A guide with H2 and H3 headings: Tocly builds the table of contents, highlights the section you are reading and shows a reading progress bar at the top of the screen.
- Scroll down: the bar at the top of the screen fills as you read, and the current section is highlighted in the table.
- Click a line of the table: smooth scroll to the section, with room for the sticky header.
- Tocly is also active on every guide of our blog.
Choosing the right spot
Most vegetables need at least six hours of sun a day. Watch your garden for a full day before digging: note where the shade of trees and walls falls in the morning and in the afternoon. A spot close to the kitchen door gets visited, weeded and harvested more often.
Avoid low corners where water collects after rain, and keep a path wide enough for a wheelbarrow.
Sun and shade
Tomatoes, peppers and courgettes love full sun. Lettuce, spinach and herbs such as parsley tolerate half shade, especially in hot summers.
Water access
Watering is the daily task. A tap or a rain barrel within a few metres saves a lot of time. Drip irrigation on a timer is worth it for larger plots.
Preparing the soil
Good soil is dark, crumbly and full of life. Remove weeds and grass, loosen the soil with a fork without turning it upside down, and add a few centimetres of compost on top. Earthworms will do the rest.
If your soil is heavy clay or very sandy, raised beds filled with a mix of soil and compost are the easiest solution.
What to plant first
Start small with vegetables that grow fast and forgive mistakes: radishes, lettuce, courgettes, green beans and cherry tomatoes. Add herbs around the edges: they attract pollinators and you will use them every day.
A simple first-year plan
Spring: radishes, lettuce, peas. Early summer: tomatoes, courgettes, beans. Late summer: a second sowing of lettuce and spinach for autumn.
Watering and mulching
Water in the morning, at the foot of the plants, generously but less often. Cover the soil with a layer of straw, dry grass clippings or leaves: the mulch keeps moisture, feeds the soil and stops most weeds.
Harvest and keep going
Pick often: many vegetables produce more when they are harvested regularly. Note what worked and what did not in a small notebook, and plan next year from it. A garden improves every season.