Yep! It’s that time of the year, and instead of just looking for CSAs (which I LOVE), I have decided to create my own 10’ x 10’ Kitchen Garden!
It can be dizzying and daunting to try to become an expert in soils, seeds, timing, planting windows, watering and harvesting.
So, I just have to walk it back per se, be logical, a bit organized, and remind myself that I will always learn as I go along, and I would like to share this with you.
Growing up, we always had a vegetable garden, as well as perennial and annual flowers. And for the last few years, I have grown just about everything in containers. So not all of this is unusual to me. I am interested in a non-GMO, natural and organic food garden with high yields, fun, great flavors, that is reasonable with money outlay.
Here is what I know so far:
1. Locate the perfect space for your 10’ x 10’ garden.
You want and area that gets full sun. I located a 11’ x 9’ plot in a community garden.
2. The quality of soil is really important.
You can get a soil test and identify content and what your soil needs. This can be found by reaching out to your states agricultural department. (For Maryland, it is about $15 for the test and about a 2-week turnaround time). It is said that fall is normally the best time and testing each year should be at the same time.
We cleared the space, and noting that it was very high in clay content (by the sticky, compact, reddish earth glomming to our shoes), the time of year, and seeing a large amount of earthworms, we decided not get the soil tested. We did add 6 40 lb. bags of organic compost, turning the ground thoroughly with a pitchfork. The good thing about organic compost is that it is dilute (which helps with a slower addition of micronutrients to the soil), and it also helps with the porosity (or void space which allows for space to retain water, nutrients and oxygen for plant roots). It is also fairly inexpensive.
3. Consider what fruits and vegetables your family likes to eat.
To decide what seeds to order, I looked at what our family likes to eat and have also decided to experiment a bit on plants that we don’t usually work with but thought would be fun.
4. Look at each plant and find out its planting facts.
Before planting, you’ll need to know how much space each plant needs, if they have to be staked for support, if there are good companion plants, and whether they should not be grown next to any particular plants. You will also need to learn the watering and light instructions. It is beneficial to keep a list or spreadsheet for each plant.
5. Use a grid system to lay out your design.
There are several free sites online to help you lay out your garden. Just google ‘free online vegetable garden planner’ and try out several to see what works for you. These can be really helpful in laying out your garden, bringing in what you learned about plant spacing, staking, and other needs. This will help make sure that every plant can fit together and have what it needs to flourish. I will show you an example my layout from <https://www.gardeners.com/> in my next article. I had to break my layout into 2 parts as the layout wouldn’t allow for an 11’ x 9’ plot, but otherwise, I found it very user-friendly and visually fun!
6. Choose and order your seeds.
I suggest ordering seeds online because you can actively choose non-GMO, heirloom seeds, which means that you can save the seeds from your fruits and vegetables this year and plant them again next year. I am sure there are many sources, but I personally have had luck with <https://www.highmowingseeds.com> and <https://www.rareseeds.com/>.
7. Find online the ‘last frost date’ of your area.
The last frost date of your area is a range of dates, but this gives a good indicator of when the non-frost hardy plants can go in to the ground. You can check the USDA site or any number of other sites.
This site <https://www.thespruce.com/first-and-last-frost-date-2539701> gives a great visual and explanation on the importance of frost dates and how it affects planting.
8. Set up a system to capture the dates of when you planted your seeds.
It is important to keep track of when you plant your seeds and when they will need light and watering. I don’t have grow lights, but have commandeered all of the really big indoor window areas, and I also have put a heating pad under some of the seeds to help with germination.
9. Feed the seeds and future plants.
I would be remiss not to mention composting. Composting is a natural way to support plant growth, without the use of traditional synthetic chemicals like MiracleGro. If you have a space outside, ‘Lasagna Layered Composting’ is great. This link from Cornell provides step-by-step instructions: <http://ccetompkins.org/resources/compost-lasagna-layer-composting>. Where I am located, we do not have the space to compost outside and it is illegal in our county to do so. So, after much research, we are trying a Japanese Bokashi Composting System in our kitchen. It is a bucket with low drain spout to drain out liquid as it decomposes. I dilute this liquid and use as watering fertilizer for seeds and house plants. The Bokashi Composting process uses a substance to be sprinkled on the food. This aids in a quick breakdown of refuse in a non-aerobic way. After about 2 weeks, you can bury the broken down ‘compost’, and it should be fine for plants after another few weeks. Subjectively, I can say our seeds are responding by sprouting very quickly to the liquid, which I am taking as a positive. Though it says odor-free, I will say when you open the lid, there is a slight smell. You can learn more information about Bokashi Composting here: <https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/indoor-composting/bokashi-composting/>.
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