Beginner Vegetable Garden Plan
A simple first-year garden plan for beginners. Includes what to plant, layout suggestions, and a monthly timeline.
February 28, 2026
Start small. Two 4x8 raised beds. Easy crops. Expand next year.
What to Grow
Bed 1: Warm Season
- 4 tomato plants (2 cherry, 2 slicing) — one per 2 sq ft
- 2 pepper plants
- 2 basil plants
- Marigold border
Bed 2: Quick Crops + Greens
- 1 row lettuce mix (cut-and-come-again)
- 1 row spinach or kale
- 1 row bush beans
- 1 row radishes (ready in 25 days)
- 1 row carrots
- A few cucumber plants at one end with a small trellis
Skip These Your First Year
- Corn — needs space and specific pollination
- Melons/watermelons — space hogs, long season
- Asparagus/artichokes — perennials, years to establish
- Exotic peppers from seed — buy transplants instead
Layout Tips
- Tall plants on the north side so they don't shade shorter ones
- Give tomatoes 2 feet between plants, use cages or stakes
- Trellis cucumbers vertically to save space
- Succession plant lettuce and radishes every 2-3 weeks for continuous harvest
Monthly Timeline (Zone 5-7)
| Month | What to Do |
|---|---|
| March | Start tomato/pepper seeds indoors (or buy transplants in May). Prep beds with compost. |
| April | Direct sow: lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, carrots. These handle light frost. |
| May | After last frost: transplant tomatoes, peppers, basil. Sow beans, cucumbers. Install cages. |
| June | Mulch everything (straw or wood chips). Start succession planting. Water 1"/week. |
| July | Harvest begins: radishes, lettuce, beans, early tomatoes. Watch for pests. |
| August | Peak harvest. Plant fall crops: more lettuce, kale, spinach. |
| September | Harvest continues. Note what worked and what didn't. |
| October | Pull spent plants. Add compost. Cover beds with mulch. |
Watering
1 inch per week — about 40 gallons/week for two 4x8 beds.
- Water deeply and less often (not a little every day)
- Water at the base, not on leaves
- Morning is best
- Mulch cuts watering needs 25-50%
Budget
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Lumber (2 beds) | $100-200 |
| Soil/compost | $100-150 |
| Seeds | $20-30 |
| Transplants | $15-25 |
| Tomato cages (4) | $20-30 |
| Mulch | $20-30 |
| Total | $275-465 |
After year one: ~$50-75/year for seeds, compost, and transplants.
Planning It Out
Sketching your bed layout before planting saves headaches. Even a quick drawing of which crops go where — accounting for sun direction, height, and companions — helps you make the most of the space. Garden planning tools like Homestead Planner let you drag out beds, drop in crops, and see companion suggestions, but graph paper and a pencil work too.