Do you think your garden is not big enough?

[tomf]

I ran out of room to plant things so I am thinking some time I may have make a bigger garden. I may till up a spot for corn and a few other plants and work the soil for a year or so then put a deer fence around it. Corn takes a lot of space you know and therefor eats a bit of my garden space up.

[FruitAddict]

Doesn't every gardener feel like they don't have enough space?

Part of my solution was to plant some vegetable in with my flowers in my flower beds... and container gardening.

My main garden does tend to get a tiny little bit bigger every year (so the other half won't notice that I've added on) I got picked on because I planted Asparagus in the middle of the lawn - but what they don't know is eventually I want my garden to butt up against the Aspargus patch it'll just take a few years to get there a tiny little bit at a time. Our little secret.

[lorax]

I'm waging war on grass - I won't say my garden is too small until there's no grass left to pull up.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

yes, when I'm planting... but when I have to start weeding and picking and de-bugging, and canning, and freezing, I always think, "Next year I am not doing a garden this big EVER again !!!" But then february hits, and I start itching to get things started...and I almost ALWAY go bigger...and the cycle continues.

But not next year...I'm definitely going smaller

[hit or miss]

I've basically doubled the size of mine this year! If she would eat more vegetables I'd need to triple it! I'd need a tractor of some kind to use up the space I have available.

[MaryDel]

My main garden is 80 x 80. That's not counting the asparagus, the strawberries and the small fruits and grapes. My garden is big enough.

[applestar]

I have small "manageable" beds.... all over the place. I refuse to add up the square footage for fear of finding out just how big my garden really is.

I've ran out of space in the fenced back yard and have moved out into the front yard -- just along the fence this year, but I keep thinking I could/should connect the fence row to the two island beds further out in the lawn -- one of flowers and one of a lone Japanese Maple....

I would -- and should -- really say I have enough garden space, but I've made corn a NEW PROJECT for next year -- I want to grow some serious corn, enough to freeze. (You guys are a bad influence! ) He doesn't know it, but DH has just contributed to this ambitious plan by replacing our old unreliable chest freezer with a new bigger model and having it delivered this morning....

[sheeshshe]

oh you guys are bad. now you just gave me some ideas of how to add on... SHOOT!

yeah, I added on for 5 years and last year I said it was perfect. this year? it should be bigger!!! LOL! not to mention one of my neighbors told me I should add on near the back...

[jal_ut]

No, no, no! My garden is twice as big as I need. I told my wife I am going to cut it in half next year. She just giggled and said, "Ya, ya, sure you will."

[gixxerific]

Of course our gardens are too small. Don't listen to Jal like his wife said he doesn't know what he's saying right now.

I was actually thinking about how I could go about making mine a little bigger this morning. I have been here 3 years and it grows every year. I live in a subdivision so I have to keep it somewhat subdued. If I had a lot of land I would have a great big garden. Even if I didn't have more plants it would still be nice to be able to move around in it better. With somewhat crowded plants it's hard to manage.

[garden5]

Of course our gardens are too small. Don't listen to Jal like his wife said he doesn't know what he's saying right now.

I was actually thinking about how I could go about making mine a little bigger this morning. I have been here 3 years and it grows every year. I live in a subdivision so I have to keep it somewhat subdued. If I had a lot of land I would have a great big garden. Even if I didn't have more plants it would still be nice to be able to move around in it better. With somewhat crowded plants it's hard to manage.

I'm with you, Gix. I pack the crops in my garden to get the most out of it I can. Then, I think that if I made the garden larger, I could have a few more crops and lot more walking, harvesting, weeding space.

However, I know all too well that I will plant is just as dense so as to get the most into it (so I can make it bigger for more space ).

[gixxerific]

About the walking space, all of my plants are more or less spaced properly. But there are not hardly any breaks in the scheme of things. So I have to walk between plants which I don't like due to the compaction. I think having the room to move around is the biggest thing for me.

I am considering braking mine up into official raised beds next year, though they are basically raise beds this year just without the borders that normally are seen with them. This way I will be able to move around without squashing my beds down. You can totally tell where my walking paths are they are well below the level of the planting beds.

Another thing to think of using out of the way places to grow plants. I have veggies in several of my "flower gardens that takes up some of the slack. I also have plants under my Willow trees where there are large boxed out stone planting beds due the slope of the yard.

Don't forget pots work well with many thing like peppers, onions, carrots, herbs, tomatoes-(somewhat) etc.

