So you’ve ordered your seeds and now you’re thinking, “Where the *beep* do I plant them?”

Each plant has it’s own preferred conditions, but in a suburban setting, the best place to start is with raised beds.

Hooley dooley those things are expensive! Well, they are if you but the fancy pants pre-made beds from Bunnings. But that doesn’t really sound like something we would do around here, does it 😉

Other options include old railway sleepers (if you’re in Brissy there is a place on Boundary Road in Deception Bay which sells these), recycled garden edging from the tip shop (hello Dakabin Refuse Centre) or you can do what we did and buy a truckload of used bricks. We paid $50 for our’s, but if you have the time to wait they sometimes come up for free. Just keep an eye out on Gumtree.

A truckload of used bricks makes for cheap raised beds

Pick a nice sunny spot in the garden because vegies need LOTS of sun. Against a fence or wall can be helpful to keep them protected. Mark out the ground and remove the grass. This is a perfect task for husbands to complete. Send the grass to the tip as green waste.

You could really do this yourself, but husbands like to feel useful 😉

Next step, put the kids to work. Don’t give them pocket money for this. Instead tell them that hard work builds character

If you don’t have your own kids, feel free to borrow mine. He’s a good worker and CHEAP TOO!

My strawberries were dying in their punnets so I added some quality soil and got them planted quick smart. For the rest of the garden we got a trailer load of fill soil for free. Again, check Gumtree. Depending on how good your free soil is, you may need to add a layer of quality top soil.

Strawberries in. More soil and then coffee plants are next. Don’t worry about the lack of sun in this pic, it was taken at about 5pm

Once your garden is prepared you will want to improve the soil with manure, compost, etc. Make sure you do all this well in advance of planting to make sure the nutrients are available to your plants when they need them.

You could also try your hand at growing vegetables in pots or straw bales.

Now all you need to do is decide what goes where!