Here in Pennsylvania, we’ve jumped from cool spring to hot summer over night. But don’t worry - there’s plenty of time to get a garden started! In fact, you’re just in time. Some tips for starting your family garden this year:

1. Quick primer on the basics. 

Anyone can garden. You don’t need special tools, expensive ingredients or tons of experience. You do need soil, water, sun and seeds/plants. 

• Soil is the most essential of all ingredients. There’s a saying that experienced gardeners grow soil, not plants. Everything depends on it. You have a few options for your project. First, buy potting soil (if you’re gardening in containers) or garden soil. I actually rarely do this, as it’s expensive and I’m a bit of a minimalist. But it’s a great idea if you’re able to get some high-quality soil to kick things off. If not, think about composting as a great, free way to build strong soil for this and years to come. (I DO do a ton of composting, so I build my soil this way.)
• Plants need water. However, a very common mistake is *over watering* your plants. A rule of thumb is to stick your finger up to the first knuckle in your garden / pot, and if it’s damp then you don’t need to water. During the summer I usually let Mother Nature water my garden, but I will water my seedlings, any containers (they dry out quickly), and the full garden if we have a dry spell (i.e. no rain for 5 or more days). 
• And plants need different amounts of sunlight. They’re generally divided into three categories: shade (less than 2 hours direct sunlight/day), part sun/shade (2-6 hours direct sunlight/day), and sun (at least 6 hours direct sunlight/day). You’d be surprised how many things fall into that middle category, including lettuces. Just check your seed packets, or the internet, for tips on what to plant in your location.   
• Finally, it’s easy to plant many crops from seed, in particular lettuces, peas, beans and carrots. Others have a longer growing season, so at this point it’s handy to buy young seedlings if you can, to give them the best chance of fruiting this year. These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash and onions. To be honest: I grow a lot of plants from seed every year, and I still buy the items above as seedlings. As I usually plant under 5 of each, it’s more economical than starting these items indoors a couple of months before the frost date. 

2. Thoughts on space / place.

You do NOT, I repeat you do NOT, need a large garden plot to succeed. You can absolutely grow healthy, yummy vegetables in a few containers in a windowsill or on a doorstep. If you’re gardening in containers, check out the root depth and sunlight requirements of your plants, to be sure you’re giving them what they need. But you’d be surprised how many vegetables will work GREAT in a pot. Some ideas:

• Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. All do great in large pots (at least a couple of gallons. Smaller varieties will grow well in smaller containers too. 
• Lettuces. Most varieties grow really well in smaller pots, as they have shallow roots. 
• Herbs. All herbs to well in pots. Combine several kinds of herbs in a larger pot for a lovely and useful herb garden! 
• Strawberries: love pots! 

In general, root crops are more challenging to grow in pots, for obvious reasons. That said,  I’m trying a few potatoes in a 10-gallon root pouch (fiber bag) this year! I'll report back on how that works out.

3. The general cycle of things. 

• In May, you should be preparing your garden site, whether that means getting your pots ready or weeding the garden. Beginning about now (the third week) you should be starting to plant your summer crops. Many zones have passed the “frost date”, before which your young plants could experience dangerously-low nightime temperatures (click here to see the frost date for your zone). 
• Be sure to water your seeds or new seedlings frequently. If it’s hot, I water daily (seeds) or every other day (young plants) for the first week, or until the seeds come up. And again, I do water my containers, usually every 3 days. 
• Watch for weeds, which compete for nutrients with your plants. Easiest is to pull them by hand. Be sure to save them for the compost pile, if you’re composting! 
• Cool season, and/or quick-growing crops, like lettuce greens and peas, may even be ready to harvest within the next month! Some have growing cycles as short as 30 days. 

Enjoy and have fun! Stay tuned for more tips on family gardening, and feel free to ask questions below! Until then, check out older posts including Container Gardening with Kids.