By definition, urban gardening is "the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around cities." The interest in home gardening grew in the year 2020 unlike any year since America's patriotic "Victory Gardens" were planted during World War I and World War II. During WWII, home, school, and community gardeners produced an estimated 40% of the United States fresh vegetables and fruits, from approximately 20 million gardens! This was the last time in history that food security was under attack until COVID-19 caused the entire world to go on lockdown. In 2020, a resurgence of home gardens grew across the entire world setting record breaking demands for seeds, soil, and plants. 

Ten years ago, we (Dana & Sarah) produced a documentary about gardening called BACK TO EDEN. We both decided that in addition to the main star, Paul Gautschi, a gardener and arborist from Washington, we wanted to include both of our families in the documentary. If we wanted to change the world, we knew we had to start with our own relatives. Neither of our parents had acres of land. Mark and Diane (Sarah's parents) installed a demonstration community garden at a church in Gettysburg while Ron and Sylvia (Dana's parents) installed a demonstration backyard garden at their home in California. The goal of the demonstration gardens was to show that Paul Gautschi's gardening method could be implemented in diverse soil conditions and climates. 

In 2011, BACK TO EDEN premiered online, streaming for free, and immediately went viral. The documentary quickly ignited a global gardening movement called, "Back to Eden Gardening." Fast forward nearly 10 years after the release of the film, Back to Eden Gardening is renowned as one of the best gardening methods in 2020. During the first month of quarantine in the United States, BACK TO EDEN received nearly 1 million views on YouTube. 

Quarantine brought on a new wave of beginner gardeners who were desperately searching for the best ways to grow food at home. Living in Los Angeles, California, we found ourselves under a "safer at home" order which encouraged us to spend more time in our urban garden. We shared our urban gardening experiences daily on Instagram hoping to teach and inspire other home gardeners! Although our backyard and front yard gardens total less than ⅛ of an acre, we were able to grow all of our own produce this year enabling us to have food security during these difficult time. Since we have limited space we focused on creating rich soil. The fact is, when your soil is full of nutrients, you are able to grow a high quantity of nutrient-rich food in a small garden plot. We grew everything from Apples to Zucchini in our small urban garden. 

To this day, both of our parents are still gardeners who practice the Back to Eden Gardening method. ​Mark McOmber offers tours of his community garden in rural Pennsylvania and shares a wealth of knowledge on his YouTube channel. 

This is a vegetable gardening guide for beginners that includes essential steps you need to take to start a garden. Growing a vegetable garden is one of the most life-changing and rewarding things you can do. Starting a vegetable garden using organic gardening principles can save you time, money, and labor while greatly benefiting the environment. This guide starts at improving the soil and will cover every step you need to take for your starting your vegetable garden. 

The first step to start a vegetable garden is to improve the soil. Most importantly, do not till the soil! Tilling the ground is the most destructive thing you can do since tilling causes soil erosion and loss of soil diversity resulting in sterile soil that required more input. Instead, use a no-dig gardening technique that dramatically improves the health of the soil and environment. Once you pick a sunny area for your garden plot, layer the following material in this order: 
HOW TO START A VEGETABLE GARDEN

1. Apply at least 3-4 sheets of newspaper. 
2. Apply at least 3-4 inches of organic compost. 
3. Apply at least  3-4 inches of wood chips as a mulch on your garden. 
4. Apply a dusting of composted animal manure as a natural fertilizer on top of your garden as needed throughout the growing season. Do not add chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides!
5. DO NOT TILL THE SOIL! All of the materials you used to mulch your garden plot are biodegradable and will immediately begin to decompose, breaking down into nutrient-rich soil. 
6. Make sure your garden plot is always mulched! Mulch provides a protective covering on top of your soil that helps retain moisture which reduces watering, weeding, and work. Wood chips also decompose into rich soil overtime. Sign up for a free delivery of wood chips today!

The second most important part of starting a vegetable garden is​ the seeds you plant.  For the best results, plant non-GMO heirloom seeds in your vegetable garden. Heirloom seeds produce the best tasting and most nutritious fruits and vegetables. You can save your own seeds if you plant heirloom seeds which can save you money in the long haul. There are so many incredible varieties of heirloom seeds available from the leading heirloom seed companies.
RECOMMENDED SEED COMPANIES

• Seeds Now
• Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
• Ark Heirloom Seed Kits
• Pinetree Garden Seeds
• Johnny's Selected Seeds
• J.W. Jung Seed Company​

Get $20 OFF an ARK Heirloom Seed Kit using the code: WOODCHIPS

HOW DO I PLANT MY FIRST VEGETABLE GARDEN?
​Plant your heirloom seeds in your improved soil by pulling back a row of wood chips and planting in the compost below the wood chips. Many vegetable seeds are extremely tiny and need to be directly sowed into soil. Seeds need water to germinate so make sure to water your seeds daily so they do not dry out.  

