How to Start a Homestead Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide Jenny Graham, June 20, 2025June 20, 2025 Starting a homestead garden is a great way to take charge of your food supply, become more self-reliant, and enjoy the satisfaction of growing your own food. Whether you’re working with limited space in a suburban yard or so much space that your options are endless, you can start a homestead garden. What are Your Homestead Garden Goals and Specific Needs? The first step in starting a homestead garden is to clearly define your goals. You’ll want to take into consideration a few things. Do I want to grow my own vegetables and herbs for daily meals only? Am I aiming to grow enough for food preservation? Do I want to include fruit trees or backyard chickens? How much garden space do I really have? Understanding your motivations will help guide your garden planning and ensure you’re not overwhelmed in your first year. Remember, it’s a learning process. Starting small is always a good idea. When you start a homestead garden that is too overwhelming and large, it can lead to burnout fast. Start a Homestead Garden by Accessing Your Space and Sunlight Take a close look at your available garden area. Determine how many square feet you have and whether that area receives much sunlight or partial shade. Sun exposure is one of the most important things to consider when choosing your garden location. Most vegetable gardening plants, like leafy greens, green beans, and squash plants, need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight a day. The exception to this would be if you live in a tropical or subtropical climate, such as Florida. I have found that 4-6 hours is plenty of sun for my Florida garden. If you’re short on space, consider container gardening or smaller beds. Even urban homesteaders, like my friend Elise at The Urban Harvest, can grow tons of herbs, tomatoes, fruit, and greens in small garden areas like balconies, patios, or even a tiny yard. The Easy Way to Start a Homestead Garden Once you have your garden space picked out, tarp it. Tarping your space will kill grass and weeds and cut down on some of the initial work when you break ground. Just about any tarp will do, weigh it down, and leave it for 4-6 weeks, if you have time. Remove the tarp, do an initial till if you’d like, amend the soil, and form your garden rows using a shovel. Plant, sow seeds, add mulch, and there you have it. You started your very first homestead garden. Start a Homestead Garden by Testing and Preparing Your Soil Soil is the foundation of a productive garden, and soil quality is one of the most important things for success. Do a simple soil test to find out your soil type and pH levels. You can get kits at your local Home Depot, your local extension office, or even on Amazon. Start by improving your soil with organic matter like compost and aged manure. Consider starting a compost bin if you haven’t already. The best way to build healthy soil is to feed it well. Once your soil is amended, you can protect it by adding layers of mulch or wood chips to retain moisture and reduce weeds. Designing Your Garden Layout Your garden layout depends on your space, goals, and preferences. Whether you choose raised garden beds, square foot gardening, or traditional garden beds, the key is to optimize your growing space. Raised beds and smaller beds are a great option for smaller spaces and provide better drainage and soil control. They also tend to be more expensive and aren’t necessary if you want to just garden right in the ground. No matter which you choose, make sure to leave paths for walking, mowing, and plan for crop rotation, which prevents soil depletion while reducing pests and disease. New gardens can benefit from a simple grid system to keep things organized. Using our square foot gardening guide is a great tool to use when you start a homestead garden. Choosing the Right Crops to Start a Homestead Garden Choose plants that do well in your climate zone, space, and grow things you and your family will eat. Finding a nursery or seed starting company that is local to you is the best option. They often will carry plants and seeds that thrive in your area. Consider growing easy things to start like: Leafy greens (spinach, kale, lettuce) Green beans Radishes Squash plants Sweet potatoes Cherry Tomatoes Culinary herbs (basil, thyme, oregano) Perennials like fruit trees or berry bushes, if you have enough room Start with easy crops that you will enjoy in your first year and branch out into different things as your green thumb develops. Trying fun or beautiful things to grow is always a great way to keep growing your gardening knowledge. Understanding Your Climate Zone and Growing Season Your local zip code determines your climate zone, which in turn affects your growing season. Use online tools to identify your USDA plant hardiness zone and know your frost dates. Late spring and late fall are important transition periods. Choose crops suited to your climate zone and stagger plantings to make the most of your season. Crops like sweet potatoes, green beans, and squash plants thrive in