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Cold-Climate Vegetable Gardening for the Complete Beginner

February 2, 2019

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Do you want to start a vegetable garden, but literally have no clue? Do your eyes glaze over when you start to do your research but it gets too complicated? What are zones? How do you prep your soil? What should I plant? How do I keep it from dying?

You’ve come to the right place. In this post I’m going to give you a plan for making your own garden that has a good chance of success, all in simple language.


Let’s Get Started Gardening!

The very first step is to look up your garden zone for where you live. I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where our zone is 3B. The good news for you, is that unless you live in the Arctic or the Desert, you’ll be able to follow my garden plan and have success.

Next, you’ll need to decide if you want to start any of your seeds indoors ahead of time, or if you want to purchase all your plants from a store. If you’re already overwhelmed, I recommend just buying your plants from a store the week before you plan to plant your garden. Buying a week beforehand is important, but we’ll get to that a little later on.

Want to start some seeds? I’ve got a guide to doing it without a grow light here.

If you do not have a south facing window, this will not be an option for you. In that case, you must have a grow light to ensure success.

For your first year of seed starting, I recommend sticking with easy-to-start vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and any type of squash or pumpkin.  Check your seed packet to see how soon these seeds should be started before the last frost date in your area.  (I also go more in depth about which vegetables should be started when in my online gardening course.)

You can find a guide for last frost dates and when to plant here.

Plan the Perfect Garden

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If you need some extra help with planning out your garden, deciding what to plant, or figuring out where to buy seeds, make sure you read the first two posts in this series and my guide to seed buying.

  • How to Plan Your Garden Without Getting Overwhelmed

  • How to Decide What are the Best Vegetables for Your Garden

  • The Best Online Companies to Buy Seeds From

Soil Prep

The next step is to access your soil situation.

Are you planting in an already established garden space? All you’ll need to do is add a couple of bags of compost and manure, and arrange to get it tilled.

Is your space really overgrown, or are you starting from scratch?

If you are starting from scratch, you need to assess your light situation.  Do not plant your garden near tall trees, as they will suck the moisture out of the soil and shade the garden.  Sun loving vegetables need at least 8 hours of sun a day.  More is better.

Once you’ve got that sorted out, hire someone to rototill the soil and remove all the clumps of grass or weeds. Wait a week and apply round up or some sort of weed killer to the weeds and grass that spring up. Wait until the weeds die and remove them. Add compost, manure and black earth to your soil, then hire someone to rototill again.

If you are not comfortable using chemicals, you can do this same process without the roundup.  You can put cardboard, landscaping cloth, or even a tarp over the soil to kill off the weeds.

Even though you’ve done all that prep work, be prepared for there to still be a lot of weeds and grass this year. It takes a couple of years of diligent weeding to get the weed population down. You can surround your plants with grass clippings, wood chips, or mulch to help keep your weed population down.

There’s a whole school of thought on lasagna gardening and square foot gardening that is a great way to avoid weeds.

I’ve recently started square foot gardening and I’m converted.  Here’s a bit more about my experience and some resources I’ve made to help get you started.

  • 8 Reasons Why You Should Square Foot Garden
  • 4 Free Square Foot Garden Templates
  • Garden Review: My First Year Square Foot Gardening
  • Real Life Design Ideas for Your Small Space Garden

You are now ready to plant your garden.

The beginners guide to growing a vegetable garden in a cold climate. Lots of gardening tips to get started and learn how to grow your first garden
Yes, I like to garden barefoot. It gives me immense pleasure.

Pick your Seeds

There’s so many vegetables to choose from! What you plant this year will largely be determined by your personal tastes and how much space you have. Here’s what I recommend for your first year:

Potatoes: Potatoes come in a large package of smaller potatoes with white shoots growing out of the eyes. If you have potatoes around the house that are old and growing white shoots out of the eyes, don’t throw them away!! Cut them in half so that each half has at least one shoot. Dig as deep of a hole as you can and put the potato in. You will have to hill your potatoes once or twice in the season.

Onions: You can buy onions from seed packets, but I don’t recommend it unless you want green onions. If you want larger onions, buy the ones in the small bags instead. Onions require zero maintenance, just a quick weeding every so often.

Carrots: Carrots are easy to grow and fun to harvest. Thin them out (remove a few of the plants) a few weeks after you plant them for larger carrots in the fall. It’s best to leave your carrots in the ground for at least one frost, as they will be sweeter.

