Project List

Sunnier Days

It seems that the blog world is crammed full of posts on new year's resolutions and lists of accomplishments from last year. I'm not a huge resolution maker, whether that's good, bad or otherwise, I have no idea. But, in keeping with the spirit of the list-making season, I do like to start penciling out ideas that I have for projects, to see which ones may or may not be reasonable for the coming year.


In no particular order, here's what I'm thinking these days:

• Goats and/or Sheep. I'd really like to start looking seriously at how we could bring in some more animals. We'll have to spend some time looking around the property for a suitable site for a fenced off area and a shelter. Once that's nailed down, we can start thinking about specific breeds- since everyone here has a purpose, these will have to be fiber breeds, to keep my spinning habit supplied. 
• Bees. I really enjoyed having my neighbor's bees around last summer. It seems that the cold snap we had a few months back killed them off, though. I believe he's looking at getting another hive set up, but I'd also like to have one of our own. The question is, what type of hive do we want to manage? More on that, to come. 
• Ducks. I've been wanting to add ducks for a number of years, and since we don't need to add any chickens to the flock this spring, I believe it's time to get that ball rolling, so I'll be picking up some duck books on my next trip to the library. 
• Broiler Chickens. Depending on the work situation, I think this is the year where we'll try our hand at raising broilers. (Heaven knows we have enough beef in the freezer, still.)
• Rabbits. We need to overhaul the rabbit colony. The gals keep digging out and seem to be going through an excessive amount of food, with their current set up. We're going to have to completely move their enclosure and move a bit of dirt around, in order to fish out the concrete pavers that they managed to squeeze past, and back fill their dens.
• Chicken Coop. This is going to require a major cleaning in the spring, so while I'm at it, I think I'll move their next boxes and roost bars around. Since the rat issue started, they won't use the next boxes any more, and roost all over the place. So, we need to fix that. I'd love to get rid of the greenhouse coop altogether, but that's probably not in the budget right now. We'll see. 
• Veggie Garden. Last year was a good year in the garden, but there was room for improvement when it came to the rabbit damage. I'm going to need to either reinforce the perimeter fence with some chicken wire, or set up individual panels for the beds that need them. I'm leaning towards shoring up the perimeter. I'm also in the process of planning what we'll plant and where... but that's a totally stand-alone topic. 

I'm getting tired just thinking about this stuff. What about you? Do you have plans to add any livestock or garden areas this year? Do you have any projects that you want to take on, but aren't sure where to start? I'd love to know!

More on Square Foot Gardening

Welcome back everyone! Hopefully you got a chance to see my post over on Grit yesterday, where I wrapped up the two-part Building the Soil series. If not, don't forget to head over there later and take a look.

Today, as promised, I wanted to go a little more in depth on the Square Foot Gardening method, what I like about it and how it works, both in general and for me. I'll start off by saying I am not affiliated with the SFG organization in any way, but I have been thinking about their certification program because I do think it's that good.

As I mentioned on Monday, the key to the SFG method starts with the beds, and making sure they're sized appropriately for your reach. I have mine set up so that I never have to reach farther than 2 feet in, which is a real back-saver. One thing I don't have set up, that the method specifically states is a "must have" in order to be authentic, is a permanent grid over the boxes. I have a couple of pieces of lattice that I use to measure out my grids when planting, and I have used a piece or two of twine on occasion just to line things up, but I'm not keen on having a permanent grid in place. The less stuff that's in my way when I'm weeding or whatever, the better.

I also have not used the soil recipe that is touted in the book. I had been composting and mulching for years in that area before putting the boxes in, so the soil there was already really close to perfect, in my opinion. That being said, if I were to start a new raised garden in an area over grass, and I didn't have time to properly layer in the beds a season ahead of time, I'd give the mix a shot as it looks pretty good. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- find what works best for you, and do that. Plants and soil are forgiving, so experimentation is a great learning tool.

Now, on to the good stuff. The reason that SFG is so awesome is that instead of planting one straight row, we space the plants in one foot square groups. As an example, you'll recall that our original layout had roughly 2' x 6' rows. If I wanted to plant something that required 6 inch spacing, the most I'd be able to put in would be 12 plants, because the rows needed to be planted on center for watering. Now, when I plant on a grid, I can put in 15 plants in just a 2' x 2' area, and still keep the required 6 inch spacing. Talk about doing more with less!

If you're more visual, check out this link. You'll bounce out to Gardeners Supply, where they have a few preplanned SFG layouts as reference. Their beds are designed as 3' x 6' rectangles, which are also a very good layout, if you have the space for it.

Other benefits to planting on a grid in a raised box:

• Watering efficiency. I water my beds at the soil level (no wet leaves means fewer fungal issues) by "filling them up" with the hose and letting the water soak in. I flood each bed with about an inch of water (the space I like to keep between the soil level and the top lip of the bed) every few days. I don't water my paths, or any other area that doesn't need it, like I would with an overhead sprinkler. 
• Hoops. It's really easy to make hoops out of pvc pipe, which you can then cover with plastic to create mini-greenhouses, or cover with bird netting or floating row covers to keep pests away. 
• Manageability. By breaking a garden down into smaller chunks like this, it's a lot easier to manage the tasks of weeding, mulching and such. 

