Growing vegetables is a very cost efficient way to help keep your grocery budget sustainable even in the face of climbing food costs. Not only is the experience one that will enrich your wallet it can also enrich your family life and time spent together. I have always enjoyed planting vegetables every year since I was a child on the farm all the way into my adulthood.

Gardening is my favorite hobby but this hub is more for the person who may want to start out small with one or two types of plants in their next vegetable growing season. I have gathered a few things that might help to start your garden plans off on the right foot.

First and foremost just the idea of researching plants in general can be very overwhelming, I am in no way going to try to give you all the information you need for every vegetable there is out there. I am going to try to keep this very basic and very simple but also very enjoyable because simply put I love plants. 

I love to utilities the area I have available to grow what vegetables my family loves to eat fresh like cucumbers. I have a medium sized tree that I limited the pruning when I trimmed it this last fall so it has lower branches this year so they serve as the support for my cucumber plants. This has worked so well I am going to do it again next year. One great side effect I really didn't think about but love none the less is that the cucumbers are growing up on the tree above your head when you walk underneath it. This has a very cool effect as you walk around the side yard and see the cucumbers hanging throughout the tree. I used my side yard because I have limited ideal areas to grow vegetables this year. I planted my vegetables close to the front of my house so they would be very easy to pick to use fresh and it is great to walk out my front door to pick fresh vegetables to use. 

First of all you should ask yourself a few very general questions because your vegetable garden of any size should be exactly what you want it to be. No size is to small or to big, no plan is to ambitious -if you have the time that is. I have had a garden that was 25 feet by 20 feet and I have had garden areas that were no bigger then six vegetable plants so with that in mind I set out to help with a small planning guide.

1. Size does matter.

well for your vegetable garden or planting area anyways. Pick an area or size you can manage to take care of, in other words if you have no time or help to garden save yourself the heartache of making your area to large to care for. In stead base your plantings on the time you have available as well as the help you have to take care of your plants.

2. Location. 

Find an area that gets enough sunlight for at least 8-10 hours a day this is important for your vegetable plants growth. The better the location the better your plants will do. I like to pick an area I walk by on a daily basis because I am inclined to pull a weed, water or just admire my plants.

3. Water.

Often overlooked and understated in the planning process but equally important is water sources for growing vegetables. One things plants love and have to have is water. Many great gardeners in my life had held true to the idea that watering late in the evening or early in the morning is best. When watering I have been told and seen for myself low and slow is best, in other words low to the ground or near the roots and slow is better than a sprinkler watering the top of your plant is best. 

4. Plant choice.

What to plant can be a very hard question to answer but here are just a few tips to make it easier to narrow down:

A. What do you intend to use your plants for, are you growing vegetables for a large family or small?

B. Growing Vegetables is about eating vegetables so does your family like the vegetable you are going to grow?

C. Are you simply going to use the vegetable your are growing fresh or areyou going to can or freeze some of the vegetable?

D. Do you have time to tend to the amount of plants you want to grow?