starter vegetable gardens — 24 no-fail plans for small organic gardens
DESCRIPTION
Book layout and design for our upcoming title Starter Vegetable Gardens. Available wherever books are sold in February, 2010.Award-winning writer Barbara Pleasant is a coauthor of The Complete Compost Gardening Guide and the author of The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual. Her work has been honored by the Garden Writers Association and the American Nursery and Landscape Association, and she is a contributing editor at Mother Earth News. She lives in Virginia, where she grows vegetables and herbs as well as assorted berries and tree fruits.TRANSCRIPT
24 No-Fail Plans for
Small Organic Gardens
BARBARA PLEASANTAUTHOR OF
THE COMPLETE COMPOST GARDENING GUIDE
STARTER VEGETABLE GARDENS
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CONTENTSDIGGING IN 9 How to Use This Book ......................................................................................................................... 9
DEVELOPING YOUR GARDEN PLAN:STARTING SMALL AND GROWING YEAR BY YEARChapter 1. The Easy-Care Bag Garden 14Chapter 2. A Backyard Border 33Chapter 3. The Front-Yard Food Supply 48Chapter 4. The Family Food Factory 66
ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES AND MORE PLANTING PLANSChapter 5. Deciding What to Grow 76Chapter 6. Designing Beautiful, Big-Flavor Gardens 80Chapter 7. Working with Seeds and Seedlings 84Chapter 8. Supporting Your Plants 101Chapter 9. Water: Make Every Drop Count 107Chapter 10. The Magic of Mulch 112Chapter 11. Fertilizing Your Garden 118Chapter 12. Your Insect Friends and Foes 124Chapter 13. Preventing Dastardly Diseases 129Chapter 14. Smart Harvesting 134Chapter 15. Stretching the Seasons 139
PICK-OF-THE-CROP VEGGIE VARIETIESAPPENDIX 169
1PART
2PART
3PART
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1
2
3
Designed to bring good things to eat to a city backyard or an oversized sub-urban lawn, this easy-to-install garden requires no prior experience. You can set up the fi rst-year rendition in a single weekend, and even after you expand the garden in year two and year three, it remains a doable project for a gardener working alone who also has a full-time job or takes care of young children. This garden is big enough to keep you in fresh food all summer but not so big that it will take over your life.
atives, which tend to prefer fall over
spring in most (but not all!) climates.
You will discover whether harvest-
ing and eating garden-fresh potatoes
and rutabagas rates as super-special
or just so-so in your book, and your
experiences will help you customize
your crop list for seasons to come.
When you’re ready for new ad-
ventures, experiment by fi tt ing
planting plans from part 2 such as
Strictly from Seed (page 92) and the
Good-for-You Garden (page 136) into
the footprint of your Easy-Care Bag
Garden. Browse the variety descrip-
tions in part 3 as well, and choose a
few to try. This will make your garden
more interesting with every passing
season.
1
2
3
YEAR ONEPAGE 18
YEAR TWOPAGE 24
YEAR THREEPAGE 28
THE EASY-CARE BAG GARDEN
B ag gardening couldn’t be easier. You simply set out purchased
bags of topsoil, cut open the bags,
and plant seeds and seedlings right
in the topsoil. The Easy-Care Bag
Garden is a one- person garden, and
in year one, it will take one person
only a few hours each week to keep
up with watering, weeding, planting,
and picking.
By the second year, the garden is
fully functional as a food garden for
a single person, with 15 vegetables
and 5 herbs producing steadily from
early summer to late fall. If you want
more vegetables, you can expand the
garden when you’re ready. You’re in
charge, because this is intended to
remain a one-person garden.
As the garden grows, you’ll see how
well your site and soil support popu-
lar garden plants like tomatoes and
snap beans. You will also learn the
preferred growing season for broc-
coli and its close cabbage-family rel-
3PAGE 28
C H A P T E R O N E
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YEAR ONE
YEAR TWO
Large bags of planting mix defi ne space for three per-manent beds. Bags laid end to end create a narrow bed just right for a trellis. In the other beds, the bags create beds 3 feet wide (a good width for stepping over). The 2-foot-wide pathways between beds are easy to maintain with a mower.
The circular bed is a natu-ral focal point, so have fun with it! Eventually, you might decide to use it as a perma-nent home for your collec-tion of kitchen herbs or put up a trellis for heavy-bearing pole beans.
YEAR-BY-YEAR OVERVIEW THE EASY-CARE BAG GARDENCHAPTER
4
1
8'
8'
8'
12'
12'
5'
8'
2'
21'
21'
2'
8' 10'
20'
8'
3'
3'
3'
3'
3'
3'
1'
1'
compost
compost
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YEAR THREE The garden triples in size over three years, from 64 to 168 square feet of bed space. But even at its maximum, this garden remains a manageable project for a food-minded gar-dener working alone.
