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Garden Planning
28 Jan 2021 05:21 pmI have so many irons in the fire. Being at home has given me time for thought, a lot of thought as I spin yarn and ply it. As I get older, I want to have more perennials in the garden. If budget allows, I will do that this year. Perennials take time to settle in and produce fruit. As I've said before, that would be quince, black currants, blueberries, goumi and gooseberries. For good measure, I planted some paw paw seed in a pot. Not holding my breathe though.
The winter garden will be a garden allowed to reseed for lower maintenance. In it, I have Rainbow Chard, Arugula, French Breakfast Radishes, Danvers Carrots, Mache, Red Sorrel, and Claytonia planted but not yet growing. I highly recommend The Winter Garden by Eliot Coleman or else Four Seasons Gardening, also by Eliot Coleman. I am adapting the plot where the bedframe was last year. I aerated with a "broad fork" ie pitchfork. Added compost, seeded, and covered with vermiculite. The Agribon grow cover lets in light and protects from cold. With luck and good timing, these crops can go to seed in place and be a continual garden.
The next section down the hill has been problematic. The deer walk through here regularly. They ate all the tomatoes and peas, turnips and weeds. Somehow the kale didn't interest them. I have about 16 feet in length, and about 3 feet wide. There is plenty of room for sprawling. I think a pumpkin patch would do well here. I added kitchen scraps and sawdust to decompose over winter.
The raised bed with cinderblocks has had more compost added. It has three 4' by 4' sections. I will be rotating crops although my biggest pest is deer. The first section, closest to the garage, will have sweet potatoes because of the sun and warmth in that location. I may also add melons and yellow bush beans. The middle section will have 9 tomato plants and spinach in the center. Or it may segway from early spinach to the tomatoes with something else planted in the middle during summer. Maybe a zucchini? Then on the end, I can have purple beans, radishes or daikons, and scarlet runner beans going up the back. A look from last year:
The cinderblock holes will get marigolds, nasturtiums, and calendula to deter bugs.
The next level down is raspberries. Those are permanent.
And below that is where I had grown cabbages last year. The bed is 16' by 2' wide. I plan to make this a rotational garden, dividing the garden up into 2' square blocks. A new block will get planted every three weeks. Starting on the east end which gets the most early spring sun, I'll start with lettuce. It germinates in 10 days, and can be harvested in about 3 weeks time. By 12 weeks, it goes to seed. At three weeks, I plant the next square to the west of it. By the time the heat of the summer hits, I'll be in the shade of the mulberry tree. If I start planting April 29th, I can put a zucchini into the first spot in mid July. Beets (55 days) or salad turnips, spinach, or even radishes are quick crops that can grow in the shade even in early spring. If I can unlock the mystery of growing beets, I would love to have those on the opposite end until the lettuce reaches that point.
There is a small space next to the garage by the roses where I want to put cabbage this year. I picked up Napa cabbage seed but still have some red cabbage seed left too. I definitely am cutting back on the red cabbages. No more than 6 cabbages of each type. Coleslaw and sauerkraut or kimchee keep a long time but even I can't eat as much as what I grew. (I had 20 heads in 2020)
The next row down below the rotational garden is strawberries. The baby robins sneak under my net and take one bite out of each berry. Then they panic because they can't get out so I have to rescue them. I am extending the bed to the full length of the yard for greater production. Maybe then there will be enough for every one. The deer would eat them all (plants included) if I didn't cover them with a net. Birds Eye view of the back yard garden.
I picked up posts for a secondary cucumber patch behind the currants. I can't set that up until the ground thaws. I still need chicken wire or hardware cloth for that. That will be in the front yard garden. There will be spots for shade crops like cabbage and chard under the Japanese maple. The front yard garden is a plan for another day.
Folks are having a hard time finding seed starting soil because Johnnies Seeds is closed again to home gardeners, but open to farmers/commercial accounts so professional growers have what they need first. I use a soil blocker. Eliot Coleman gives a good recipe for the seed starting soil in his books. It's so much easier to buy it outright from Johnnies Seeds. It's called 512 Soil. Instead I learned that a former Johnnies employee started his own compost business in Vermont. You can buy direct or you can order from Fruition Seeds which is what I did this year. There is nothing wrong with the Miracle Grow sold in garden centers but if the rush is on with so many new gardeners, you may need to look elsewhere to buy your gardening supplies. Soil blocks need a blend that clumps together. If you are not using a soil blocker, you shouldn't have a problem finding seed starting mix.