Peas & Beans: All peas and some beans require a trellis to grow on. You can use chicken wire, buy a trellis, or even make one with garden steaks and three rows of twine. If you don’t want to bother with a trellis, plant a bush variety of bean. Do not plant peas or beans if you will be away on a long vacation in the middle of July!!! They will get too hard if left too long, and all of your work will be for nothing.

Swiss Chard: I LOVE swiss chard. It wasn’t a vegetable I ate growing up, but it’s so much easier to grow than spinach and is pretty similar in nutrition and taste. Bonus, you don’t have to worry about bolting!! (When the new seeds come up and the spinach is no longer as good.)

The beginners guide to growing a vegetable garden in a cold climate. Lots of gardening tips to get started and learn how to grow your first garden

Lettuce: Lettuce is easy to grow and there are tons of varieties to experiment with.  I’ve had the best success with butter crunch lettuce.  It’s easy to grow, slower to bolt, and has a texture I like.  Plant 3 small sections of lettuce a week apart so you’ll have fresh lettuce all summer.  Once you cut the lettuce it will grow back so you can eat it again.  Just don’t let it go to seed!

Plan the Perfect Garden

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Zucchini: This plant is prolific, so only plant it if you like to eat it!  I like to use it in bread, soups and tomato sauce, or wherever I need to sneakily add some nutrition.  Do not ignore the direction on the seed packet to put 3 seeds in one spot.  It seems weird, but the strongest plant will win out.  Make sure to check your plant every 3 days once it starts producing.  If you wait a week you will have a baseball bat on your hands.

The beginners guide to growing a vegetable garden in a cold climate. Lots of gardening tips to get started and learn how to grow your first garden

Corn: Corn requires a bit of space, but is easy to grow.  Plant 2 or 3 short rows verses 1 skinny one so the corn can pollinate.  The rows should be 30 inches apart and the plants thinned out to 12 inches.  You won’t get a decent amount of corn if you skip this step.  Wear garden gloves when you’re planting, because all corn seed is treated.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes are the most labour intensive plants of this beginner garden.  However, the taste of a fresh tomato or homemade sauce is well worth the effort!

Whether you purchase plants or start them earlier from seed, you’ll need to harden them off (put them outside during the day and take them in at night) for about a week before you plant them.  (This is why you need to buy your plants a week ahead of time.)  Do not place them in a super hot location just yet, and shelter them from the wind.

Each tomato will need a cage around it so the plant does not touch the ground when it’s bigger.  If your tomatoes grow on the ground they will likely rot.  You might also want to put a coffee can around the base of your cage.  This protects your plant from the wind when its small, and helps support the plant when it’s mature.

For envy-enducing tomatoes, water once a week with compost tea, Miracle Grow, or some other fertilizer for vegetables.  There are many other ways to provide fertilizer for your plants, but Miracle Grow is the simplest when you’re just starting out.

Finally, in Saskatchewan you must pick your tomatoes before the first frost.  This means that you will be picking most of your tomatoes green.  Do not leave them out during a frost, or your whole crop will be ruined.

If you don’t like tomatoes or don’t think you’ll want to make any sauce, you might want to skip them your first year.

Plants I do not Recommend Your First Year of Vegetable Gardening

Peppers: I’ve never had great success with growing peppers and find that they die easily.  Your first garden is all about building confidence!  If you must have peppers, here’s my best picks for beginners.

Cabbage: Cabbage tends to split if it doesn’t get consistent water.  A beginner gardener is more likely to be lax about watering.

Spinach: I’ve never had much luck growing it, and whatever manages to come up seems to bolt in about 2 seconds.

Pumpkins and Squash: Both pumpkins and squash are very easy to grow, but I’m assuming that you probably don’t have a lot of space.  If you do have space, definitely give them a try.  Word to the wise: one spaghetti squash plant can produce 20 squashes.

Radishes: Radishes bolt quickly and are quick to turn woody.  You need to be checking your garden everyday to pick them at the right time.

If you’re still feeling nervous, remember the wise words of my Mother-in-Law, “things grow.”  She said this a lot to me last year as a fretted if I was “doing it right.”

Cucumbers: If you have a lot of space you can give them a try.  For me they make this list because they need decent water and to be picked every 3 days once they start producing.

Plants of the brasica family: Kale, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts are all especially prone to pests, especially if you live in a farming area like Saskatchewan.

Planting a vegetable garden doesn't have to be complicated!  Here's how to grow delicious vegetables --a guide in simple language that's perfect for beginners!!

