Many people think of gardening as a summer pastime, something reserved for warm days and long evenings outdoors. In reality, growing fruit and vegetables is a year-round commitment, with some of the most important work happening well before peak sunshine arrives. What you do outside the garden in cooler months often determines how successful your harvest will be.

Whether you’re tending an established plot or planting your very first food-producing crops, this is the moment to start preparing. Getting organized early and putting the right things in the ground now helps you make the most of the growing season ahead — and sets you up for a healthier, more rewarding harvest later on.

Clearing the Ground

You can’t just scatter seeds on the ground and expect something to come from it. Before you can plant anything, you need to make sure the ground is ready and waiting.

Digging over soil is the most common way to break up hard earth and get rid of weeds. While a shovel will work just fine, a more specialized tool like a Dutch hoe can do a fantastic job of quickly clearing a plot of land and making it ready for planting.

Make sure to remove any larger and more stubborn weeds so they don’t take root again, and depending on what you’re growing, consider using a weed membrane or a medium like bark or mulch to prevent them from coming back too quickly.

Raised Beds

If digging over plots sounds too much like hard work, you don’t have soil in your backyard, or you want a more space-efficient garden, raised beds could be a better option.

As the name suggests, raised beds are off the ground and filled with soil and compost. You can buy raised beds or make them yourself. Because they’re higher up, it’s often easier on your back and knees to garden from raised beds. You can also grow plants more tightly together as they take advantage of the potentially deeper soil underneath.

Seeds and Plants

Of course, if you want to grow anything, you’re going to need seeds. You can get seeds online, which are perfect for gardens or even larger areas like farms and smallholdings. You can shop according to your climate and region, so you can pick plants that are more likely to thrive in your area.

You can also get young plants that are more expensive but are more likely to thrive. This is good if you’re slightly later in the season, as it can give you a head start compared to growing from seed.

Compost and Plant Care

Gardening is more than just putting seeds in soil and leaving them to it. You’ve got to manage the weeds around them, make sure they get enough water, and make sure they get the right nutrients.

Compost is a great way to provide nutrients through broken-down organic matter. While you can buy compost and plant food designed for specific plants, you can also simply make compost yourself. Vegetable scraps, sawdust, and other materials break down over time into the gardening version of black gold. A compost bin or hotbox will break down this material even more quickly, allowing you to seed your soil and raised beds with nutrient-rich compost.