Soil Blocker
Tray Made with a Soil Blocker
Next up- Organizing the pantry to free up my growing shelves, which do double duty.
The winter garden will be a garden allowed to reseed for lower maintenance. In it, I have Rainbow Chard, Arugula, French Breakfast Radishes, Danvers Carrots, Mache, Red Sorrel, and Claytonia planted but not yet growing. I highly recommend The Winter Garden by Eliot Coleman or else Four Seasons Gardening, also by Eliot Coleman. I am adapting the plot where the bedframe was last year. I aerated with a "broad fork" ie pitchfork. Added compost, seeded, and covered with vermiculite. The Agribon grow cover lets in light and protects from cold. With luck and good timing, these crops can go to seed in place and be a continual garden.
The next section down the hill has been problematic. The deer walk through here regularly. They ate all the tomatoes and peas, turnips and weeds. Somehow the kale didn't interest them. I have about 16 feet in length, and about 3 feet wide. There is plenty of room for sprawling. I think a pumpkin patch would do well here. I added kitchen scraps and sawdust to decompose over winter.
The raised bed with cinderblocks has had more compost added. It has three 4' by 4' sections. I will be rotating crops although my biggest pest is deer. The first section, closest to the garage, will have sweet potatoes because of the sun and warmth in that location. I may also add melons and yellow bush beans. The middle section will have 9 tomato plants and spinach in the center. Or it may segway from early spinach to the tomatoes with something else planted in the middle during summer. Maybe a zucchini? Then on the end, I can have purple beans, radishes or daikons, and scarlet runner beans going up the back. A look from last year:
The cinderblock holes will get marigolds, nasturtiums, and calendula to deter bugs.
The next level down is raspberries. Those are permanent.
And below that is where I had grown cabbages last year. The bed is 16' by 2' wide. I plan to make this a rotational garden, dividing the garden up into 2' square blocks. A new block will get planted every three weeks. Starting on the east end which gets the most early spring sun, I'll start with lettuce. It germinates in 10 days, and can be harvested in about 3 weeks time. By 12 weeks, it goes to seed. At three weeks, I plant the next square to the west of it. By the time the heat of the summer hits, I'll be in the shade of the mulberry tree. If I start planting April 29th, I can put a zucchini into the first spot in mid July. Beets (55 days) or salad turnips, spinach, or even radishes are quick crops that can grow in the shade even in early spring. If I can unlock the mystery of growing beets, I would love to have those on the opposite end until the lettuce reaches that point.
There is a small space next to the garage by the roses where I want to put cabbage this year. I picked up Napa cabbage seed but still have some red cabbage seed left too. I definitely am cutting back on the red cabbages. No more than 6 cabbages of each type. Coleslaw and sauerkraut or kimchee keep a long time but even I can't eat as much as what I grew. (I had 20 heads in 2020)
The next row down below the rotational garden is strawberries. The baby robins sneak under my net and take one bite out of each berry. Then they panic because they can't get out so I have to rescue them. I am extending the bed to the full length of the yard for greater production. Maybe then there will be enough for every one. The deer would eat them all (plants included) if I didn't cover them with a net. Birds Eye view of the back yard garden.
I picked up posts for a secondary cucumber patch behind the currants. I can't set that up until the ground thaws. I still need chicken wire or hardware cloth for that. That will be in the front yard garden. There will be spots for shade crops like cabbage and chard under the Japanese maple. The front yard garden is a plan for another day.
Folks are having a hard time finding seed starting soil because Johnnies Seeds is closed again to home gardeners, but open to farmers/commercial accounts so professional growers have what they need first. I use a soil blocker. Eliot Coleman gives a good recipe for the seed starting soil in his books. It's so much easier to buy it outright from Johnnies Seeds. It's called 512 Soil. Instead I learned that a former Johnnies employee started his own compost business in Vermont. You can buy direct or you can order from Fruition Seeds which is what I did this year. There is nothing wrong with the Miracle Grow sold in garden centers but if the rush is on with so many new gardeners, you may need to look elsewhere to buy your gardening supplies. Soil blocks need a blend that clumps together. If you are not using a soil blocker, you shouldn't have a problem finding seed starting mix.
Soil Blocker
Tray Made with a Soil Blocker
Next up- Organizing the pantry to free up my growing shelves, which do double duty.
