Why not start planting?

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Summer is finally here and for many people that means gardening. But for most gardening neophytes, the idea of starting your own vegetable garden can be intimidating. There are so many things to consider "" what to plant, when to plant, frost warnings, types of fertilizer and soil quality "" that a person could easily become overwhelmed before they even start.

I decided this past winter a vegetable garden would be a great addition to my summer activities.

So being the keener I am, I convinced my fiance we needed a garden, and he agreed. Our decision was based on potential cost savings, the environment and knowing our produce is free from chemicals and sprays.

It hasn't been easy work, but it hasn't been overly difficult either.

These are some of the things I've learned from my planting experience thus far.

Growing plants from seed indoors isn't all it's cracked up to be. I was told by many experienced gardeners I needed to start certain plants indoors. When it comes down to it, any plant can be started indoors because of our short growing season, but the only vegetables I chose to start early were tomatoes and peppers.

The thing about growing plants from seed indoors is some plants require warm temperatures to germinate "" pepper plants included. And I ran into some problems because my house is drafty and we use wood heat, so the temperature would fluctuate instead of staying at an even 18 or 20 degrees.

Once you have seedlings, putting them on the window sill is a no-no. Even the most energy efficient windows experience temperature fluctuation; you might think you're doing your little tomato plants a favour by giving them some light, but on a cold day these plants won't do very well.

Light is also a challenge "" if you don't have tomato lights. I found using natural light causes your tomato plants to grow tall and skinny, which a makes them easier to break. If this is the case, when you transplant your tomatoes, you can bury part of the stem to help secure them in the soil. I did this a number of times and so far so good.

The seedlings took over my living room. They were everywhere. On tables and chairs and window sills "" the cats were eating them, the dog was knocking them over "" and many of them didn't survive. While I enjoyed watching my little plants grow, for a few extra dollars and a lot less time, someone else can do the dirty work. Next year I may just buy the plants from a local garden shop, but we'll see.

Taking your garden outside...

Prepare an area that's manageable for a (first time) garden - If you have a small backyard in the city that doesn't mean you aren't able to have a garden. Many people in town have vegetable gardens, some on their deck in pots. But if you're fortunate to have a large property, you might want to consider your space wisely "" and I wish I'd listened to my own advice!

There's a lot of physical labour involved in starting a garden, especially when you're breaking in an area on your property for your first garden. When trying to research how large a veggie garden should be, there weren't any set rules other than don't make it bigger than you're willing to take care of!

Get the right tools for the job - Breaking new ground for a vegetable garden requires some horsepower "" and if you don't happen to have a team of draft horses in the backyard, you will probably need to use a tiller or employ someone to till the land for you.

In our case, we hired someone to plough our garden with a tractor. But we ended up with a huge area ploughed and that meant a lot of harrowing and discing (this breaks up the sod). Not to mention ROCKS, which we picked out...by hand.

Wooden stakes and string are good things to have around. Some seeds don't germinate for two weeks, so you might forget where you planted things. If you stake the ends of your rows this will help prevent confusion "" labelling might also help if you're like me and can't distinguish what's what.

Things we didn't have but would've come in handy include: a hoe, a tiller and a wheelbarrow. Next year I'll be much better prepared.

Remember to enjoy the process "" this is a positive experience!

Vesey's Guide to Gardening has become one of my best resources "" you can bring it out to the garden and reference it while you're planting. Though as a general rule, everything except potatoes are planted about an inch below the soil. But this little gem of a book (which was free when I purchased my seeds) tells you what plants can be next to each other and some of the possible pests or diseases that can afflict your seedlings.