[William71]

This is my first garden this year, and it's about 3' x 8'. Plus a few containers. Definitely too small; I'm planning to at least triple it next year.

[tomf]

Some of you are right about the work and canning, we are still eating things from last year. Oh but it would be nice to grow lots of different vegies.

[applestar]

I -- or more precisely, my DH -- unearthed some frozen beans and tomatoes from last year, lost in the bottom of the old chest freezer that was just replaced. (The new one has partions and baskets that, I told DH, will SURELY make for better organization of the freezer, with no more lost items.... )

I'm about a week off from start of tomato full production (I'm looking at 6~8 in various stages of pinkness) and pole beans are just starting to flower. As luck would have it, the first wave of bush beans didn't do so well probably due to the drought.

Guess we'll be eating up those beans and tomatoes so we can make room for this years harvest!

[Charlie MV]

no, it's plenty big.

[bcallaha]

Mine's not big enough. I almost doubled the garden space from last year, and still looking to expand a little next year. I keep trying new things to grow....and that takes space. I'm also doing some double cropping this year....going to get some fall plants in where by peas, cabbage and brocolli were this spring. I may plant some (very) late corn, and early variety so it may make.

Brad

[Joyfirst]

My is small 200 square feet including compost piles and garden tool bench, so it is too small, but since it is in the community gardens, I can't make it bigger.

[farmerlon]

Mine is big enough. I don't have any plans for expansion at this time. For a while, I think I will just be making improvements to the space that I already have.
Yesterday, I finished building a small "drying shed" for onions, garlic, and potatoes. Things like that, to make my garden more useable and enjoyable, are what I am into right now.

[DoubleDogFarm]

This is a [url=https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=63+ellison+lane,+friday+harbor,+wa.+98250&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=63+Ellison+Ln,+Friday+Harbor,+San+Juan,+Washington+98250&gl=us&ei=amhDTMKIJY2CsQO4wNz-DA&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA&ll=48.524361,-123.098473&spn=0.000397,0.001368&t=h&z=20]satellite photo[/url] of my garden. It was 12 raised beds until late 2009. September, I installed 13 more. The soil came from dredging the duck pond.



The garden this summer. The red line, north of the garden will be expension for pigs one day. The area between garden and Ellison Lane.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Potatoes%202010/DSC02343-1.jpg[/img]

How do you post urls so they don't mess up the posting.

[gixxerific]

How do you post urls so they don't mess up the posting.

Link here Or if you want to make it a word in a sentence do Link here[/I]]Word or phrase you want it to be here

[The Helpful Gardener]

Hmmm.... I only added sixteen square feet of space this year but planted nearly twice as much veg...

Are you guys sure you are asking the right question? Perhaps the garden is more than enough space that you might not be using efficiently. I am finding polycropping in a more dense garden tro be a little less aesthetic than usual (those of you who are lining up your seeding rows with strings and such are not likely to like the dense, natural growth of a polycropped space, but there are so many upsides, not least of which is I am using my tiny space to maximum effect...

I find all sorts of benefits as I go; the confused squash bug wandering lost on that tomato between the squash plants saying "I can't eat this stuff." The lettuce tucked in the shade of those squash that lagged behind my more solarly blessed greens (long ago bolted), that are still giving me good salad greens, the fact that my beds have seen little rain, but are still holding moisture in them because of the dense covering of plants, and again, a LOT more plants than last year.

Not counting the new Three Sisters Garden this year, I have still added chard, kale, lambsquarters, and serranos and doubled the amount of cukes, squash, and used an old bed for asparagus. There was room for a few sunflowers in the corner, and a horseradish in another corner. And no beds were added. No new space. The only things that changed were my mind and the way I was doing things...

HG

[Urban_Garden]

Not only do I think, I know! Well, at least for my goal. I want to produce a great deal of my family’s food but with the space I have gardened, I simply can't grow a lot. Next year however, I plan to grow three salad beds (with other shade veggies), and a large garden on the southern side of the home, as well as flower gardens in the front and a medicinal garden, maybe some tea and catnip. I also plan to expand my raspberry patch and create a small fruits garden (strawberries and junk). I hope that I can grow melons next year too! ;D

[applestar]

DoubleDog I accidentally clicked on directions while looking at the satellite photo of your garden. the app told me it'll take 2 days driving to get there!

HG, may be the poor lost cuke beetle will be so disoriented it'll ask a spider for directions It sounds like your hay bale garden is really paying off. . What will you plant in the space next year? Will you rotate?

