Journal/Vegetable Garden · 7 min
Starting a Vegetable Garden: A First-Season Plan
How to start a vegetable garden from scratch in one season — site, soil, five easy crops, and the mistakes to skip.
Quick answer
Pick a spot with 6+ hours of sun, build a 1.2 × 2.4 m raised bed of 50/50 topsoil and compost, and plant just five crops your first year: lettuce, radishes, bush beans, tomatoes and courgettes.
The reason most first-year vegetable gardens fail isn't skill — it's ambition. Twelve crops, two beds, no time. A single well-sited bed with five well-chosen crops will feed you more, and teach you more, than a sprawling plot you can't keep up with.
Where should I put a vegetable garden?
Six hours of direct sun is the minimum for fruiting crops (tomatoes, peppers, courgettes). Four hours is enough for leafy greens and roots. Face the bed south if you can, keep it within a hose length of the tap, and avoid frost pockets at the bottom of slopes.
What soil do I need?
A raised bed filled with 50% screened topsoil and 50% mature compost is the fastest way to good soil. Skip additives your first year — no bone meal, no wood chips buried in the mix. Just topsoil, compost, and mulch on top.
The first-year shortlist
Five easy crops for a first season
| Crop | Sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Lettuce (cut-and-come-again) | Mar–Sep, every 3 weeks | 4–6 weeks |
| Radishes | Mar–Sep, direct sow | 4 weeks |
| Bush beans | May–Jul | 8–10 weeks |
| Cherry tomatoes | Feb–Apr indoors, plant Jun | 10–14 weeks |
| Courgettes | Apr indoors, plant Jun | 8–10 weeks |
Frequently asked questions
How big should my first vegetable bed be?
1.2 m wide by 2.4 m long (4 × 8 ft) is the classic size — you can reach the middle from either side without stepping on the soil.
Do I need to dig the soil?
No — a no-dig raised bed on top of cardboard is faster, kinder to soil life, and gives better yields in year one than double-digging.
Can I grow vegetables in pots instead?
Yes. Tomatoes, salad, herbs, chillies and strawberries all thrive in pots on a sunny balcony.
About the author
Vegetable Garden & Seasons
Arthur has worked the same allotment for thirty years and measures the calendar in sowings, not months. He writes practical, no-nonsense guides to growing food and keeping a garden honest through the seasons — and has little patience for folklore that doesn't survive contact with a real plot.
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