Planning My Victory Garden
Posted on February 18, 2009 by
I won’t have as much time for my garden this year, but I still want to have a garden.
There are three reasons for this:
- I really enjoy the solid thinking time gardening gives me. I come up with some of my best ideas when I’m doing yard work.
- I love the satisfaction of growing and preserving my own food.
- I dug up a quarter of our backyard last year, and if I don’t garden it, it’ll turn into a muddy weed pit.
So, I’m starting to think of ways to make this year’s garden more efficient.
I’d like to focus mainly on growing berries. They don’t seem to be very high maintenance plants once they get going, and while we get lots of vegetables from our CSA, we don’t get any berries. This is what I find I spend the most money on when I visit the farm market.
We already have a lot of strawberry plants, and I’m hoping my blueberry bushes will come back (Although, one died last year and the dogs have run over a few of the others this winter). Ideally, I’d like to plant blueberries all along the outer edge of the garden, but that’s where the strawberries are right now. I’m not sure if moving the strawberries will have a negative impact on their yield. I’ll have to do a little research, or take a leap and hope for the best. I have three raspberry plants of assorted varieties next to the tool shed.
If I grow tomatoes, I will buy them as plants from the local nursery (preferably roma tomatoes, because they make excellent sauce) instead of growing from seed. I don’t want a repeat of last year’s cherry tomato nightmare. And I’ve never had any luck growing any other type of tomato from seed.
I’ll grow a few pepper plants, because it’s just fun to grow peppers, and we really enjoyed the ones I froze last year. I’ll throw in a few rows of carrots, because carrots are easy to grow, and it’s nice to have a late fall harvest. I’m going to plant some of the squash I got from Howling Hill’s seed swap behind the tool shed and just let it do it’s thing. And I’ll play around with the beans and Brussels sprouts too if I can find room in one of the beds.
Hopefully, the herbs in the front garden will just continue to grow and I won’t have to add more than a basil plant and some parsley.
But I’m not going to fight the bunnies on lettuce or mizuna this year. We lost so much of it to the bunnies, it takes up so much space, and we get more than enough lettuce in our CSA anyway. I’m not going to bother with broccoli rabe, since I’m the only one who likes it anyway.
I’m going to mulch and use weed blocker fabric where I can, so I don’t have to weed as much. And I’m considering using old hoses with holes poked in them for drip irrigation, so I don’t have to stand out there holding the hose to water.
I’m thinking of breaking down and getting a compost tumbler. My homemade bins work well, but do require some fussing to get everything turned once they start getting full.
Now, I just have to figure out what will go where.
What are your garden plans this year?
That’s a great plan. You know your strawberries will need revamped after 3 year so you can wait till then to move them. Keep a few of the runner starts and get rid of the main crowns (they quit producing as much).
I have found that a short fence around my lettuce and “delicious to animals” plants really helps. It’s only about a foot tall and it’s actually quite quaint.
I think buying from a greenhouse is a great way to go if you don’t have a big garden. It supports a local business and it’s probably more efficient that starting your own seeds if you’re not going to need that many.
Can’t wait to see how your garden grows! If you send me some photos I’ll feature you on my Garden Spolight this summer.
Too bad you don’t live closer or I’d give you my compost tumbler (I have found I like the old fashioned pile method better).
I wish I could grow a garden! On top of having a black thumb (every plant I touch seems to die…), we just don’t have that space in our small back area. It’s mostly a concrete jungle and the little grass we have has been relegated to the dogs’ toilet.
I have an opportunity to put in a garden this year at the beau’s, and after my initial fear of killing everything I’m really excited! I’m not sure yet what we’ll be planting but I know there will be tomatoes, herbs, and pumpkins/other squash.
I’m lucky b/c my mom is a gardener/garden planner (she has a blog at http://thattimeofyeargardening.com/) and I’m asking her to plan the yard/garden! it will be good for her portfolio…
also I’m looking at square foot gardening, to minimize the amount of daily effort and maximize the amount of awesome.
We have already started our garden for the year — corn, beans, spinach, tomatoes, peppers — all from seeds. I love having a home garden and love hearing about other people who have theirs. I totally agree with your first two reason for having a garden. It is very satisfying to grow and cultivate our own food. And we love composting too, though we just have a pile in the back corner of the yard. Our dog likes to jump on it and eat some of the scraps. It’s actually pretty funny.
Thanks for sharing this, Allie!
First, that old Victory Garden poster is so awesome.
Second, I’m jealous about the berries–I won’t be doing a garden since we’re renting this CO house and I don’t even know if those would grow out here, anyway.
Third, I love the way this post is written–it’s really cool to see your thought process as you’re planning.
I’ve missed your posts!
We’re going to try a square foot garden this year. We’re hoping it will be a fun project for our twin daughters who are 3 1/2. Our soil isn’t great, but the raised beds take care of that. I can hardly wait to get started with it. I look forward to reading about yours as well.
Great Plan. I’m planning to have my garden in the house of my grandmother because she is the one who would like to have it. And I’m planning to have a master gardener to give some tips and advices regarding household gardening and horticulture techniques.
Ahhh, victory gardens. I just read somewhere(an article about Michelle Obama’s hopeful support of good food practices) that during WW2 40% of the nations food supply was produced by victory gardens.
Can you imagine what kind of impact that would have on the food industry today? But more importantly what other positive effects it would have? Thank you for using that image. I am a firm believer that every home should have a garden.