It’s easy to throw some seed into the ground or plant a couple seedlings but it is what follows that will ensure their survival.

It all starts with the soil, new beds should be full of nutrient rich compost and bonemeal to help support strong growth into the summer months. This should be followed up with periodic feeding with a quality, organic liquid fertilizer or worm tea.

This is also a great time to start a compost heap, you are going to have a lot of excess waste coming out of your garden as you start cutting back, weeding and thinning your plants. What’s better than being able to put that back into your soil in the way of nutrient rich compost?

I find that the quickest way to compost is a composting bin as the heat contained in the bin allows the waste to break down quickly, it takes up a small footprint and can be conveniently located ‘out of sight’. Never add your household waste to the bin, it’s for vegetable matter only!

You’ll have to vigilantly weed as well, yup, a necessary evil. No use in letting them take over as they fight for valuable space alongside your lovingly grown veggies and herbs.

You can bet the lawn you removed to make your garden is going to want to go another 10 rounds with your vegetables and will also need to be kept at bay.

Thinning is a term used to weed out over-planted crops, which is really easy to do, especially if you are direct-sowing plants like carrots and beets.

Observe the correct plant spacing for each plant and when the seedlings are around 5cm tall thin out the excess, either by removing the plants completely or nip them off at the base of the stem. This will ensue the surviving plants will have adequate room to grow.

Getting a grip on your chores early on in spring will make summer chores a lot easier and go a long way towards ensuring a healthy, happy garden.

Matt Allison is a Cape Town based eco-advocate and urban farmer who's rethinking food one meal at a time. Find out more from him at www.imnojamieoliver.com