My father-in-law has a large garden that he hasn't been able to really care for as well as in the past (he's 84 now). He's asked us to help.My husband and I want to take the large area and do wide rows (3 ft) with a 2 ft. wide path between each row. Previously everything was planted with NO Paths and we all ended up stepping on half of the vegetables, tramping down the good soil and not being able to water as needed and having to walk all the way around the garden to get wherever we needed to go.
My father-in-law feels it is a waste of good dirt to put in walking paths but we told him we would take the good top soil from the walking paths and add it to the wide growing rows and he could plant more because he wouldn't have to plant in a row but staggered. It would be easy for anyone to weed. We are going to try and raise the beds a little each year because some areas are wet regularly and we are going to add new topsoil.
He is not warming up to this idea. He is old fashioned and it is difficult to get him to try something new, even though he really can't begin to do this on his own. We are feeling frustrated. Any words of wisdom on this issue?
I suggest searching The Helpful Gardener for terms like "raised beds," "intensive methods," "Square Foot Garden," or "John Jeavons."
Using intensive methods can give you an equal or better yield than traditional row methods, while using less water and being less back-breaking. This is just a shot across FIL's bow. You'll have more tools at your disposal after the search.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Using intensive methods can give you an equal or better yield than traditional row methods, while using less water and being less back-breaking. This is just a shot across FIL's bow. You'll have more tools at your disposal after the search.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9