Another way to increase yield is to plan to grow year-round. Depending on what is planted now, you may be able to squeeze in a fall crop and, in some areas, plan a winter crop. I'm planning on at least one bed of winter hardies that will not need any more than mulching, another that I'll try to put some serious efforts into keeping alive, and others that will be planted with different winter cover crops to see what works -- I have clover ( different kinds... 2 more if I collect seeds from existing ones that are going to seed now), oat, triticale, spelt, and rye.

[DoubleDogFarm]

The only things that changed were my mind and the way I was doing things...

Well I have lots of space in there for expansion.

Thank you for the help

Eric

[The Helpful Gardener]

Don't we all Eric?

AS, I wasn't even talking about the bale garden; that's the new space I added this year. Still mostly male flowers on the squash there, but they are completely rampant, spilling onto the lawn, and in need of constant supervision to keep from devouring the back yard entirely. The corn is just lovely; eighteen stalks with about thirty ears on them; I have seen the first signs of borer, but I will do nothing there (unless someone has a very green suggestion). The scarlet runner beans are climbing like Lance Armstrong, and simply beautiful among the rest of it...

I will not change things up next year; I will keep the plants that have developed the soil organisms in that bed until such time that I see issues. Rotation of crops is more about mineralization than anything else, and if we are cognizant and keep our soil very healthy, the need for rotation diminishes and in best practice, dissappears. It has been noticeable that the new bale garden (with it's lovely new compost soil) has less disease, less bugs, and grows better than any other garden I have.

Get it right and it's easy...

HG

[FruitAddict]

This topic has inspired me... and the fact that half my garden in drowning because we've had to much rain this year.

I pulled out an old book I happen to find at a rummage sale this spring... It's Called "Square Foot Gardening" By: Mel Bartholomew it was printed in 1981 (So I guess not that old)

His whole concept is to break it up into 4'x4' sections and plant only exactly what will fit in that space and staggering your crops. He claimes you need 80% less space, time & money to get the same amount of produce you would get in a traditional "row garden".

This book has some very interesting suggestions in it, Like Vertical Gardening all your Vining Plants. Has anyone tried this and had success with it?

[The Helpful Gardener]

Go ahead and search "Square Foot Gardening" on the Site Search; you will find yourself with about two days worth of reading...

SFG certainly brings some great ideas to the fore, but check out Toby Hemenway's Gaia's Garden for advice on polycropping, forest gardens, and the like. Not for everybody, but if you want to use space to the maximum, polycropping's as efficient a method as I have found.

Fukuoka-sensei talks about it (without naming it) in One Straw Revolution as well. Some folks call it French Intensive gardening because Emilia Hazelip brought Fukuoka's ideas to the west, but it is all the same thing, and indigenous cultures (including Amerinds) have been doing it for thousands of years. It is simply gardening like Nature does it and it works, famously...

HG

[cherishedtiger]

My garden is 6'X6' yup one big square... plus the potted hanging peppers, and the blueberries (which I think are dead), strawberries which never made it either...

But already are in the works for about 2 more beds, as I quickly realized that my little 6x6 raised bed was just too small... eventually I think I will have no yard, just garden... wonder what my landlord would do????

[Cerbiesmom]

I have cardboard in my yard killing grass so I can expand my garden from a 4' diameter circle to a 15x4' rectangular raised bed. I can't wait.

[microcollie]

Love to hear that people are getting rid of their laws in favor of gardens. My gardens won't be big enough until my property is free of grassy lawns!! Still have about 3/4 of an acre to deal with. (But my plan is just a native wildflower meadow)

[applestar]

This year, my designated "wildflower meadow" a.k.a. "Sunny Meadow" is also providing growing space for Yellow Crookneck squash, 6 tomatoes, 1 large bell pepper, leeks, bush beans and a stray pole bean that is sprawling around with no pole to grow on, some squashes, sweet potato, edamame, and cotton.

...I wanted to replicate the idea of strolling in the meadow and accidentally kicking a pumpkin nestled in the undergrowth, described in Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution as well as in one of Sepp Holzer's on-line videos.

[pepper4]

For me my garden is big enough which consists of alot of containers and a few things thrown in with my flower beds. I basically grow what we eat the most of, peppers, onions, mators, garlic, celery and cukes. I thought about making more space but living in the city is hard. I would have to dig up plants and flowers that I have had for a number of years. Can't trade 1 for another. I have done really well this year due to some advice I got last year and maybe this strange weather helped. Don't have the answer but have done well and next year hope to do better with what I have to work with. I tell myself it is small but it is mine.