The starter setup that survives its first season — the soil recipe, the spacing that actually works, and the three mistakes that kill most first gardens.
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Start with soil, not seeds
Most first beds fail underground. A raised bed with a compost-rich mix outperforms poor native dirt, drains properly, and warms up weeks earlier in spring.
Spacing beats cramming
Seed packets undersell how much room plants need. Crowded beds choke airflow, invite mildew, and yield less than half of what proper spacing produces.
The 3 mistakes that kill a first garden
1Overcrowding — follow the spacing on the packet's back, not the photo on its front.
2Inconsistent water — deep, regular watering beats a daily splash; a $12 timer solves it permanently.
3Wrong season — lettuce and peas want cool weather, tomatoes and peppers want heat. Planting both together fails both.
Want the full step-by-step system?
The guide below covers the complete first-year plan — bed layout, the exact soil recipe, a planting calendar for your zone, and a food-yield checklist — so you skip a season of trial and error.