I read a book lately titled "Square Foot Gardening" and learned of a new way of building that backyard garden. I began this project as the last spring frost was just falling upon us, and even lost a few plants to that frost, which I believe today was a god sent message. The rules for SFG is to plant in 4x4 boxes. I decided to take that to the extreme and created a 5x23 foot box. The box is made of common everyday used 2x12 material. The bed consists of 7" of 2 year old composted manure, topped with about an inch of regular bulk purchased peat moss. The picture below shows what it looked like the first day of transferring the plants. Notice the grid if you will. A real SFG consists of 12x12 squares, whereas these are actually 12x16 to make the 5 foot side be in 4 equal sections, giving a total planting area of 92 squares. For asthetic value I placed a 120v. fountain on two cement blocks in the center and wired it down so it could not blow over.
I decided that I wanted the garden to be fenced in, but not permanently. I added a post to each corner that is 24" tall from the top of the bed, actual posts are 32" for mounting purposes. I then paced out the distances to put 2 more posts per side to keep them under 8 foot in length each. I then built frames out of standard 1x3 material called firring strips, and lined them with 24" tall fencing stapled to the insides, and made to fit between the upright posts. Since there were already finishing nails holding the jute rope for the squares, I only had to add a small pice of left over wood to the outsides of each section to hold the bottoms in place. I then used common slider latches on each end at the tops to make these pieces removable for easier weeding and harvesting. I also added a standard archway to keep an access spot to be able to maintain the water fountain.
Since the archway needed a gate, I built this using 1x3 fir strips for the sides, and used 1/2" plywood for the tops and bottoms. This was actually done using a coffee can for the template and free handing the curves with a jig saw. Once cut each piece of plywood created both a top piece and a bottom piece. I attached these to 2x2 pieces inside the archway to give the archway support as well as create an area for the hinges. I then used 1x3 material to connect the 2x2 pieces to the regular 2x4 posts and stapled fencing inside of these to keep it looking natural. I also decided to add regular solar lights to the center of each post using 3/4 inch conduit wall connectors from the local electric supply store. Notice the 3 dogs in the center of the archway? The big one is also holding a solar light in it's mouth. I also added two ground staked solar lights to the bottom ends of the archway to make it stand out at night. As you can see by the above pictures, things are really starting to grow now. This process of containing the garden took about 14 days. This next picure was taken 1 week later.
This next picture was taken just 2 weeks after the last one. Notice how large some of the plants are getting? The one's to the far right are sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, that have already reached the top of the fencing. The larger ones towards the center are zucchini, which you will learn more about very shortly.
This next picture was taken just 1 week after the last one. Notice that the tomatoes are about a foot over the top of the fence? The opposite end is really starting to fill in with cuccumbers, zucchini, pole beans, lima beans, sweat peas, and we have over 125 radishes growing throughout.
Now for the story of the zucchini. We had leaves that were twice the size of a standard dinner plate. During that week we removed over 200 of those large leaves so that the rest of the plants would get the needed sunlight. This also created a need to build a 3x4x4 compost bin in another part of the yard, so we could save these nutrients for next year. I acquired 21 garbage bags of leaves, and am placing them in the bin between cuttings to create a good worm environment.
This next picture was taken today 07/09/07. In the past week I cleared another 75 zucchini leaves, and added a shmoo (about 50) stakes for the tomatoes and the cuccumbers. The cukes are climbing everywhere so it is a daily chore now to have to retrain them to climb just the stakes and not the fencing or the other plants. I ended up with a few bad (rotten) zucchini so that trimming is temporarily on hold.
So far we have harvested over 100 good radishes, and planted some 40 more plants. Within these 92 squares we have 19 zucchini, 20 cuccumber, 41 onions, 12 roma tomatoes, 6 cantaloupe, 3 watermelon, 3 sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, 2 eggplant, 18 beets, 8 bell peppers, 6 hot peppers, 8 pole beans, 1 lima bean, and 6 sweat peas. Talk about a harvest fit for a king.
Next year we will be making this into 2 squares wide and only 11 squares long, leaving the last foot for the pole beans. The reason for this is that there are just too many plants located in this small area, and we can not possibly use all of this when it is fresh. I guess you could say that this is also going to be the year for the wife to learn canning, since each cuccumber plant has over 15 cukes each and are growing steadily.
Around July 18th, we had to remove all of the rest of the temporary fencing to allow the garden to get the needed air flow. The tomatoe plants are now outside of the garden and growing like crazy. Did you know that cantaloupe grow on a vine that will climb anything in sight? Neither did I! The archway is now covered in cataloupe vines producing cantaloupes that are a little larger than a softball. Thank god I secured the archway the way I did. We also had to remove the gates to allow the plants more room to grow. As of today, we have harvested all of the radishes, beets, and onions. We also have a second box that is 4x4x12 that is a new place for the radishes, turnips, and beets. Our harvest to date has been 140 radishes, 120 cuccumbers of which 87 have been sold for $.50 each, 90 zucchini of which 62 have been sold for $.75 each. The cherry tomatoes are being picked at about 2 dozen per day, and the roma tomatoes are just starting to come around with a harvest of 6 so far, but many more ready to ripen in the next week or so. Yup, you guessed it. The harvest has been so rich that I had to build a vegetable stand, and purchase a laminater to make signs that can hold up to the weather. The vegetable stand is really nothing more than an inverted box made out of scrap wood that will hold about 30 each of the zucchini and cuccumbers at a time. Next year I will build a proper stand with a top to keep the sun out. As for making money, I can not say that I am. With the puchase of the seeds, the gas bill and labor for bringing in the compost, the cost of the fencing and gates, and the archway, the purchase of the laminater and sheets, as well as the cash box that was modified to be permanently attached to the stand, I have around $150.00 invested. However since most of these items are a one time investment, next year I should be rolling in the dough from this venture.
Speaking of next year, I already have two other plots in my backyard that I will soon be developing. I decided that this bed is not going to house anything that is taller than 12" in height, with the exception of 1 cherry tomatoe in each back corner, with special fenced boxes that will be 8' tall by 2x2 feet square with opening doors on all sides for harvesting and weeding purposes. Basically it will have flowers around the fountain, with a walk path going all but 2 feet from end to end right down the center of the length, with a diamond shaped area around the fountain. Should look really cool, and make a great home to those plants that didn't get enough light and air to grow properly this year. I lost the peppers and eggplant, simply because there is just way too much in this small of an area.
All plants for this project came from Henry Fields!
I highly recommend them for all your planting needs!
Okay, today is September 15th, and the first frost of the season is just around the corner here, possibly even tonight! All is okay though, because thanks to Henry Fields Seed & Nursery Co., I now have a white light cover to protect the garden bed. I figure that using 10 foot lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe will make great hoops to lay the cover over the garden, giving it a covered wagon style look. This years harvest has been overwhelming. All told, we earned over $100.00 from our little front yard stand, which is being applied to building a much better one for next year. We have taken out over 100 cuccumbers, over 100 zucchini, a few bushels of Roma tomatoes, over 200 radishes, about 50 beets, 20 turnips, 15 cantaloupe, and god only knows how many cherry tomatoes.
This has definitely been the year of learning to can and make homemade pickles and spaghetti sauce. Hopefully the pickles turn out okay, but I can garauntee that the sauce turned out awesome. Learned from the net a great way to make stuffed zuchinni, as well as zuchinni/pineapple bread. We just finished the last of 3 (so far) batches of the sauce, with only about 2 gallons in the freezer for a later date. Got the makings for some more of that great bread which will end up in the freezer as well, so we can enjoy it during the cold winter months.
As for this bed, I have kind of changed my mind on what it will contain next year. I decided that the local price of green peppers is too high, so I will be competing with the local grocers. I also am planning on planting pole beans down the full back length, using cement wire mesh for the vines to climb on. The peppers will run in that same 2 foot wide back side area, with things like basil, garlic, dill, radishes, beets, and turnips along the front 2 foot section. My other beds will contain some zuchinni (8), some cuccumbers (12), possibly 10 tomatoes of a different variety, and I think I am going to add some of the later sweet corn like silver queen. I also have 50 strawberry plants, a blueberry bush, a Blue Danson plum tree, and rhubarb on order for spring delivery. I ordered something else that is to be delivered real soon, and I sure hope they hurry up, so I can see what it is....I think it is the blueberry bush, but time will tell.
The end of the season is so near now, that I have already lined up a chipper shredder, so that as I am pulling out all of the plants, I can shred them into compost for spring planting, and leave them right in the bed.
I also may have a few extra sweet 100's growing in a spot in my yard, where my 5 month old, never ending amazingly curious beagle/boxer puppy picked a few and burried them....lol. I'd add a picture of him but my camera was stolen shortly after taking the last picture above. I hope whoever got it appreciates it as much as I did.
