Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
GROUND PREPARATION
You may have an existing, traditional garden that can be easily converted to the Square Plot system. I totally cleared the existing garden, measured out the area I required then rotary-hoed to a depth of about 25 centimetres. After raking thoroughly I measured out where each plot would be, then dug out the walkways to a slightly lower level. I then placed black polythene sheeting on the walkways to end 10 centimetres in to each side of the plot. This keeps any weeds getting under the frames.
If you want to start from scratch and convert part of your lawn to garden you could place your frames as you want them straight on the lawn. Then inside each frame build up the following layers on top of the grass:
1. A number of layers of newspaper spread flat to the height of one to two centimetres, well soaked with water.
2. A selection of organic manure, blood and bone etc. mixed with friable earth or potting mix to a depth of five or six centimetres.
3. Make or buy compost to bring the height nearly up to the top of the frame.
The first crop may be planted straight into the compost and after it has been harvested the "no dig" garden is ready for the second crop merely by adding more compost on top.
If you want to start from scratch and convert part of your lawn to garden you could place your frames as you want them straight on the lawn. Then inside each frame build up the following layers on top of the grass:
1. A number of layers of newspaper spread flat to the height of one to two centimetres, well soaked with water.
2. A selection of organic manure, blood and bone etc. mixed with friable earth or potting mix to a depth of five or six centimetres.
3. Make or buy compost to bring the height nearly up to the top of the frame.
The first crop may be planted straight into the compost and after it has been harvested the "no dig" garden is ready for the second crop merely by adding more compost on top.
PLANNING OUT YOUR SQUARE PLOT GARDEN
Try and position the plots in a sunny place preferably to get the morning sun. I decided on twelve plots one and a half metres square with walkways of 400 millimetres around each plot.
These walkways give ready access to all sides of every plot enabling easy planting, sowing and harvesting. Therefore no digging required.
Three of these plots I kept permanent, one for herbs and rhubarb, one for runner beans and one for asparagus.
Because of available space you will need to modify the number of plots to suit your area. A smaller sized family could easily do with half the number of plots so long as there was a continuity of planting as soon as one plot became vacant.
If you are a real enthusiast then set up a planning white-board in your workshop with a diagram of each numbered plot and plan your planting schedule using a water-soluble felt-tipped pen.
These walkways give ready access to all sides of every plot enabling easy planting, sowing and harvesting. Therefore no digging required.
Three of these plots I kept permanent, one for herbs and rhubarb, one for runner beans and one for asparagus.
Because of available space you will need to modify the number of plots to suit your area. A smaller sized family could easily do with half the number of plots so long as there was a continuity of planting as soon as one plot became vacant.
If you are a real enthusiast then set up a planning white-board in your workshop with a diagram of each numbered plot and plan your planting schedule using a water-soluble felt-tipped pen.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
MY VISION
MY VISION
All my married life I had gardened the traditional way; one large plot with rows and walkways between the rows. This necessitated digging every so often to loosen the earth tramped down while weeding and harvesting the vegetables. All my planting was haphazard. There was either a feast or a famine. Fertilizers were thrown around indiscriminately and sprays used when the spirit moved. Weeding was a bugbear and the compost a soggy mess. When I retired for the second time I decided to plan a garden with specific objectives:
1. It had to provide a continuity of fresh vegetables all their year round.
2. There was to be no digging and a minimum of weeding, if any.
3. Growing selected vegetables that our family would eat.
4. Raising my own seedlings.
5. Planting once a month.
6. No harmful sprays, if any.
7. Smallest area that would provide ample vegetables for a family of four adults.
8. An area that I would be proud to show my friends.
All this seem to be a tall order. I read all the gardening books I could lay my hands on. Some gave me ideas but in the end I decided to do my own thing. The result has astounded me and we literally cannot eat our way through the vegetables which are growing like crazy.
So, if you want a garden that grows luscious vegetables with a minimum of work I’ll take you through step by step the way I did it but without the mistakes I made.
Sure it will cost you something to set it up but it could be one of the best investments you have ever made. Don’t hesitate to modify or improve if you can. There is always a better way but because I have experimented and learned by my mistakes it would be a pity not to benefit from them knowing that my system works so well. It took me eighteen months to perfect what I now call “Square Plot Gardening.”
So, let’s pull the rip-cord and commence action.
