by Ginger Baer
For many years vegetable gardens were
spacious, spread out and required a lot of weeding, water and upkeep. I
loved my BIG garden, but hated the weeding and tried many methods to cut down
on that kind of work. It wasn’t until I moved to the mountains and joined our
community garden that I actually tried intensive gardening (due to the fact
that my space was limited). Each garden plot measured 4' X 12', a far cry
from my 20' x 20' garden at a lower elevation.
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| In-ground garden |
The most important part of selecting your
garden location is location. You need to
have plenty of sunlight, well-drained soils and availability to water. Leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and spinach,
require the least direct sunlight, only 4 to 5 hours. Root vegetables require 5
to 6 hours, and fruiting vegetables (such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini)
require at least 8 hours. In Colorado, water can be a challenge unless
you have water rights. This is why I
have a plot in the Gilpin County Community Garden. They provide the water.
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| Broad forks |
If one has plenty of space, water, time and
energy, row gardening can be a great way to garden. It does require a bit of
money to amend the soil, maintain and water. I had successfully gardened this
way for many years. You will need to be sure that your rows are straight (you
can use a string for your layout) because this will make tilling between the
rows easiest. In this style of garden, you will need to take care that you
don’t walk on the rows as to avoid compaction of the soil, which will inhibit
root growth.
Until recently, mechanical tillers were the recommended method for
turning the soil. Recently, however, it
is recommended that you hand till the beds with either a garden fork or
a broad fork. This can be labor and time intensive if your
garden is large, however, you are minimizing the chances for compaction (by footsteps and heavy equipment). If this is your style of garden, then by all
means, go for it.
For me, however, I have really loved my
smaller, intensive garden. Square foot gardening is a trend that started out in
the 1970’s and 1980’s and was developed by Mel Bartholomew. [1] This method has been further developed and
there is a garden note from CSU Extension on what is called Block Style Garden.
[2] I have adopted this style of gardening in my
community garden plot. The idea of this style of gardening is to maximize yields
for the space allotted. In your space you should lay out a plan to plant crops
with an equal-distance space between neighboring plants in both directions. In
doing so you will also need to consider the sunlight requirements of each of
your plants.
Another consideration is how much room each
plant requires for growing. Lettuce,
radishes and carrots are ideal for block gardening, whereas squash and vining
vegetables such as cucumbers may require too much space. One thing that can help with those types of
plants is a trellis. Remember the direction of the sunlight when using this
method so that you do not shade the other plants in your garden.
Due to the fact that there is such intensity
in your plantings you will need to be sure that you maintain the richness of
your soil. Concentrate on improving soils with routine applications of organic
matter and get soil testing along the way to be sure that you have a correct
balance.
Block style gardens are well suited for both
in-the-ground plots or raised beds. As mentioned above, I started mine in a
plot that measured 4 ft x 12 ft and it was in the ground. In this plot, I was
able to grow onion, lettuce, spinach, arugula, carrots, peas, radishes,
turnips, beans, squash and a cherry tomato.
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| Raised beds in Community Garden |
The community garden also offers raised beds
by way of galvanized water troughs measuring 3 ft x 10 ft. I love mine! Last year I grew onions,
carrots, radishes, lettuce, arugula, peas, beans, squash and cucumber. One error I did make was to grow too many
squash plants, and you know how those squash multiply (keep your car windows
closed!). The squash really spread and
overtook the cucumber plants and beans.
One plant will be enough in the bed this year.
Whatever method you decide to use, it is
always a good idea to layout your garden plan with pencil and paper. This way you will be sure of how much room
you have for your plants and you will also have a good record from one year to
the next of what you grew, what did well, and what did not. Make the most of
your space and happy gardening!
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