Well I just had to do it! I went out and bought another camera, so I could share a picture of my puppy named Brute.
Last night, 10/28/07, brought on the first frost. I found a few missing pepper plants while removing some of the dead stuff, and only those got covered yesterday. We've had so many tomatoes, that I was willing to sacrifice the plants, since they were for ever in bloom. Hopefully the tomatoes on the vines are still good enough to remove and put on shelves to ripen.
Can't wait until spring comes and I get to start the new additions I have planned for the beds. When the new growing season is near, I will replace everything here, and archive this page for future reference. It has been a fun and profitable project, that will grow many times over for next year. I am even thinking of adding a green house to the back yard for a longer growing season.
On January 25, 2008 I had my new 12x24 greenhouse delivered from ACF Greenhouses at http://www.littlegreenhouse.com as soon as the snow leaves the ground I am going to have a few friends over to start the process of putting it all together. I will post a few comments and pictures as we get under way.
Today, 02/21/08, I took an inventory of the seeds on hand for this year. God it is amazing how many plants that you know wil sell. I am not just talking about fruits and vegetables here, but also the regular plants themselves, along with annual and perennial flowers, and even ornamental grasses. I also am lining up some local buyers (restaurants, delis, etc.). I have totally changed the game plan, and that I hope will make this year a great adventure. A local deli gave me 20 - 5 gallon pails, in exchange for better prices and free delivery. Those buckets have now all been cut in half. The bottom halves have 4 - 1/2" holes drilled into them for drainage, and the tops will be placed on a newspaper each, then filled with composted horse manure mixed with top soil, peat moss, and perlite. I also purchased 100 - 1 gallon containers, and 400 small 2.5" x 2.5" containers. I am hoping to create a very niche market this year selling plants, vegetables, and fruits. I have 3 different types of cuccumbers that will be planted in 1' x 10' troughs with cement reinforcement mesh to climb on.
I have 4 varieties of tomatoes, hence the need for so many buckets. Each bucket will be wrapped with more cement mesh wire to support the plants. 15 buckets will be used to plant my multi-colored peppers in, 2 plants per pot. (Did you know that if you plant 2 pepper plants together, and let them live together, they will produce 1 1/2 times what they would if seperated? Neither did I. Isn't the Internet a great place to learn new stuff?). The price guide at the top of this page tells a bit more of what I will have to offer, but not everything.
All told, I spent $635.00 on the greenhouse, and another $100 on lumber to erect just half 12 x 12. I spent about $125.00 on the nursery pots. I spent well over $130.00 on seeds and plants. I will be spending a few hundred on wire mesh and rebar. The dirt is another $250.00. The horse manure is just the cost of delivery which I peg at about $50.00. The Peat Moss and Perlite I figure is about another $100.00. I purchased over 200 pounds of Miracle Grow Professional growing media at about $100.00. I am putting in a used professional composter for another $35.00. I spent around $150.00 on the new stand so far, another $75.00 should finish that project, leaving me to build one more for flowers, hanging plants, etc. So counting the initial $100 from 2007, I am investing about $1900 all together. A lot of money, a lot of time, and hopefully a lot of new customers, will make this investment pay for itself this year alone. Oh yeah, and I've recruited my son, some of his and my own friends and family, to keep it all under control. I figure the lawn mowing that used to take about an hour a week, will take about 4 hours a week, mostly done with a weedeater. I don't think there will be any time or room for horseshoes and big backyard barbeques.
I have done a lot of research over the past few months, and stumbled upon a backyard nursery/garden that sold $25,000.00 worth of plants in just one month. Naturally the cash part caught my attention. Thanks to the owner of that backyard, I now can give you a free copy of his ebook. If you want to read it later, just "right click" the book and choose to "save target as" and put it in your documents file.
Ever wonder just when is the right time to get those early seeds planted in the house, so they are ready to transplant after the last frost? Well I have created a printable Garden Planting Guide just for this purpose. Naturally this is for our Central New York area, but the dates can be adjusted for any area.
Many people have inquired about Portable Vegetable Stand Plans, so here I created my first set. There will be more to come as Spring gets closer.
Have you ever wondered just what those fruits and vegetables that you eat do for your body? I have a chart that is a great resource at Food that's Good for you.
I will post more information on this gardening experience as it becomes available, so check back often!
If you found this site to be helpful, won't you consider making a donation to help my cause? You can set the amount to anything you feel is appropriate. Thank you for your support.
|
