some other type of support once the vines grow.