MULCH, MULCH, MULCH your vegetable garden to ensure all the wonderful benefits of mulching! Mulch helps reduce weeding, watering, fertilizing, and working! If you notice weeds growing in your garden, pull them out or add more wood chip mulch to smoother weeds. If you notice plants wilting, you can always add more wood chip mulch to help conserve watering needs. Sign up for a free delivery of wood chips today! 

WHAT IS BACK TO EDEN GARDENING?
Back to Eden Gardening is the practice of growing plants in a no-dig vegetable garden that utilizes wood chip mulch to conserve water and regenerate soil. Back to Eden Gardening is a regenerative agriculture technique that implements organic gardening principles and is considered one of the best  sustainable permaculture methods for growing food. Back to Eden Gardening started because of the documentary film, BACK TO EDEN, featuring American gardener and arborist Paul Gautschi. Paul pioneered a no-dig gardening method that implements wood chip mulch to conserve water and regenerate soil. BACK TO EDEN was Produced and Directed by Dana Richardson & Sarah Zentz and released in 2011. ​The documentary went viral gaining millions of views and ignited a global gardening movement. Learn more about how to grow a Back to Eden Garden by watching the free documentary BACK TO EDEN.

WHAT IS WOOD CHIP GARDENING?
Wood chip gardening is the practice of covering your vegetable garden and fruit orchard with wood chip mulch. Wood chips will improve your soil and regenerate the natural life in the soil instead of the use of toxic chemicals that deplete the soil and create soil loss. Sign up to get a free delivery of wood chips from your local tree service company. 

No matter if you are a beginner gardener or an experienced gardener, you will find that Back to Eden Gardening is easy one of the easiest methods of gardening with the best results. 

1. GET MULCH FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN
Wood chip gardening is the practice of covering your vegetable garden and fruit orchard with wood chip mulch. Wood chips will improve your soil and regenerate the natural life in the soil instead of the use of toxic chemicals that deplete the soil and create soil loss. Back to Eden Gardening uses wood chips that are 90% needles, leaves, and branches that have been chipped from tree trimming waste. It is important to understand that the leaves are a source of nitrogen and the branches are a source of carbon. This ratio creates an ideal mulch gardening material when the wood chips have composted. Paul Gautschi has multiple gardens and orchards in which he utilizes both raw, composted, and screened wood chips. ​Learn more about the best type of wood chips for your garden by clicking here. ​

• Get FREE wood chips delivered to your home by signing up for free to the Chip Drop app. You can make notes of what you're looking for and offer to tip them (recommended $20, $40, or $60) for faster delivery. The wood chips from tree trimming waste will be 90% leaves and branches. The leaves provide nitrogen and the branches provide carbon. Together they create an ideal, clean, sustainable, vegetable garden mulch. Don't miss this amazing free resource for hundreds of dollars worth of organic material! 
• Find a local yard waste or compost facility near you. You can pick up small loads in bins or load up your truck bed like Paul Gautschi. Some facilities offer free chipped yard waste. Others charge by the cubic yard, but it's worth the investment.
• Get creative! Even if you live in an urban area you can often find tree trimming waste wood chips piles on public land. Ask your local church or community center if you can install a community garden on their land or have wood chips dropped off there. 
• Do NOT buy landscaping mulch or bark nuggets for your veggie garden! When you ask someone at nursery or supply store for "garden mulch" chances are they will point you in the wrong direction, assuming you want landscaping mulch not veggie garden mulch. Landscaping mulch attractive looking chipped wood that is chemically treated, and dyed! It does NOT contain the leaf matter that ads nitrogen and is NOT beneficial for your vegetable garden!

2. GET COMPOST FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN

• Composted Wood Chips: Paul Gautschi has access to composted and screened wood chips that is an ideal compost for your garden. If you don't have access to a similar source, you can allow your delivery of wood chips to decompose in a large pile for 3-6 months. Optionally, you can screen it to add to your garden for the same results.
• Bagged Compost: Buy bagged compost for a vegetable garden. Only purchase compost that is OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified. The OMRI Listed® seal assures the suitability of products for certified organic production, handling, and processing.
• Composted Kitchen Scraps & Yard Waste: You can also make your own compost from kitchen scraps  and yard waste that are composted in a compost bin.

3. GET COMPOSTED ANIMAL MANURE FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN
Composted animal manure is a clean, natural fertilizer that can be used in a vegetable garden. Let animal manure compost or you may be planting grass and weed seeds! 