summer, while leafy greens like kale and spinach can be grown in cooler temperatures. Our Clyde’s Garden Planner is a great tool to help you start a homestead garden, no matter what climate you are in. Set Up a Water Source Before You Start a Homestead Garden Water is crucial for a productive garden. Make sure you have access to a consistent water source. Drip irrigation systems, soaker hoses, or simple watering cans can all do the job, depending on your garden size. Watering deeply and less frequently is the best way to encourage strong root growth. Hard work now ensures easier maintenance later. If you live in a hot climate, you may find that daily watering is necessary. Building Infrastructure & Adding Livestock Think about the long term. Adding chickens or small livestock like rabbits or goats will give you the benefit of free fertilizer for the garden. You can add permanent or semi-permanent structures that will benefit your garden for years to come. Raised beds Trellising for the garden Rainwater Collection Automated Irrigation A shed for garden tools and supplies A chicken coop for backyard chickens Fencing for deer and rabbit pest control A compost bin A small cold storage shed or a cold room These investments will pay off over time. They may require hard work up front, but they’ll increase your food security and ease day-to-day maintenance. After You Start a Homestead Garden, You Must Maintain It Maintaining your garden will be easier if you can set aside a certain time of day, morning or evening, to be in the garden. I like to have gardening tasks on a schedule of sorts. Watering as needed, pulling weeds on Monday, pest control on Wednesday, and fertilizing on Friday. This tends to keep things moving along nicely in my garden. For fertilizer and organic pest control options, you can check out these articles: The Top 5 Organic Pest Control Methods for Your Garden Different Types of Fertilizer: When and How to Use Them Don’t Forget to Practice Crop Rotation in the Garden Crop rotation is essential for maintaining soil health and controlling pests. Rotate plant families each year. For example, don’t plant tomatoes in the same bed where you grew them last year. Keep Companion Planting in Mind When You Start a Homestead Garden Companion planting is another great idea. Pair plants that support each other’s growth, like basil and tomatoes, or carrots and onions. These methods enhance yields and reduce the need for synthetic inputs. Using our companion planting guide will get you off to a great start. Planning for Food Preservation and Storage One of the biggest perks of a self-sufficient lifestyle is having fresh produce to preserve. Learning different food preservation methods will help you reap the benefits of growing your own food. Learn Homesteading Skills Like: Canning Dehydrating Freezing Fermenting If you grow a large garden, you’ll want cold storage solutions like a basement, cool closet, or an actual root cellar. In Florida, we use a small, insulated room with a Cool-Bot. Having fresh food on hand in the winter months means fewer trips to the grocery store and more healthy food year-round. When You Start a Homestead Garden, You’ll Learn from Your First Year Keep a journal. What worked? What didn’t? Did you have enough room? Did a certain garden location get too much shade? Were pests a problem? Did your soil type drain too quickly? Reflecting on your first year is key to improvement. Adjust your garden planning, try different things, find local growers to inspire you, and keep growing. Start a Homestead Garden: The Best Time Is Now Starting a homestead garden is a great example of how small changes can lead to big rewards. Whether you have a small family, small space, or acres of free land, there are different ways to create a productive garden that meets your needs. The hardest part is often just getting started. But with a little research, some hard work, and a commitment to the day-to-day activities of gardening, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest and take a big step toward a self-sufficient lifestyle. So roll up your sleeves, test your soil, plant those seeds, and watch as your homestead garden becomes a thriving source of fresh food, fulfillment, and resilience. There’s no better time than now to dig in and grow some food. Happy Gardening & Homesteading, Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for more than two decades. They currently live on a 10-acre farm in Northeast Florida, which they built from the ground up, nine years ago. On their farm, they grow 100% of their meat and most of their vegetables. With a small herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, pastured poultry, sheep, and seasonal pigs, they not only meet their family’s meat needs but also sell their surplus to the local community. They are dedicated to sustainable practices like making compost, seed saving, and processing much of their garden and animal harvests at home. You can find Jenny wandering through her garden, making herbal tinctures, preserving food, making bone broth, and one of Jenny’s favorite hobbies, tanning all types of hides. Gardening Homesteading