It is so great to be back in action and feeling better... 3 hours weeding and building trellises, an hour of yoga and meditation, and now finishing up with writing, today has been a great change in pace. Being that I am so behind in writing about this process - I am going back to writing about preparing the plot for a sustainable urban farm - rather than discussing what I have done today.
However, I will start with a pic of the backyard section of my urban farm from 2 weeks ago (reasonably recent)...
So how did it get there from here.... to the pic above?
Recipe:
1. Make a plan - figure out what your family would most enjoy and compare it against what will effectively grow in your climate area (check your plant hardiness zone here), what you have space for, and difficulty. Also as you are planning out your garden keep in mind companion planting for insect diversity and crop rotation for next year as well.
***This plan should be done in the fall prior to the season you would like to grow. This way if you need to start any seedling indoors you will have planned for it. However, you can always choose to pick-up plants from green houses to transplant if you missed the opportunity to start your own from seed. I will say starting from seed is a considerable amount less expensive than purchasing the plants from a nursery.
2. Call all your friends to come help... say please and offer chocolate
3. If you have a large space to convert into a garden rent a rototiller from Home Depot (if you rent near the end of the day you can keep it longer for the same price - even better if you rent on a Sunday evening of a holiday Monday - Monday is free). If you have a small space you can use a combination of tools including spades and garden hoes
(the mini dump truck and hula-hoops are optional - stopping to admire the worms: mandatory)
4. Clear out the space you have plotted out- here is a lesson I learned the very very hard way: remove the sod, do not just chop it, turn it over, or try to bury it... it will come back. Make sure to remove any dandelion roots or other weeds from your soil.
5. I used the square foot garden method - intensive organic gardening. I encourage you to also research permaculture gardening, which I came across as I was researching organic intensive farming and am continuing to learn more about for next year (I'll share as I learn). For the square foot method I used 4x4 plots. Many people build frames or boxes for raised beds to create a more aesthetic look, and better containment of the soil and plants. Mounded beds are a frugal alternative, and use less supplies. I chose a raised bed for the carrots, as they needed extra compost in my clay yard to grow, but everything else is a quasi mounded bed.
We marked out 4x4 foot plots with a 1 foot path width between each plot for weeding and tending, using bamboo skewers and twine. Once we had the 4x4's marked, we then market 1x1 foot squares within the 4x4 plots.
Notice the clumps of grass... lazy, lazy, lazy - actually I really thought it wouldn't matter - it mattered. A metal rake is helpful and collecting the grass clumps to remove them.
6. Soil PH - and type of soil. Ok so I did not test my soil like I am supposed to. I figured that I was laying down a tonne of topsoil and compost so it didn't matter - it did. So I recommend testing and adjusting as necessary. (How to test your soil and why)
7. Compost. We have been buying compost to put in the garden, then as I read about sustainable farming/gardening/permaculture and it was put to me that it is not sustainable to take compost from outside your garden - neither is it economical. It doesn't require a lot of space to make your own compost and there are many forms of composters one can use. Most libraries have a plethora of books on the subject, and the internet has many articles as well. If you are in an apartment or small space vermicomposting may be for you (using worms in an indoor composting unit) - to purchase a unit and worms contact Cathy's Crawly Composters, or many hardware stores and municipalities sell commercial backyard composters - usually black and either round or square. We built out own from re-bar and chicken wire, not very pretty but it is effective. (Here are concepts for a variety of DIY composters).
The garden space was ready and waiting for tenants....
Resources...
(From my personal collection of books)
The Plant Propagator's Bible - Miranda Smith (ISBN 1-59486-448-9)
Full colour book covering how to propagate everything from bulbs to vines, tree grafting too!
New Book of Herbs - Jekka Mcvicar (ISBN 0-7894-8942-2)
A colourful book with one herb per page, full description of propagation, where to plant, how to care for the plant , harvesting, medicinal and culinary uses.
Magic and Medicine of Plants - Readers Digest (ISBN 0-89577-221-3)
Full colour book with photo images and sketches of North American herbs, shrubs and trees discussing folk lore and medicinal uses of plants.
The Beginner's Guide to Edible Herbs: 26 Herb's Everyone Should Grow& Enjoy - Charles W. G. Smith (ISBN 987-1-60342-538-5)
Full colour book of how to grow, cook and preserve the most popular herbs
The Edible Garden - Sunset Books (ISBN-13 978-0-376-03170-9)
Fantastically inspiring layouts for mixed vegetable gardens, intensive gardening ideas and common crop descriptions (full colour)
Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces - Gayla Trail (ISBN 978-0-307-45201-6)
Full colour book comparing popular produce for garden vs container growing - VERY INFORMATIVE for those wishing to grow veggies and fruits in containers
The Canadian Edible Garden: Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits & Seeds - Alison Beck (ISBN-13 978-1-55105-579-4)
Full colour covers how to grow popular fruits and veggies in Canada, as well as culinary uses and recipes
All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space - Mel Bartholomew (ISBN 1-59186-202-7)
My personal bible on how to cram as much food into a square foot as possible. Very easy to understand instructions, lots of colour photos, sketches, and building instructions - a must have!
How to Grow More Vegetables: Than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine 7th Edition - John Jeavons
(ISBN 978-1-58008-796-4)
Black and white, information based - a lot of charts and science behind the growing - more advanced gardening
The New Self-Sufficient Gardener: The complete guide to planning, growing, storing and preserving your own garden produce -
John Seymour (ISBN 978-0-75666-2898-7)
Very comprehensive, colour plates and ink sketches, really does cover everything from the thought process of planning, propagation, extending seasons, storage, and an enormous variety of produce detailed. Highly recommend this book.
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it: The Complete Back to Basics Guide - John Seymour (ISBN 978-0-7566-5450-4)
Way beyond the garden, but an interesting book none-the-less. If you are interested in increasing your self-sufficiency in other areas (solar power, slar hot water heating, wind power, composting toilets, cold storage...) definitely a good read. If you are a home-schooler then this resource explains in great detail handicrafts, woodworking and animal husbandry.
Have a resource you would like me to add? - email it to me and I will post it... This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it