Just because you live in the city or an apartment doesn't mean you can't garden. You just have to be a little creative. Think about spaces around your apartment. Is there a fire escape, balcony, a roof area, or just a window? If so, you can garden. It is easier than you think. Let's get started.
The roof top provides the most space, if you are lucky enough to have one. You can build a raised bed with lumber. Try to have at least 4 to 6 inches of soil. A four foot square will give you 16 square feet of gardening space. Many garden centers sell plastic bags of soil. You can cut a few small holes in the bottom for drainage. The top can be planted with plants, that you start or that you buy. Cut an X for your plant with a knife. You could start with seeds, but it takes longer to harvest.
Containers come in all sizes and shapes. Last year I started tomato seeds in a Salem cigarette package. You can attach 2 or 3 rectangle boxes stacked up on a fire escape or balcony, as space permits. Place a few round pots or other containers on the steps. If all you have is a window, a south facing window is best, buy or build a shelf for containers.
The city of Anchorage, Alaska has a park area provided for community gardening. Perhaps your local park district or a local farmer will rent you a garden plot.
If you have a small walkway outside or patio you can find a few scattered spots for container or in ground gardening. If you have a fence, you can trellis up plants like cucumbers, muskmelon, pole beans, etc.
What can you grow in a container? You can grow almost any herb, flower or vegetable. There are a few guide lines to follow: Choose a container that will fit your plants when they are mature,sunlight for 6 to 8 hours daily is needed for most vegetables, however, radishes, leaf lettuce, parsley, and cabbage need only 4 hours a day; drainage is very important in containers, nutrients or food is needed; use an organic water soluble fertilizer, water your plants when they are dry; too much water is going to rot the roots, so it is better to under-water than over-water and a soil mix of peat moss with potting soil and vermiculite or pearlite is a good mix.
If, for example, you put up a window box container 4 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 6 inches deep you could plant a salad garden.
WINDOW BOX EXAMPLE
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We could plant 16 onions, 16 carrots, 16 leaf lettuce and 16 radish or any other combination you like. That is 4 square feet of garden space. If you have 2 window boxes, you could have as many as 120 vegetable plants growing at one time! If you wanted a tall vegetable, like a tomato, you could attach a stake to the container and tie the tomato plant to it.
Most seed catalogs list seeds or plants marked for containers. Check the growing days. You don't want to grow an indeterminate tomato or one like Big Boy, which takes over 100 days to harvest a tomato. You want one which matures at 40 to 75 days. Also, take into consideration your growing climate and how many growing days you have in you area.
Buy non-hybrid seed, NOT hybrids. Non-hybrids or open pollinated seeds produce true seed for next season's planting.
SMALL PLOTS TO GARDEN
Let's say your garden space is 4 feet by 16 feet, or 64 square feet. You build a frame and raise the bed 4 to 6 inches. What do you want to plant? Remember, plant only one square foot at a time. Build four frames 4 feet by 4 feet, inside measurements.
So, we have 64 square feet with (I'll be right back, I need my adding machine to add up the number of plants). WOW!!!!! That's 363 plants!!! Are you catching on yet? We have put a lot of herbs and vegetables in a small space. We have eliminated the walk ways between the rows, or we have eliminated 85% of our garden work. We are NOT planting mini-farms, but SQUARE FOOT INTENSIVE RAISED BED GARDENING. Gardening now becomes almost work-free once you set up your beds.
Vine plants, all types, are grown vertically 8 feet high or a total space of 8' x 16' or 128 square feet for 12 to 16 plants. Actually 4' x 4' squares are easier to take care of with 2 feet between squares. I mulch between mine, because I don't like walking in mud after rain, or watering.
Keep a notebook of your garden. Plan what you will plant in advance. Keep track of planting dates, harvest dates, and harvest amounts. What grows best and what doesn't.
STARTING PLANTS INDOORS
Plant indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost dates. You can use a good soil mixture. Take a container and put a few holes in the bottom, for drainage. Egg cartons and two liter soda pop containers work well. Next, add small pebbles in the bottom. Fill the container with soil leaving about an inch from the top empty. Put the seeds on top of the soil, and cover with a quarter inch of soil. Put the container into a tray of water until the top is wet, than remove. When the plants have a set of true leaves remove them using the leaf to pick up the plant. Put the new plant in a six pack; when the plants are ready to go outside, poke holes in the soil with a pencil. Put one plant or seed per hole. NO MORE! Don't forget to water. When you plant a seed a good rule to remember is plant seeds four times its diameter deep.
Maintain your garden; weeding, watering, taking notes, making compost, feeding, etc. After weeding two or three times, there will be almost no more weeds. Your plants will crowd out the weeds.
When the plants are almost ready for outside, put them outside during daylight, to get used to outside conditions. Make a cold frame to start more plants outside; even better, build a greenhouse. It will extend your growing season, maybe all year long.
Vegetables that can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked are: Radish, beets, swish chard, carrots, lettuce, peas, spinach, onions, garlic, leeks, parsley and chives.
WHAT TO PLANT AND WHEN TO PLANT IT
Cole Crops: plant 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost date: broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, onions, potatoes, peas, spinach, kale, turnips and asparagus.
Hardy plants: plant 2 to 4 weeks before last frost date: beets, carrots, chard, mustard, parsnips and radish.
Non-cole plants: plant after last frost date: snap beans, tomato, okra, sweet corn and soybeans.
Hot weather plants: plant 1 to 2 weeks after last frost date: lima beans, melons, eggplant, sweet potato, pepper and cucumber.
Medium heat plants: summer planting: beans, squash and chard.
Hardy plants: late summer 6 to 8 weeks before fall freeze: beets, kale, mustard, turnips, spinach, collard and lettuce.
WHY RAISED BEDS?
1.Sun heats beds like a solar collector, warming the soil.
2.The soil drains water faster, and plants grow faster.
3.DON'T WALK ON YOUR GARDEN BEDS.
4.Neat gardens produce more vegetables.
5.Keep soil level so water can deep soak evenly.
6.Raised beds produce more vegetables.
7.Vegetables can be picked 5 to 10 days earlier.
8.Raised beds do very well anywhere.
9. Snow insulates raised beds from freezing as snow melts it gives off heat. The heat goes into the bed, causing vegetables to grow faster.
10. Put on leaves and compost, and till into soil.
WALL OF WATER;
1. Lasts 7 to 10 years.
2. Harvest is 2 to 4 times more.
3. Plant tomatoes 6 to 8 weeks before normal planting.
4. Warms soil 10 to 15 degrees warmer than outside area.
5. Put wall of water out at least one week before planting.
THEORY: When water freezes it gives off 80 times as much heat as it normally cools off. When water is cooled or freezes, it gives off heat. Three gallons of water equals 9,000,000 calories of heat every night. It's like burning a fifth of a quart of fuel oil.
6. Open top is good to 16 °F, closed is good to 10 °F.
How to plant your square foot garden
1 Plant Per Square Foot: broccoli, cabbage, corn, cauliflower, potatoes, pepper, tomato, eggplant and muskmelon.
4 Plants Per Square Foot: swiss chard, lettuce, parsley and celery
9 Plants Per Square Foot: beans and spinach
16 Plants Per Square Foot: beets, carrots, onions, radish and turnips
Trellis upward: muskmelon, squash, pole beans, watermelon, cucumbers, pumpkins
BUILDING SOIL:
Leaf Mold: 1 to 2 inches
Cow Manure: 2 inches
Lime: except potatoes or West of the Mississippi River.
Sow winter rye: Germination time is 4 to 5 days; till rye into the soil in the spring; mulch first with lawnmower.
Clay: Clay or sandy soil can be broken down by adding organic matter like leaves, grass clippings, etc.
Buckwheat: Puts nutrients back into the soil when tilled in, makes soil more workable; releases nitrogen into the soil and stops erosion.
Green Manure: 'Green Manure', Rye, 3 pounds per 40 feet; plant in the fall.
COVER CROPS: ALL SOIL BUILDERS
Plant in the Fall Two types: cold and warm
Warm: Buckwheat, clover
Cold: Winter wheat, rye, Australian winter peas
Building better soil: The best PH is 6 to 6.5 for overall gardening. Potatoes are one exception.
In a 60 square foot area, add these building blocks:
Compost: 2 large bags
Peat moss: 2 large bags
Pearlite: half a bag
Granulated dolomite: 2 cups
10-10-10-Organic fertilizer: 1 ½ cups
Gypsum: 4 cups
Bone meal (0-10-0): 6 cups
Pine mini-nugget bark: 1 large bag
Till all of the above together for great soil; wait a month. Do a PH test one month later. Take a soil sample from all four corners and the center. Buy a soil test kit at your local garden center. Buy a cheap one for less than five dollars. They are simple to use. Follow the instructions on the box and color chart.
CROP ROTATION
As farmers and gardeners we are stewards of the land. We must be careful of what we use on the land. Rotating crops is very important. Crops should be planted and rotated as follows: Heavy feeders are melons, okra, spinach, squash, tomatoes, and cabbage. Follow these crops by planting soil builders like beans, peas, peanuts, soybeans, and cover crops. Follow with light feeders like carrots, leeks, peppers, potatoes, turnips, or garlic.
On farm land you should plant in this order for seven years: 1) Soybeans 2) Hay 3) Wheat 4) Oats 5) Corn 6) Pasture 7) NOTHING, let the land rest.
Reasons for crop rotation: healthy plants, stronger plants, quicker growing, fewer diseases, better nutritional products and quality.
Plant GREEN MANURE like rye, clover, alfalfa or buckwheat. At about 6 to 8 inches till it under, letting it rest for 2-3 weeks, or cut with a mower, and put on a compost pile.
PLANT AND ROTATE BY DISEASES AND PESTS PER GROUP
- Cucumber, melons, squash, pumpkins and gourds
- Carrots, onions, garlic and beets
- Broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, radish and turnips
- Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and okra.
Each group above has the same pests and diseases. Rotate them as a group. Tomatoes can cause diseases in the soil, which can last over 10 years; pests over winter at the vegetables roots. Clean up your garden before the first snow. Remove non-producing plants from your garden.
4 Rye or buckwheat, 3 Legumes, 2 Cole crops, 1 Root crops
Keep a notebook of your rotation year after year. First year set up a chart. Second year rotate 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 1. This will be a four year rotation. Keep it up. (The above chart equals one square foot).