Plant Families & Rotation

One last thing: some plants don’t grow well beside other plants.  In a small first garden you probably don’t have to worry to much about this, but it is good to know about once you start expanding.  You’ll also want to make sure you keep a map of what you planted so you can rotate your crops.  It prevents disease and keeps your soil healthy.  This is something I also go into more detail about in my online gardening course.

Phew, that’s it!  So get out there and get planting!  Questions or advice?  I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

14 Comments
Filed Under: Backyard Florist, Gardening, Projects Tagged: beginner, best plants for beginners, choosing plants, Garden, Gardening, hardiness zones, planting, plants, when to plant, zones

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Leah Weber says

    May 2, 2017 at 9:20 am

    These are wonderful tips, especially someone with no green thumb! I will pin this for later when I want to plant a few things!
    Reply
  2. Jobie Medina says

    May 2, 2017 at 9:51 am

    This is perfect. I live in Minnesota and have been wanting a garden but was afraid it wouldn't make it. I needed these tips. Thanks!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      May 2, 2017 at 9:55 am

      I'm so glad I could help you! You probably live in at least zone 4, so you have more options than I do. Please let me know how your garden goes!
      Reply
  3. Lauren says

    May 3, 2017 at 10:22 am

    I love these tips! I hadn't thought to try growing lettuce, I may give that a try this year. I'm not a "complete" beginner, but my husband grew up growing all his own food...so I'm enough of a beginner ;)
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      May 3, 2017 at 11:01 am

      Awesome! Experiment with three different varieties your first year so you can figure out what you like best and what grows best.
      Reply
  4. Andrea Bates says

    May 3, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    I LOVE this. Because you know what? I literally have no clue. :) Best image ever.
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      May 3, 2017 at 7:16 pm

      Thanks so much! It's embarrassing, but despite growing up on a farm and helping out with my parents GIGANTIC garden every year, I didn't have a clue either when it was time to make my own.
      Reply
  5. Kristyn Laird says

    June 1, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    Hello, hello!! My mother, Jan, (you stayed with her while going to school at one point???) mentioned this blog to me since I'm attempting to garden this year (I was assigned a small plot in a community garden). I was told the waitlist was several years but was assigned a spot just a few weeks later so not much planning or thought was put into it...I'm just hoping *something* manages to survive. I'll be popping in every so often to see how your gardening exploits are going!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      June 1, 2017 at 9:40 pm

      Kristyn!! I'm so glad you're here. Please let me know if you have any specific problems you'd like me to write about. I'd love to help you out! P.s. I'll never forget your mom's kindness. She let me stay with her for a weekend when I was far away from home, my Dad had recently died, and I just needed someone to be a mom for me for a weekend. I'll happily pay her kindness forward.
      Reply
  6. Naomi Suchan says

    July 6, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    Oh my goodness, how did I miss this post!! It's absolutely perfect for getting our garden started. Even though I have the expert herself living just down the road (lucky me!!), I'll definitely keep it for reference for the next few years.
    Reply
  7. Hilda Nikal says

    May 26, 2019 at 11:40 pm

    Yes, I have started my rows and only have two more rows to plant. 43 X 90, wow, it's huge.
    Reply
  8. Nicole says

    May 29, 2019 at 6:02 pm

    As we settle into a new home in BC the kids so wanted a garden, so we will try a few of these first-timer tips! Thanks for all the info.
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      June 4, 2019 at 7:29 am

