This year Fwigf was a wee bit hodgepodge. And by a wee bit I mean "Oh shit I have a plot a year early and have no money for more seed! What have I planted in the back yard that I can start?! OH! I have $15?! Cool, I'm buying seed!" My plan consisted of "Get shit in the ground and see what grows". So the space wasn't exactly utilized to the utmost. Next year though! Next year I am going in with a plan. And I'm going to share with you how I arrived at that plan.
Step the First! - Figure out what you'll eat.
First and foremost I took stock of what plants my husband and I eat. I went a bit overboard on lettuce this year, as you may have gathered from previous posts. We do not normally eat a lot of leafy greens. I know, I know, shame on us, but it's true. So I now have A Lot of lettuce that's probably going to go bad before it gets eaten. No one wins. Next year I'm growing things we'll actually eat, and preserve well if we don't eat it all fresh. Lettuce does not appear on this list. Anywhere.
Step the Second! - What are your limitations?
The fine folks at Fwigf helpfully rototill every plot in the spring. So anything that needs to over winter? Is going to get chopped up. So everything needed to be edible come fall. As much as we love brussel sprouts and asparagus? The wouldn't mature fast enough to be able to eat. I'd spend a season babying plants that would end up tilled under. Your limit may be a lack of sunlight. Or a neighbor with a horrible allergy to potatoes. In any event, figure this out before you lay out the garden and buy seed.
Step the Third! - Know thy space.
Today I finally got Fwigf measured. I knew it was 400sqft. But I didn't know if it was 10x40, 20x20,15x30 or some weird thing that made no sense. Turns out it's 16x29. For the sake of planning I'm pretending it's 15x30. It makes everything easier.
Step the Forth! - Graph Paper.
Graph paper will help you figure out the scale of things. Decide how big a foot is according to your paper. For me it was 3 squares. Now, draw out your garden shape to scale. For me it was a rectangle 45 squares by 90 squares. Then (I suggest pencil, but I was dumb and used pen) draw out where your plants are going and keep the diagram to scale. DO NOT FORGET WALK WAYS AROUND PLANTS! Otherwise you won't fit in everything you thought you would, or you'll end up trampling your turnips.
I ended up with 2 5x5 plots of Corn, beans, and squash (yes next year is 3 sisters planting) 1 plot for peas that's 1.5x5. Then I had 7 beds that were 2x13, 1 bed that was 1x13 and one foot walk ways around the whole thing, and between each bed.
I'm going into 2015 prepared. I am not going to suddenly have a garden with no forethought. Maybe then I won't suffer the manifest destiny of the cucumbers, or the overwhelming amount of lettuce.
Next year's all stars: (number of plants)
Purple Peacock Broccoli (5)
Butternut Squash (6)
Long Island Cheese Pumpkins (6)
Ashworth Sweet Corn (12)
Red Noodle Beans (24)
Nor'easter Pole Beans (24)
Scarlet Ohno Revival Turnips (20)
Tall Telephone Shelling Peas
Oxheart Tomatoes (5)
Double Yield Cucumbers (5)
Purple Vienna Kohlrabi (10)
Listada di Gandia Eggplant (10)
Matchbox Peppers (5)
Sweet Siberian Watermelon (7)
Yes. All of that will fit in 400 square feet with 1 foot walk ways all the way around each bed. It's amazing what you can fit into a garden with a little planning and diagramming.
Compare that to this year:
Potatoes (6)
Jade Blue Dwarf corn (10)
Cheese pumpkins (8)
Red Noodle Beans (8)
Tomatoes (8)
Lettuce (7)
Peas (2)
Horseradish (1)
Spinach (6?)
Birdseye pepper (1)
Cucumbers (too many to count!)
And a lot of wasted space. Planning your layout avoids wasted space and lets you get the most possible out of the garden space you have. And, I at least, think it's fun. It lets you visualize what your garden will look like when you can't get out there. So do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment