How to Start a Backyard Garden

At H-E-B, we know not everyone has a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean your garden can’t be ripe with yummy vegetables and delicious herbs. This spring, grow your favorite Texas veggies with helpful tips from H-E-B’s garden experts. Before you know it, your kitchen will be bursting with the fruits (or veggies!) of your labor.

Play in the Dirt
A good-quality soil will enrich your garden, allowing for healthier plants. Clear the area of grass, weeds, and debris, and use a shovel to turn the soil to a depth of twelve to fourteen inches. Mix in a three to four-inch layer of compost into the soil. Rake the soil until it is airy and level. Loose, well-aerated soil allows oxygen to reach the plants' roots more readily and warms up more quickly. H-E-B’s garden experts recommend New Earth’s Top Shelf Garden Soil enriched with Medina Growin Green. Top off your garden beds with about two inches of New Earth’s hardwood, red, or black mulch. All three are made and packaged right in the heart of Texas. Keep your garden healthy and happy by topping it off with H-E-B’s new All Purpose Organic Fertilizer by Medina.

Know When to Grow
Timing is everything! For a spring garden, choose vegetables that should be planted in March or April. Tomatoes should be planted in the early spring to ensure you reap the benefits of the beautiful, tasty fruits! Beans, zucchinis, and peppers also are a great early spring plant to start from seeds or a little later from starter plants. H-E-B has a variety of Texas Fresh vegetable plants—H-E-B’s exclusive line of veggies—that thrive in the Lone Star State.

Keep on the Sunny Side
Before you plant your veggies, scout out your yard for the best area to start your garden. Choose an area that gets a minimum of six to eight hours of sunlight a day. Once you have a feel for your garden’s landscape, you can start to plan what works best. For sunnier places, pick plants that can beat the Texas heat (Hint: okra and eggplant love heat!)

In the Kitchen
Bring your garden into your home with windowsill herb plants. Start with a six to twelve-inch container. Fill with two- to three-inches of New Earth Top Shelf Potting Soil and place one to two plants like basil, mint, or thyme inside, then add potting mix around plant. Pick a sunny windowsill and let your garden grow!