How to Grow a Vegetable Garden

Sunny areas are better than shady ones, so dig those up first. (This is called starting small, though chances are you’ll soon have no lawn left.)

Enrich the soil with lots of compost and mushroom manure. It’s organic, and all that nitrogen will be good for the plants you should concentrate on.

Start with greens—especially arugula, lettuce, mesclun mix, and, if you can find it, a wonderful peppery blend called Asian micro-mix. Sow in March or April, again in early June, again in August. You’ll get eight months’ worth of salads.

Reliable root crops like carrots and beets, as well as spinach and chard, overwinter beautifully.

Grow tomatoes, too, but put them in planters and protect them from cool, rainy weather, which causes blight.