Anyvbody do this? Is it really simple? I didn't have a garden this year b/c dh would not dig the bed where I asked him to, and I couldn't dig up our clay. An evening's work was a hole- a shallow hole. I can drill together a frame, and fill it, I'm pretty sure.
He talks a lot about cooler weather, and "end of season." Our end of season means it gets into the eighties.
I have, but I have a browm thumb, and while our results weren't great, they were better than anything we've done before!! Mostly, I took his advice to underplant too seriously, and didn't have enough for our big family.
This season, I planted all tomatoes in 1 4x4 section, squashes in another, and peppers in the 3rd. I just added 2 bags of compost to each one from last fall (didn't do a spring) to add more nutrients, and bring the level of dirt back up.
HTH, and good luck!!
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Between this and companion planting it is where I started when I got my own first garden.
Tiff... I would get a few yards of good garden soil delivered to your house. It is so much easier if you just have the soil done FOR you. lol... amending soil is much harder than those books make it seem. Lets just say I have been doing this for 12 years, and I still don't amend my own soil. If you can, have it dumped close to where you want to make your beds. Start with things you KNOW you eat. Tomatos, lettuce, peas, cilantro, beans, chard, beets, carrots, potatos, and squash are easy. Start there. Plan out your bed with string and plant a few plants in each section (make sure sqash are in the corners so they can spread to a safe part of the lawn). If you make raised beds it is much easier to do this. He has some good plans in there... and there are more on line. Follow his plan exactly the first time, and then start mixing it up. Add some companion planting and some over planting (it reduces the amt of weeds and pests by SO much if you can get every inch covered without over crowding). Just start experimenting.
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Val; Living the dream we have been working towards for over 5 years.
Mama to Alex, Cyan, and Logan. Wife to my very best friend.
Cool. I think I am going to try next weekend. It was going to be this weekend, but the car blew up, taking any and all wiggle room.
The new SFG book has this plan:
1. make a 4*4 box from 2*6 lumber, so it's 6 inches high.
2. Fill it with a mix of 1/3compost, 1/3peat, and 1/3vermiculite.
3. Lay on a grid made from wood lathe strips.
4. Plant.
The plant information was pretty sparce, but that's okay. I think it was the starter set of information. I'm good with that, since I don't know anything about planting.
My next door neighbor basically has a farm in her backyard. One of the preschool moms has a farm, too. Grapes, fennel, peppers- they both work really hard at it, though. But, jsut he chance to grow peppers, and fennel, and celery, and cilantro, and basil- lots of basil!!!!--and tomatoes, and a watermelon, and zuchini-aah,, we'll probably start with kale.
I am thinking, however, that times might be tighter than I thought- so would it work to get a bag of compost, or potting soil, cut it open, and plant seeds in it? Would that work? just for kale, or salad, or something green?
Location: When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
Posts: 9,502
That would work great for strawberries, tomatos, lettuce greens, kale, chard, etc. It would not work for things that need good drainage like peppers... it may work for basil... always put basil in with tomatos... they need the same things. Remember to poke holes in the bottom too.
Actually, I grew both bell peppers and chili peppers in pots this year. The chili peppers grew much better than the bell peppers, although I did get a few bell peppers by the end of the season. The bell peppers I planted in the garden grew much faster & porduced larger, better quality fruit. I had really good experiences with growing greens (mostly romaine) in containers this summer.
As to the original question- I use a combination of SFG techniques, biointensive techniques, and sometimes I just plant things will-nilly with no technique in mind. I do like SFG for carrots, peppers, broccoli, bush beans, and greens. I still use the traditional cages for tomatoes, and traditional planting techniques for corn. SFG does keep things more managable, as opposed to row planting.
I do it. We built it last August and have used it since then. I'm in Florida and keep something growing year round. It works really well. We just planted lettuce (four kinds), collards, broccoli, cabbage & cauliflower last week. In November we will plant kale and carrots.
We still have bell peppers, jalapenos, thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary, basil, cinnamon basil, thai basil, onions and a few other things still going from last spring.
We built this after growing a traditional garden for the past 8 + years. It is so much easier. We do still grow green bean teepees so we will have enough to can.
I'll look for that book. We have a houe on .05 acres, so it's got to be small, and intensive.
I found this neat site- journey to forever. It has solar cookers, biofuels, and intensive gardens. There's an article from Mexico City, growing plants in pots. You fill a pot 4/5 full of leaves and dried grass, and then put a few inches of soil on top. There's a bung off the side, a few inches up from the bottom. It's lightweight. The leaves wet compost, making soil. In the meantime, you water it with pee, for the nitrogen. For additional nutrition,you use worm compost. The tubs are very lightweight, which is important for rooftop gardens.
Whee- my gorgeous guy at home depot let me know about some 4 foot scraps. 4 dollars, instead of 12, to start. This weekend, we'll buy compost, and possibly the other soils, and plants. I am so excited!
We- me and the kids- built it a frame this weekend. Then dh filled it with the soils, and the boys mixed it up. ( who needs a tarp? I have indentured monkeys) We planted a spinning butterfly bush, a red flower, a rosemary plant, an oak leaf lettuce plant, a sorrel plant, an arugula, and a rocket. This is frustrating, because I wanted normal, not NICE. I wanted spinach, and dill, and regular lettuce, but we were at the chi=chi gardening place, since it's the only place in town selling vermiculite and peat. Home Depot does not sell food plants.
We planted seeds, too, but I think the rain washed them away this weekend.
Thank you for the Jeavons cite. I've been reading about bio=intensive, and Indian planting methods.
If you can, have it dumped close to where you want to make your beds. Start with things you KNOW you eat. Tomatos, lettuce, peas, cilantro, beans, chard, beets, carrots, potatos, and squash are easy. Start there. Plan out your bed with string and plant a few plants in each section (make sure sqash are in the corners so they can spread to a safe part of the lawn). If you make raised beds it is much easier to do this. He has some good plans in there... and there are more on line. Follow his plan exactly the first time, and then start mixing it up. Add some companion planting and some over planting (it reduces the amt of weeds and pests by SO much if you can get every inch covered without over crowding). Just start experimenting.
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