My mom is a Master Gardener, and as much as I'd love to deny it, I think I've "caught" her thing for plants. I desperately want a little garden of my own. I have two black thumbs, and am an expert aloe & spider-plant murderer... Mom says they're about the hardiest plants out there. But I live in a mobile home court (for about another year, when we'll be moving to our OWN land!) where the land is contaminated to the point where growing edible plants is not allowed. Last year I used containers that I got from freecycle to grow tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, onions, carrots, and red potatoes all over my deck. Everything grew fairly well except the carrots. I also took an old plastic wading pool & grew all sorts of grasses & herbs for our guinea pigs to play in. That was a HUGE hit, and the boys gave it 4 paws up. For this next year, I would really like something a little more... structured? I have a 6x12 deck that gets near full-sun to work with, and would love to know if anyone has any ideas. I've got the book Square Foot Gardening, and love the idea. My husband says he'll happily make me a couple 3x6' beds, so I'd have about 36 square feet to grow in. And we've upgraded the guinea pig's cage, so we'll be growing them a new & improved piggie-garden in their old cage as well (about 27"x5') What I'm wondering is has anyone used the SFG method? Does it really work as well as it claims to? Also, we have tons of cats in the neighborhood. And I do mean tons. The police have actually put out a warning that any & all cats they catch outdoors will be impounded or put down at their discretion, because they are overpopulated & starting to attack people now. I've figured out how to keep the piggie garden protected, but does anyone have any ideas for covering a couple 3x6' gardens? I was thinking chicken wire & PVC tubes ought to work, but that would look so... nasty! I'd love to know if & how anyone else has dealt with this. love, mom
I use this method quite a bit. I love Mel's books. Do you have a compost started?? In his books he shows how to cover the beds with pvc hooped over and plastic laid over the top to create a small hoop/greenhouse over the beds. Also he uses wire cages over his bed that contain lettuce etc. If you have no compost pile to fill the beds with, you could buy Hummus with Composted manure in bags from loew's, home depot, garden centers , some discount stores. You can gather bags of leaves and grass clippings from the curb. And start a compost now to fill in holes when you pull spent plants. I would also look into digging some or purchasing earthworms(nightcrawlers and redworms at the bait store). You can grow them yourself..."google" it for all kinds of ways to have worms under your sink that you feed your garbage to. As far as the beds go...I don't use treated lumber. Some of the new stuff is supposed to be safer but they are still treating some of it with arsenic. You could use hardwood or painted pine. And screw the beds together so oyu can take them with you. Make sure you have good drainage and watch the decking under them...you want some air flow. I also use black plastic laid over my hot beds..ie:tomatoe,pepper,melon,squash,eggplant etc. beds. This holds in moisture,heats the soil earlier for early planting and cuts down on bugs. May help withthe cat problem. I take 2 liter plastic bottles (soda bottles,juice bottles,milk jugs etc.) and poke a bunch of holes all around them, cut off the tops and sink then down in the soil between every 2 plants, then when I water I just fill these up and water each plant also....I also make compost tea and water with this every other watering. If you use black plastic poke extra holes in it also so the rain can get thru..you can buy it already poked full of holes too. Do not use it on your cooler crops if they are planted in the sun. hope some of this helps...let us know how its going. And good luck with your land. Countryside Journal is a wonderful mag for homesteaders. teepi You can also try what I used to do in my flower beds when I lived in the city...I gathered bunches of small branches and poked them in all around the beds close together. The cats could not walk in the beds and stopped trying to. This is also great to fit into your lesson plans. Children love to learn about gardens and help. My children are grown but both love to garden still. teepi
Thank you so much! So far I'd not heard from someone other than those on his website & was just a touch skeptical. We've borrowed a corner of my mom's garden to plant in the past as a part of our homeschooling, but it's tough to schedule a trip to grandmom's some weeks. The kids are so excited about having our own garden HERE this year! No, I have no compost of my own. The court I'm in won't allow things like compost bins or clothes lines, because they "detract from the neighborhood aesthetics." Trust me, I yell & scream on a regular basis. But Mom says I may cart some of her compost off though, and I know that her compost is 100% organic. (all of her gardening is organic!) My husband got together with Dad over the weekend, and apparently the two of them will be building me a few garden-beds. It sounds like Dad wants to use cedar, as it doesn't decompose. And yes, they were talking about something I could bring with... I will be in a wheelchair within the next 10 years or so, and they were thinking of making beds that could be raised so I can continue to garden. I loved ALL of your ideas for keeping the cats out too! Thank you ever so much. They were all so easy, I can't wait to see which work the best. I can't wait until we have a "real" yard, but until that point the kids & I are looking forward to growing just enough to keep us in a few fresh veggies each week. love, mom
Yes raised beds can be any height. I've seen picsof them at about 31" or so for wheelchair users. Also if there is any type of hand problems, CTS or arthritis there are wonderful gardening tools now designed specifically for it. There are aslo alot of wonderful seeds for small space gardens. Bush cukes, smaller melons, eightball zucchinni to name a few. Also remember that alot of things can be trellised. There is a plant called Malabar spinach that grows trellised. Squash can be trellised and the kids may enjoy growing birdhouse gourds..let me know in a PM if you would like some seeds. I have a ton. Cedar is an excellent choice. Bugs don't like the smell either so it may help. And don't forget to plant some marigolds...cats don't like the smell as other insects too. Thats great that mom will give up some compost. ANd you could get some buckets with lids or a trash can and drill holles all over the sides and layer your kitchen waste...no meat products..with some leaves and grass clippings and get the kids to lay it on its side every week and roll it. In a few weeks you will have compost. A good field trip may be to go to the library and get some gardening books that you can read with the kids..don't know their ages but all kids love to grow stuff. radishes are great for kids as they grow so quickly. And apple seeds grow well too, maybe go ahead and grow some seeds this year in some pots to take to your new land. I grow apple seeds and peach pits and cherry seeds...thats how they did it before all this high falutin' new fangled stuff grafts and such nowadays...haha There are also great books on gardening on a budget and old timers tips. At the library look for backwoods home mag, back home mag, Mother earth,countryside journal and organic gardening ...all great. They are also on the web so you can check them out. Great tips on homesteading and gardening, canning, homeschooling and such. Good luck with it all and let me know about the seeds and if I can help with anything else. teepi
