Tiny Tilling
Tiny Tilling
When we relocated to southwest Virginia our desire was to find a house with some acreage. The house needed to be enipty, in tolerable move in condition and within our budget. We were also willing to consider an in-town house that would easily he converted into rental property if God should bless us with a house in the country in the future. The house we purchased is an old house with lots of "potential," within walking distance of downtown Abingdon. The house has 2 rental units plus the house on 74 of an acre, and a very steep slope taking up most of the free space.
Our gardening limitations set me on a quest to learn what could he accomplished with the available space. I now realize you can grow a significant quantity of vegetables if you have one 16 square foot spot that gets 6 hours of sunshine each day. You can grow enough vegetables to can and freeze with 2 of these areas per family member.
Learning new growing techniques has been a delightful experience, which has changed the way I look at gardening and food production. I grew up on a farm. Space was never a limitation. My father's method was to plow up two acres, throw some seed on there and may the best plant win! Maximum output per square foot was never a consideration. With that much planted and an occasional weeding we were bound to have too much.
Smarter planting is required when you have less space. Factors to consider include location, containers, soil, seed choice, timing and spacing.
When choosing your planting location observe your yard amid determine the sunniest, most level spot available. Plants that are listed as needing "full sun" need 6 hours a day and those that need "partial sun" need 4 to 6 hours a day. Most vegetables fall into one of these categories.
Building raised bed boxes for your garden will give you extra control over the quality of your dirt, will improve your drainage if you have clay soil and will make weeding and harvesting easier. You will want the box to be small enough that you can reach across it from the side, so you don't have unproductive pathways within the growing area. Most sources recommend 4ft by 4ft boxes, with a pathway between boxes. Your local hardware store will cut 2 X 8 X 8 in half for you, making it so it will lit in the littlest sedan and can be easily assembled with long screws, with no cutting necessary. Within each box you will plant l6 squares. Each square will hold as few as one plant or as many as 16, depending on the needs of the plant.
You must start with the best dirt you can afford. A local garden center may sell dirt by the truckload. The dirt in your yard may be tolerable, and the local gardening center may be able to test it for you. Whatever dirt you start with if you begin composting now for next year your dirt will improve each year. Planting a winter cover crop and mixing it into the dirt will also improve your soil.
To maximize growing you will want to grow some of your vegetables "up." To do this you attach a frame with vegetable netting or chicken wire to the north end of your boxes. Vegetables that grow well vertically include peas, zucchini, summer squash amid cucumbers. Using this method my family of 7 grows more cucumbers than we can eat in a space four feet long amid 3 inches wide. You should also stake plants that need it. such as tomatoes amid most beans. This will keep your plants from sprawling into other plants amid from lying on the ground and rotting.
As you decide what plants to grow consider the availability and cost of what your family loves to eat. Grow what you love! Fresh herbs such as cilantro amid basil and tender baby greens are our favorite choices. (These all take minimal garden space, keep growing after you cut them, greatly improve the quality of your food, and would be expensive to purchase.) Other high value per square foot items include tomatoes, leaf lettuces, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, summer squash, beans, carrots, cucumbers, and peppers.
It is important to consider your growing season. Starting seeds inside and planting outside as soon as possible will greatly increase your yield. Using the same space more than once per year is possible if you know your plants. In early spring, before the last frost, plant cool weather loving plants such as broccoli, cabbage, parsley and lettuce. After harvesting these, plant heat-loving plants such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and corn. After these are harvested replant the cool weather group again for an early fall harvest, thus using the same space for 3 crops.
If you have no outdoor space. consider a container garden of fresh greens or herbs on your doorstep or a square loot garden on your patio or rooftop. You can also grow sprouts and herbs on your windowsill.
There is much to he learned about using your space wisely and getting the most out of your garden. A must have resource, well worth purchasing your own copy of, is Mel Bartholomew's book Square Foot Gardening. Your regional almanac has much useful information about local frosts and soil types and favorable seed choices and plants specific to your area. There are many gardening resources and discussion hoards on the internet. Use a search engine or your local library and read more about square foot gardening, sustainable agriculture, intensive gardening, container gardening amid composting.
Don't spend SO much time researching that you don't spend any time sowing. A bag of dirt, a pot and a packet of lettuce or herb seeds might he a good way to get started. As you tend your first harvest you will want to plant more next year. But, if you don't sow you can't reap, so begin now amid as you sow generously you will reap generously!
Lesli Mickool is an outstanding agrarian Prairie Muffin, wife to Dan, and mother of five.