How to start your own fruit, veggie and herb garden

Madison loves fresh. Home to one of the largest farmer's market's in the country, this shouldn't come as a shock. Every Saturday, rain, snow or shine from April to October, you can find thousands of people around the Capital Square - and then it continues for the remainder of the winter indoors at Monona Terrace and the Senior Center.

In addition to the great, local markets like Metcalfe's and Jenifer Street, this is the place to get your fresh fruits and veggies (and meat and cheese) at the peak of their growing season.

Alternatively, like us, you can grow your own!

A little over a month ago, The Roommate and I decided it was time to save a few pennies (it's not like we're restoring a house or anything) and plant a garden.

The backyard has been a little on the rough side since we cleaned it out almost a year ago.

Don't worry, this is pre-clean-out

When my parents were visiting, we did a bit more cleaning from the areas that had started to get overgrown again.

Yes, this is the same stretch of lawn

The grasses didn't end up working out there because the plant boxes covered up the roses that had gone in shortly before. Once they moved, the cedar raised plant beds moved over into their place.

To fill the raised beds, we mixed an inexpensive top and potting soil mix with dirt from an existing pile elsewhere in the yard. It's about a 2:1 mixture (existing to store bought) and gives us a good starter for our plants.

Once it was full, we laid out the plants, making sure to provide enough space around each of them according to the instructions. It's important to not plant them too closely together so that they can grow to maturity.

When you use peat pots (herbs and other veggies often come in them), you want to saturate the pot and tear off the bottom. From there, tear the bottom into pieces and put it in the hole you dug out, add a bit of potting soil and put in the rest of the plant. Add little plant tags so you know what's what when you come back!

Since I like to cook, we put one bed to use just for some small fruit and veggie plants. The other went just to herbs - there's nothing like cooking with fresh herbs for great flavor!

Now, a little over a month later, we've got a HUGE tomato plant and the others are nice and healthy. To keep the beds looking good, keep your plants watered (not drowned) and the beds weeded so they don't choke the plants you do want.

We're looking forward to our harvest of tomatoes, peppers, herbs and, hopefully a few strawberries and raspberries. Have you started a garden like this? What are you most excited for from yours?