Backyard Beginnings: Gardening for Beginners & What We’re Doing Differently in Year Two
Last year, Jason and I decided to try something new: we turned a sunny backyard patch into a tiny, thriving garden. We built three raised beds, filled them with layers of branches, soaked cardboard boxes, compost, fresh soil, and mulch. We purchased seedlings and small plants of various beginner-friendly veggies and herbs and gently tucked them into the raised beds and hoped for the best! Neither of us had much gardening experience, but we were excited to learn, and a little in awe of how satisfying it was to grow our food with our own hands.
That first season, we kept it simple: zucchini, tomatoes, spring onion, cucumbers, sweet peas, jalapeños, butternut squash, pumpkin, radicchio, and lettuce. We also added a mix of flowers — marigolds, yarrow, daisies, baby’s breath, and a few perennials — partly because they were beautiful, and partly because we’d read that flowers like marigolds can help deter pests. (Spoiler: they did help!)
Our raised beds became this cozy little ecosystem. It was far from perfect — some plants flourished, others didn’t — but the process of checking on the garden each morning with a cup of tea in hand became a grounding ritual. And there was nothing more rewarding than slicing into a homegrown zucchini or plucking sweet peas right off the vine for a snack. Our dog, Oscar, especially enjoyed munching on the baby cucumbers!
What We Learned in Year One
If you’re just getting started with gardening, here are a few lessons we took away from our first year:
Start small and grow from there: Three beds felt just right. We weren’t overwhelmed, and we could tend to everything without it feeling like a second full-time job. We also had some herbs and tomatoes growing in plastic pots on the deck. Even if you don’t have a backyard, experiment with patio garden options like raised planters, stackable pots, and other similar ideas.
Companion planting is magic: Placing certain herbs and flowers around your veggies can naturally repel pests. We loved using marigolds near tomatoes and basil near peppers.
Don’t stress the setbacks: Some things just didn’t grow. Our pumpkins took over way more space than expected, and our radicchio didn’t love the summer heat. That’s okay — every mistake was a lesson.
Watering is an art: Too much or too little can make a big difference. We learned to check the soil with our fingers and water in the early morning before the sun hit full force, or towards the end of the day as the sun was going down.
Year Two: A New Season, A New Approach 🌱
This spring, we’re trying something a bit more ambitious. We started seeds indoors in a little starter kit with hexagonal pods — a fun and surprisingly calming project during the long winter. Our indoor lineup includes:
🫑 Orange King bell peppers
🌶️ Hot pepper early jalapeños + Thai dragon peppers
🍅 Tomatoes, celery, yellow onion, and Black Beauty zucchinis
🧅 Musselburg leeks
🌼 Flowers like African marigolds, black-eyed Susans, lupins, wallflowers, delphinium, and more
After the seedlings began to sprout, we carefully transplanted them into individual pots to give their roots more room to grow. They now sit by our sunniest window (occupying all the real estate on our dining table), soaking up every bit of light until we’re past the last frost and ready to move them to the garden beds.
This year, we’re being more intentional with plant placement — thinking through companion planting, spacing, and using flowers again as pest deterrents. The marigolds were a huge success last year, so they’re making a comeback. We’re also giving more breathing room to the squashes and cucumbers, which definitely took over in year one.
For the Gardening Curious
If you’ve been flirting with the idea of starting a garden, let this be your gentle nudge to go for it. You don’t need to know everything to begin. You just need soil, seeds, sunlight, and a willingness to learn. It’s not just about growing food. It’s about the ritual of tending to something with care, the mindfulness of getting your hands dirty, and the joy that comes from harvesting what you nurtured.
As we move into our second year of gardening, we’re still learning, still experimenting, and still surprised by how much this little backyard project has brought to our lives.
I'll be sharing updates through the season (including our hits and misses!), but in the meantime, I’d love to know: are you growing anything this year? What's in your garden?