• Composted Horse Manure: Contact your local horse stables and ask to use their composted horse stall waste in your garden. It will contain horse manure, a  decent nitrogen source, and sawdust shavings which add carbon. 
• Composted Chicken Manure is even higher in nitrogen as a garden fertilizer.​

4. GET NEWSPAPER TO SMOTHER WEEDS IN A VEGETABLE GARDEN 
If you are going to turn a lawn or weed infested are into garden plot smothering the weed seeds is a must! We recommend that you apply at least 4 sheets of paper that overlap. Then, wet down the newspaper so it adheres to the ground below and doesn't blow away. ​

When installing a no-till vegetable garden, the number one rule is to always avoid disturbing the soil, mimic the design of nature. How do you prepare the soil? You always add layers of compost, and composted animal manure and cover the soil with mulch.  The most commonly used mulch in Back to Eden Gardening is wood chips. However, find whatever resource is local to you. For example, straw is also a popular mulch.  There is almost always a FREE option when it comes to Back to Eden Gardening. ​

1. WHEEL BARREL
If you are a beginner gardener you may feel overwhelmed at thought of moving an entire wood chip pile but moving wood chips is not as hard as you'd think! Using a wheel barrel makes moving wood chips a low stress work out. If you get the help of a few friends of family members you can move a mountain of wood chips in just a few hours. Or take your time, move it little by little!  If you live on a larger property or have access to a Front End Loader Tractor this will be a more practical way to cover a large scale garden or small farm.
2. MULCH SHOVEL & MULCH FORK
A mulch shovel and mulch fork make scooping the wood chips easy. Using a regular shovel is very challenging due to the chips and twigs getting stuck or jammed and the scoops not being large enough.
3. GARDEN RAKE
A garden rake allows you to spread the wood chips easily on top of your garden without disturbing the soil. It also helps to make rows when planting!
4. GARDEN HOSE & SPRINKLER
Back to Eden Gardening reduced garden irrigation needs up to 90% ! That is because the mulch layer retains moisture that would otherwise evaporate and the wood chips retain water they release slowly into the soil even after you stopped watering. However, to get your seeds germinated you should water them every day until they germinate! Make sure to use a hose head sprinkler that allows you adjust the setting to a light mist or shower spray. It is a common mistake to loose seeds in the mulch by planting too deeply or watering too heavily and therefore they won't germinate. OPTIONAL: Add a water filter on to your garden hose to reduce chlorine, VOCs, herbicides, and pesticides. 

1. GARDEN GLOVES
It is a great idea to invest in garden gloves to protect your hands while maintaining your garden!
2. PH SOIL TEST KIT

• PH Soil Test Kit: Test the pH of your soil by using a pH soil test for garden soil. This at home kit tests pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. 
• ​Radish Seeds: Paul recommends the first seeds you should plant in your Back to Eden garden in the Spring are radish seeds. Using this simple test, you can determine the quality of your soil before you use it for growing other plants. Both the color of the leaves and health of the root help determine your soil quality. If the sprout comes up yellow, it is an indication that your soil is nitrogen deficient and you will need to add a layer of composted animal manure as fertilizer. If your radishes fail to produce a vegetable root but they still have a healthy top it is a clear sign your soil lacks potassium and phosphorus. You can amend your soil by adding wood ash (for potassium) or bone meal (for phosphorus). If the sprout is green and your radish root is red, your soil is healthy and you are ready to plant in your Back to Eden garden!

Ideally we recommend starting a Back to Eden Garden in the Fall (September-December), mimicking when nature covers the ground with needles, leaves, and branches. This is beneficial because when you lay down your covering layer of newspaper, compost and wood chips in the fall the organic matter has time to break down with the rain and snow during the winter, giving your soil more time to improve and decomposing the wood chips, leaves, newspaper into composted material.

1. Apply at least 3-4 sheets of newspaper. 
2. Apply at least 3-4 inches of organic compost. 
3. Apply at least  3-4 inches of wood chips as a mulch on your garden. 
4. Apply a dusting of composted animal manure as a natural fertilizer on top of your garden as needed throughout the growing season. Do not add chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides!
5. DO NOT TILL THE SOIL! All of the materials you used to mulch your garden plot are biodegradable and will immediately begin to decompose, breaking down into nutrient-rich soil. 
6. Make sure your garden plot is always mulched! Mulch provides a protective covering on top of your soil that helps retain moisture which reduces watering, weeding, and work. Wood chips also decompose into rich soil overtime. Sign up for a free delivery of wood chips today!