      You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful!
      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. HOw to Grow a Container Garden - Pretty Simple Ideas says:
    December 5, 2018 at 10:05 am
    […] For context, I garden in the almost-tundra-zone-3a (joking. . .not really) that is Saskatchewan.  When I researched your growing conditions in zone 7a, I got extremely jealous.  The longer growing season, the option to grow two crops, the extra plant varieties. . . the envy.  However, if you’re reading this and in zone 3a, check out my post on gardening when you have no clue. […]
    Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year? Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year?  A new post is on the blog to walk you through it.  While in theory eucalyptus is easy to grow, it's challenging in my zone 3 garden for three reasons: ⁠
⁠
➡️It needs a long time to mature⁠
➡️I have a short growing season⁠
➡️I live in a cool climate, and eucalyptus grows better when its warm.⁠
⁠
That said, you can see by this picture that it can be done!!⁠
⁠
Are you growing eucalyptus this year?
Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums up how this last week went, I think it's this one.  Babies crying, trying to stay calm, outwardly looking like it's all under control, but feeling very overwhelmed.⁠
⁠
This post isn't gardening related, so feel free to scroll by if you're here only for the gardening content.⁠
⁠
Thankfully it's January, and I keep reminding myself that the Internet will not break if I don't keep to my self-imposed posting schedule.  But it doesn't make a week full of teething-and-not-sleeping baby any easier. ⁠
⁠
Felicity slept through the night for the first time ever last Monday, then proceeded to punish us with frequent wakings and terrible sleep until Saturday.  And as tough as this is in regular times, in Covid times its extra frustrating because I don't have my village.⁠
⁠
I can't just call up another Mama friend and go for coffee at her house.  I can't take my son out for a Mommy-and-Dominic date because everything he'd want to do isn't really much of an option.  There's no playgroup or play place to just drop in on.  And forget just taking everybody out to get groceries just for a change of scenery.⁠
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I know people have way more serious problems than this, and I hope I don't sound whiny and entitled, it's not my intention.  Please know that I'm very grateful for my family and job and that so far we've been healthy. ⁠
⁠
A lot of you who follow me do so in part because you are also juggling life with very little people through this strange time.  I hope that in occasionally sharing my struggles, it makes you feel better about your struggles. (You're struggling too sometimes. . . right?)
Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth deg Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth degree, do you just wing it, or are you somewhere in-between?⁠
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I tend to plan it all out, and then when I actually get out in the field, so to speak, the plan changes a little bit. ⁠
⁠
If you need a garden planner that's both pretty & practical, my garden planner is available in the ebooks section.  It's only $9 and has lots of upgrades from the previous planner.  Use code CANADA if you're Canadian to account for the exchange.⁠
⁠
P.S. You can see exactly what you're getting in the video--no surprises. ⁠
P.P.S  I get my planner bound and printed at a printing place.  Lots of people just print their own and put the sheets in a binder.
Are you gardening in containers this year? When y Are you gardening in containers this year?  When you're shopping for vegetable seeds, look for varieties that have names with words like patio, tiny, small, etc.  While lots of vegetable varieties will do fine in a container, you'll have an easier time with ones that are specifically bred for that situation.⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
I'm living the pepper dream in this photo. While I'm living the pepper dream in this photo.  While these ones are a bit on the small side, who doesn't want ripe peppers in July in zone 3?!?! ⁠
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Over the years I've gotten better at growing peppers, and I promise I'll spill my secrets in February when it's actually time to start them.  Until then, get yourself all or one of my four favourite varieties: ⁠
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🌶️Carmen⁠
🌶️Escamillo⁠
🌶️Candy Stripe⁠
🌶️Hungarian Hot Wax⁠
⁠
Do you have a favourite pepper variety?⁠
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Have you flipped open a seed catalogue lately? It Have you flipped open a seed catalogue lately?  It's so easy to get completely overwhelmed, especially if you're new to gardening.  Why are there so many varieties of everything and which ones do I choose?⁠
⁠
Here's how I try to narrow it down.⁠
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🌤️ Short growing season like me?  Try and prioritize varieties that have short dates to maturity.⁠
🥗 What do you or your family actually eat?  While I think you should always try a couple of new things, there's no sense in planting a giant garden filled with vegetables that you're not going to cook with. ⁠
🥒 Do you care whether your vegetables are heirlooms or hybrids?  Heirlooms are the kind that have been around for 50+ years and you can save seeds from.  Believe it or not, this year we're prioritizing hybrids for some of our garden.  The Hermit @mgsraney is obsessed with production this year, so anything that's going in "his" greenhouse better be able to produce a lot.  I'm using more heirlooms in my "glamour garden" as we call it, because I want things that are pretty and I can save seeds from.⁠
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What do you prioritize when you're picking out seeds?⁠
Last week we started thinking about our plans for Last week we started thinking about our plans for cut flower gardening, now this week we start thinking about plans for our vegetable gardens.  Unlike cut flowers, there's not as many vegetables that need to be started ridiculously early.  However, it's still fun to plan and dream and get your thoughts sorted.⁠
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I'm curious--what size of garden do you have to work with?  Are you on an acreage or farm, city backyard, or do you have a couple of pots on an apartment patio?⁠
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As for me, I have quite a mix.  I have my container garden on my backyard deck, the small cut flower garden in my yard, then vegetables in raised beds.  We also garden at my Mother-in-law's acreage, so there's a giant garden over there where we're figuring out how to grow food on a larger scale.  Then finally, sometimes my Mom grows things for me in her garden if I'm nervous that I'll ruin them in my own garden--call it a backup garden if you will.⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
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