There’s nothing better than cooking a delicious, homegrown meal with veggies straight from your own backyard. So, we’ve put together some veggie garden ideas to get you started.
Growing Vegetables in a Coastal Climate
Living near the beach means that gardeners have to deal with high levels of salt in the air and soil and higher winds.
You may have noticed the salt build-up on your car and windows when living near the beach. The same build-up occurs on the plants.
To protect your vegetable gardens from coastal climate conditions, try the following:
- Plant salt-tolerant vegetables such as:
- Beetroot
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Tomatoes
- Spinach
- Kale
- If you want to plant other types of veggies, ensure they are in a protected section of your garden, and you water them more regularly.
- On windy days, water the plants to wash away the salt build-up on the leaves.
- Have excellent drainage for your veggie garden so that potentially salty water can be washed away
- Add lots of compost to your soil to give your plants more to feed on and balance out the salt.
- Use deep watering to counteract the salt build-up.
- Plant your veggie garden in a protected area, with a screen or fence taking the brunt of the wind
- Grow Your Veggie Garden in Containers & Pots
If the above information seems a bit daunting, and the idea of planting your veggie garden straight in the soil of your backyard seems like a lot of work – you can start with a mini veggie garden in pots or containers.
A lot of veggies are very happy to grow in pots, and some actually thrive more in their own space—for example, cherry tomatoes and spring onions.
All of the materials you need to start your veggie garden in pots or containers can be bought at your local hardware store, like Bunnings. You’ll need:
- Pots or containers
- 1 or 2 bags of soil per pot/container
- Seeds or seedlings of your vegetables
- Gardening gloves
- Small garden shovel (trowel)
- Plant food for when you first pot the veggies
To save money, pots can be bought at Op Shops or found for free on sites like Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. Make sure to use pots that have good drainage out of the bottom.
Starting your veggie garden in pots or containers may be helpful in coastal areas as you can move them around to protect them from the wind on particularly wild and woolly days and then move them back into the sun.
For more veggie garden ideas, check out the advice in this Better Homes & Gardens article.
Build a Home (and a veggie garden) at Capricorn Beach!
Moving into a new property represents the perfect opportunity to start your own veggie patch. Also, giving away the extra veggies you’ve grown is an excellent way to get to know your neighbours!
Browse the Capricorn Beach land for sale in Yanchep, and start looking for the perfect piece of coastal property to build your new home.