Some potential drawbacks:

• Intensive planting requires diligence in monitoring for pests and diseases. Because they're grouped so closely, problems can spread quickly if you're not watching.
• You MUST feed your soil at the end of each season. Because there are more plants pulling nutrients out of less space, it's an absolute requirement to put those nutrients back in. On the up side, it's really easy to layer on mulch or compostables at the end of a season. 
• Overplanting. I don't know if this is really a drawback, but it's something to be aware of. You can put so many more plants in, that it's easy to end up overwhelmed with produce. If you're into preserving (drying, canning, freezing, fermenting...) then mentally move this up to the benefits list. :)

Want to learn more? Here are some resources for you to check out, in addition to the book itself: 

 

• Grit ran this article written by the SFG creator, Mel Bartholomew, this past winter. 
• Mother Earth News ran this one from Mel back in 2011. 
• This website has a TON of information on sample layouts and even succession planting, if you're looking to really maximize your productivity.
• Search "Square Foot Gardening" in your search engine of choice. My quick Google search yielded over 4 million results, including images. 

So... Are you interested in giving this method a try? Let me know what you think, over on Facebook. If you're already into square foot gardening, post a photo over on the page and tell us all about it!

Garden Design

The garden beds, earlier this year.

I've tried a few different layouts for the garden over the 9 years that we've lived here. The garden was originally one bed, about 6 feet deep by 10 feet long. I don't know how the original owner worked with it, because there was no good way for me to reach the center. Weeding was nearly impossible without a hoe, and I couldn't envision a layout of plants that made any sense to me, either. After just a few times working it, I knew it wasn't going to stay that way for long.

I gave it one year anyway, just so I could watch the new property as it passed through the seasons. Knowing that I wanted a big food garden, I needed to make sure that it was well thought out ahead of time because it wasn't going to be easy to just pick up and move. I also had a couple of constraints to work around: there's a utility pole over there, and they ran a water line up up to it from the well, in order to serve that one garden bed. The other main issue is that we have some huge cedar trees on our property, and the existing garden is in one of the few completely cleared spots.

In the end, we left the location alone, and just expanded the garden to the 20 x 50 foot plot that it is now. It's on a loosely east-west axis, and the utility pole is pretty much smack dab in the middle. Aside from the humming of the transformer, I hardly notice it any more when I'm out there- and as long as the technicians remember to close the garden gate, neither of us seems to mind that they have to go in there once or twice a year to inspect things.

When we first pushed out the garden, we tilled aggressively to break up the existing sod, and then laid out the beds in short rows- about 7 feet long, by 2 feet wide. They were raised a bit, maybe 6 inches at the center, if that. We left the paths as dirt, thinking that all of our walking on them would compact the soil enough to keep them weed free. (Um... no. I spent probably as much time weeding those darn things as I did anywhere else.) In addition to the paths driving me bonkers, the rows were hard to keep watered enough; since they were just mounds, the majority of the water just rolled off of them.

I fought with this layout for a few more years, despite the fact that it clearly didn't work for me. That, and every winter it looked like we had a graveyard located just beyond our front window. So, it was a teeny bit creepy every now and again. All in all, the whole garden eventually went fallow for one or two seasons- the combination of frustration and some health issues making the extra work pretty much impossible for me.

When I was back on track, I knew we'd need to change the layout of the garden, in order for it to be useable again. After reading Mel Bartholomew's book "All New Square Foot Gardening", I knew that was the way I needed to go. We put in our raised beds that spring, and have never looked back. We have three different sizes of beds: 4'x4', 2'x4', and 2'x2'. The paths are still wide enough to bring the wheelbarrow in, and having the various sizes was more of an aesthetic choice than solely practical. However, I find that having the different sizes works out nicely for things like mixed lettuces and herbs, where broadcasting seeds is just fine.

Approximately the same angle, this morning. 

There are a number of benefits to the square foot method, and some aspects that I don't agree with 100%. As with everything, I think it's perfectly fine to take what works for you and discard the rest. The thing that appeals to me the most is the raised bed layout. First, having beds no larger than 4'x4' means no struggling to reach the center of the bed. As someone who likes sitting on the ground and weeding, this is ideal for me. Second, the raised beds make watering much easier and more efficient. Last, but not least, is that by planting on a grid instead of in straight lines, I maximize the amount of food my garden is producing.


There are other benefits as well- aesthetically-speaking, I like my layout of little squares and rectangles. Another is that since no one walks on the beds (aside from the random dog) there's no more tilling. I pile compost on the beds at the end of each fall, and fluff it up a little in the spring with my claw cultivator (like this one; mine is older but I absolutely love it) and I'm done. No tilling, no fussing... it's pretty awesome. Oh, and in case you were wondering- we put down some weed cloth  in between the beds, and covered that with wood chips, so the paths are pretty much no-maintenance, as well. Perfect!

If you would like some additional information on square foot gardening, I highly recommend checking out the book or their website. Otherwise, check in here on Wednesday- I'll talk some more about my setup and experiences with the method, and why you should totally give it a try.

What's your preferred garden layout and why? Stop by Facebook and let me know!