Where to start
No experience, no land, no problem. Follow these seven steps — in order — and you'll go from bare dirt to your first real harvest this season.
1. Observe before you plant
Spend a week watching your space: where does sun fall morning to evening, where does water pool, where does wind bite? Sketch it. In permaculture, the answer to 'what should I grow?' starts with 'what does this place offer?'
2. Start absurdly small
One 4×8 ft bed or three large containers — that's a real garden. A 4,000 sq ft project you abandon by July is not. You can always expand; every successful season teaches more than three failed ones.
3. Build your soil first
Before a single seed: add compost, lay mulch, and set up a water source. Gardening is mostly soil care with plants as the reward — read our soil guide and your first season will beat most people's fifth.
4. Plant your easy wins
Start with forgiving plants: bush beans, zucchini, lettuce, kale, mint, sunflowers, radishes. Early harvests build momentum and confidence — save the celery and cauliflower for year two.
5. Mulch and water wisely
2–3 inches of mulch cuts watering in half. Water deeply and less often — a daily sprinkle makes shallow, lazy roots. Morning watering beats evening (wet leaves overnight invite disease).
6. Layer in a perennial backbone
Once beds hum along, add perennials that pay every year with almost no work: asparagus, rhubarb, berries, a fruit tree. Perennials are what turn a vegetable plot into a permaculture garden.
7. Keep a garden journal
Write down what you planted, when, and what happened. In two years you'll have zone-specific knowledge no book can give you. And whenever you're unsure — ask your Genie.
You know where you grow — now find what grows
Your zone-filtered plant library is one click away.