All my married life I had gardened the traditional way; one large plot with rows and walkways between the rows. This necessitated digging every so often to loosen the earth tramped down while weeding and harvesting the vegetables. All my planting was haphazard. There was either a feast or a famine. Fertilizers were thrown around indiscriminately and sprays used when the spirit moved. Weeding was a bugbear and the compost a soggy mess. When I retired for the second time I decided to plan a garden with specific objectives:
1. It had to provide a continuity of fresh vegetables all their year round.
2. There was to be no digging and a minimum of weeding, if any.
3. Growing selected vegetables that our family would eat.
4. Raising my own seedlings.
5. Planting once a month.
6. No harmful sprays, if any.
7. Smallest area that would provide ample vegetables for a family of four adults.
8. An area that I would be proud to show my friends.
All this seem to be a tall order. I read all the gardening books I could lay my hands on. Some gave me ideas but in the end I decided to do my own thing. The result has astounded me and we literally cannot eat our way through the vegetables which are growing like crazy.
So, if you want a garden that grows luscious vegetables with a minimum of work I’ll take you through step by step the way I did it but without the mistakes I made.
Sure it will cost you something to set it up but it could be one of the best investments you have ever made. Don’t hesitate to modify or improve if you can. There is always a better way but because I have experimented and learned by my mistakes it would be a pity not to benefit from them knowing that my system works so well. It took me eighteen months to perfect what I now call “Square Plot Gardening.”
So, let’s pull the rip-cord and commence action.
Monday, February 4, 2008
SQUARE PLOT GARDENING
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wished for a comparatively small garden that would grow enough vegetables for your family all the round with no digging, little weeding, no sprays, hardly any fertilizer and planting out once a month in rich, homemade compost?
No, it’s not hydroponic gardening but a very simple system I have developed and taught as one of my ways to help people economize and enjoy the benefits of fresh, wholesome vegetables. This series that we will start could be one of the best investments you will ever make as you get hooked on my method of square plot gardening.
People are starting to appreciate the benefits of eating vegetables either raw or slightly cooked. Gone are the days of vegetables with all the goodness boiled out. This trend of course means that a higher proportion of housekeeping is spent on buying vegetables at the local supermarket or greengrocer.
With the cost of food continually rising it is getting more and more difficult to balance the household budget. In boom years many people resort to tinned or processed vegetables which certainly increases the weekly cost but also reduces the available remaining vitamins.
Having processed on computer several thousand household financial plans, I have found the great variable to be housekeeping. Some people literally eat the profits while others spend too great a percentage of their total expenditure on food.
If I perceived that the housekeeping was a little out of kilter, I would inquire if they had a garden, usually to be told that the males of the household were too lazy to dig and weed it. I used to fall for this until I realized that the generations after the war were never taught to garden while young. Sports and cultural interests had taken over. When first married they would wonder whether to start a garden and pay a visit to the bookshop or library. One surreptitious look at the gardening books with all the equipment, sprays, manuals and hard work quickly nullified any desire to learn .
Have you ever wished for a comparatively small garden that would grow enough vegetables for your family all the round with no digging, little weeding, no sprays, hardly any fertilizer and planting out once a month in rich, homemade compost?
No, it’s not hydroponic gardening but a very simple system I have developed and taught as one of my ways to help people economize and enjoy the benefits of fresh, wholesome vegetables. This series that we will start could be one of the best investments you will ever make as you get hooked on my method of square plot gardening.
People are starting to appreciate the benefits of eating vegetables either raw or slightly cooked. Gone are the days of vegetables with all the goodness boiled out. This trend of course means that a higher proportion of housekeeping is spent on buying vegetables at the local supermarket or greengrocer.
With the cost of food continually rising it is getting more and more difficult to balance the household budget. In boom years many people resort to tinned or processed vegetables which certainly increases the weekly cost but also reduces the available remaining vitamins.
Having processed on computer several thousand household financial plans, I have found the great variable to be housekeeping. Some people literally eat the profits while others spend too great a percentage of their total expenditure on food.
If I perceived that the housekeeping was a little out of kilter, I would inquire if they had a garden, usually to be told that the males of the household were too lazy to dig and weed it. I used to fall for this until I realized that the generations after the war were never taught to garden while young. Sports and cultural interests had taken over. When first married they would wonder whether to start a garden and pay a visit to the bookshop or library. One surreptitious look at the gardening books with all the equipment, sprays, manuals and hard work quickly nullified any desire to learn .
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