Organic Gardening
This summer (2009) was my first attempt at my own garden. The soil is not optimal here and I wanted to use minimal space so I used raised beds with an intensive gardening method. I used to help my Grandmother in her garden and I remember always thinking that there really was no need to space the plants out so much. In doing some research, I discovered I am not the only one who questions the traditional method. I found some information on “Square Foot Gardening”. I used some of the basic ideas and tweaked them to suit me. Apparently, the French have been using “intensive gardening” for a long time.
One thing I discovered is that gardening is quite a lot of work, at least for the harvest I wound up with. It’s been a little lighter than I expected. I also discovered that timing is very important. Not only the timing of when to plant, also the timing of when to harvest. I’ve had quite alot of okra that I had to throw out because I left it too long and it got too big. Some peppers have dried out from being left too long before picking as well. Greens seem to wilt and die if left too long.
I’m planning to add another bed since I’m assuming it won’t be much more work to double the size of the garden. It will give me more of a crop for my efforts. I was actually thinking of adding two more beds to triple the size. I think I’ll just start with one more for now though. I’ll also be rearranging the plants in a better layout and timing the plantings a bit better for a more productive crop. The first time around was a learning experience, if nothing else.
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