Location

• Choose a sunny garden space, as recommended by the National Gardening Association. Most vegetables prefer at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Since gardeners may want easy access to veggies from the home kitchen, consider planning a garden as close to the kitchen as possible. The National Gardening Association also suggests choosing areas with good soil drainage that do not have overly sandy or heavy clay soils. Gardeners can, however, take some measures to improve poor soils if they do not have access to ideal natural soil conditions.
  
  

Soil Testing and Preparation

• Gardening stores and nurseries sell at-home soil-testing kits, while local universities offer soil-testing services. The University of Minnesota suggests testing soil for nutrient levels and then adding fertilizer, such as compost or manure, based on test results. Gardeners should also test the soil pH and add lime or sulfur to raise or lower the soil pH to between 6.0 and 7.0, as suggested by the National Gardening Association. The University of Minnesota suggests tilling the soil to provide aeration for plant roots. Organic matter, such as compost, helps improve the texture of both overly sandy and heavy clay soils.
  
  

Early Planting

• Some vegetables can be planted earlier than others during Minnesota's springtime. The last Minnesota frost tends to occur in mid- or late May, according to the University of Minnesota. Some vegetables that can survive a frost and planting earlier than mid-May include lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. Most other veggies require planting later in spring. However, clever gardeners know how to get a head start by planting warm-season veggies indoors during early spring and transplanting them outside after the last frost.
  
  

Warm-Season Planting

• The University of Minnesota suggests planting tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and any other vegetables that cannot tolerate a frost after mid-May. Since peppers and eggplants take more time to germinate than tomatoes, they require slightly earlier planting, which gardeners often choose to do indoors or in greenhouses.
  
  

Vegetable Varieties and Planting Times

• A wide variety of veggies can grow in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota lists okra, cauliflower, carrots, beets, peppers, peas, onions, cabbage, chard, corn, chicory, beans, parsnips, muskmelon, celery, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelons, turnips, pumpkins, rhubarb, radishes, cucumbers, squash and asparagus as veggies that grow well in the state. Most types of beans, cabbage, celery, chard, cucumbers, muskmelon, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, squash, corn, tomatoes and watermelons require planting in May or later. Lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots and cabbage can often handle planting as early as mid-April.
  
  

Raised Beds

• Gardeners with poor soil drainage in Minnesota can build raised garden beds to improve drainage and warm up soil temperatures, according to the National Gardening Association. Since raised beds warm up quicker, they also dry out quicker than ground soil and require more frequent watering. Raised beds also have the ergonomic benefit of raising vegetables up off the ground, so that they require less lifting and bending over when gardening and harvesting.