Sat, 2010/05/08 - 8:15am
Hey Guys & Gals,
As many of you know I live in an apt in NYC & my garden is made up of small things in AG3s & microgreen containers so my experience with outdoor gardening is none!
But my mother & I want to plan a garden in my grandparents back yard. Right now it is a perfectly manicured yard.
We were considering a pot garden but I think I would really to like to venture into things that need deep ground like corn, onions, garlic and broccoli.
My question is how?
Should I "make" sections that are divided by wood sorta like this....
and if so does it matter what I plant next to each other?
Also are these some sorta of purchased raised beds or are they simply boxes made of wood filled with dirt that act as dividers with no bottom (meaning the roots do extend into the earth)
Sat, 2010/05/08 - 2:24pm
#2
I garden in 4' X 8' raised beds (6"deep). I did it so that I could have at least 6" of good soil over the sand/gravel soil I have in my backyard. I have mulch between the beds. I wasn't very imaginative - they're all in rows. I like the picture you posted. You could even get more creative! The positive side of using raised beds is that you weed and plant only those areas - not the entire garden. I used non-pressure treated wood the first year. I've replaced it with synthetic wood. So, price range is free (scrounge materials) to expensive (see gardener's supply catalog). The boxes are bottomless.
I also use Self Watering Containers (SWC). Earthbox for me - Gisette has had good luck with the growboxes. They will grow anything (except potatoes).
Gisette is correct. Start small. Nothing is more discouraging than having a garden you can't keep up with. Consider square foot gardening. Book by Mel Bartholemew. Grow large variety in a small space.
Most of all - keep us updated!
Beth
Sat, 2010/05/08 - 5:31pm
#3
thank u ladies!
Definitely dont wanna bite off more than I can chew (again - As u may remember I was rather ambious with my 1st apt garden 
).
Im not sure how much to plant b/c I have been informed by mom that we will be feeding her household of 2, my grandparents household of 6, and a few neighbors (at least 4) who when they were younger shared their garden bounty with my grandparents.
I am thinking we only need one raised bed for corn, broccoli, potatoes, garlic and onions. (Can these be grown together?)
Cuke, tomatoes & strawberries in their own topsy turvys.
And I can use pots for everything else... spinach, herbs, lettuce. We have sooooo many pots between my mom & I since I no longer use soil in my apt.
Sat, 2011/01/01 - 10:25am
#4
Jessi,
I f you are creating a food garden, theres a few things you should know......
There are a few ways you can do this.... It all depends on what you really want to accomplish. You can do it a few ways. You can do it the common way, rows, monoculture and unappealing to the eyes, which actualy creates a lot of work. Or you can try something that is fairly "new" called permaculture. Basicly, its using nature to your benefit, so you dont have to do almsot anything besides some pruning, and some general matanence. The bigger the property the better.
Monocroping ( so using only a few kidsn of veggies en masse) causes more problems. And example would be for roses. What happens when you do a mass planting of roses? The odds are you are going to get a giant infestation on all of the roses. But if you say, plant one rose bush, and plant some flowers and plants that attract lady bugs and beneficial insects, then there is no need for any pesticides, becasue the lady bug population can control it. The same goes for canna lily. Thats how the canna virus spread, because they monocrop the canna.
Raised beds are usualy beneficial if you live in a challenging climate with cold winters, poor soil and or to wet or 2 dry of a climate. They make things a bit easier, but limits the spread of beneficial soil organismsm which creates good soil.
Before anyone plants a garden, especialy a food garden, i would reccommend reading a book called "gaias garden". Its fairly shot, and is so stuffed with information, whethere you decided to use permaculture or not. Im myself trying to do this in a small space.... 15x 20 so far.
Good luck!!
Jessi - I've admired raised beds, but never had one of my own, so I'll let others speak to that. The picture above looks like 6" raised beds. I think they usually have plastic on the bottom to keep the grass from growing up through. So, they're not very deep.
I really like my GrowBox containers and Walmart plant spas. The growbox is deep enough to grow almost anything annual - certainly corn. Earthbox is a similar product, different design.
But. All these things cost money. And making soil for them is back-breaking work. Yet the land around here is usually fertile. For the first year, you might want to try regular in-ground plots for some things - green beans, cucurbits, onions, garlic, corn, broccoli - and growboxes for other things - peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, salad greens. Then the following year, get more tech for what didn't work so well in the ground?
The #1 gardener mistake, I think, is biting off more than you can chew.