YEAR ONE YIELDSPRING CROPS• lettuce: 2–3 lb.• snap peas: 3–4 lb.
SUMMER CROPS• snap beans: 4 lb.• tomatoes: 16–20 lb.
FALL CROPS• arugula and bok choy:
3 lb. each• kale: 4 lb.• spinach: 1 lb.
HERBS• basil and parsley: about 12
bunches each• oregano, rosemary, sage,
and thyme: a year’s supply
YEAR TWO YIELD YEAR THREE YIELDSPRING CROPS• lettuce: 7 lb.• snow peas:
3 lb.• kale: 5 lb.• kohlrabi: 6 bulbs• potatoes: 4 lb.• onions: about 50
SUMMER CROPS• pole snap beans:
20 lb.• bush snap beans:
15 lb.• tomatoes:
30–40 lb.• peppers:
5–6 lb.• summer squash:
20 lb.
FALL CROPS• arugula: 6 lb.• salad greens:
10 lb.• carrots: 12 lb.• Chinese cabbage:
12 lb.• rutabagas: 5 roots• garlic: 20 bulbs
(harvested the following season)
HERBS• basil: about 25
bunches• oregano, rosemary,
sage, and thyme: a year’s supply
SPRING CROPS• lettuce: 3–4 lb.• snap peas:
3–4 lb.• potatoes:
20 lb.• onions: about 25• beets: 8 lb.• chard: 12 lb.
SUMMER CROPS• snap beans:
16 lb.• tomatoes:
30–40 lb.• peppers:
4–6 lb.• squash: 35 lb.
FALL CROPS• salad greens:
7 lb.• broccoli: 6 lb.• mizuna or mustard:
20 lb.• carrots: 4 lb.• turnips: 10 lb.• garlic: about 45
bulbs (harvested the following season)
HERBS• basil: about 50
bunches• cilantro: about 10
bunches• dill, oregano,
rosemary, sage, and thyme: a year’s supply
5
29'
20'
1'
8'
12'
12'
5'
4'
8'
2'
8'
3'
3'
3'
3'
compost
work area (or future bed)
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EARLY SPRING
1 Prepare your site. Select a site and
arrange bags as shown in the garden
plan on page 19. Before positioning
the bags in Bed 2, cover the ground
between the tomato and herb bags with
4 to 6 sheets of damp newspaper or a
single thickness of well- dampened
cardboard to deter weeds. The bags
will hold the covering in place. Set
up your composter or assemble your
composting enclosure.
After bags are set in place, use a sharp knife to prepare them for planting.
2 Do a little digging. Use the spade
or shovel and digging fork to remove
grass and weeds from the ends of Bed
1; toss all plant debris in the compost.
The same tools work well for breaking
up the stripped soil, loosening it at
least 8 inches deep. Mix two handfuls
of organic fertilizer into each end of
the bed.
A 2-inch rim of plastic on the surface of each bag prevents soil spillage and helps retain moisture.
3 Prepare bags for planting. In the
same bed, install the posts for the pea
trellis by pounding them into the
ground at the ends of the bags (see
How to Pound a Post on page 102). Use
the utility knife to cut out a large rect-
angular window on the upper surface
of each bag, leaving the sides and 2
inches of each top edge intact, like a
picture frame. Lightly dust the surface
of the soil inside the bags with organic
fertilizer and mix in with trowel. (Skip
this if the bag’s label says that fertil-
izer has been added.) Stab each bag
about a dozen times with a knife or
screwdriver to pierce drainage holes
in the bott oms. Plant roots will also
use these holes to grow down into the
soil below the bags.
4 Weave the trellis. Install the trellis
nett ing or string between the posts. If
using string, start by tying a horizontal
line between the posts, no more than
6 inches above the soil’s surface. Then
tie more horizontal lines at least 6
inches apart (so there’s room to reach
through the trellis when harvesting)
until the top string is 4 feet from the
ground. Create a trellis grid by weav-
ing more string vertically in and out
through the horizontal strings.
MIDSPRING
5 Sow peas. One month before your
last spring frost date, plant pea seeds
in the soil in the bags, sowing one
TRELLIS REINFORCEMENTSA single slender stick or bamboo rod lashed to the tops of the two end posts of a trellis adds substantial stability, which makes it easier to weave the net of strings. Another option is to use sticks in place of string for some of the trellis’ vertical lines. After you tie off the horizontal strings, weave slender sticks or bamboo rods between the strings. Push the ends of the sticks a few inches into the ground. Then go back and lash the hori-zontal strings to your vertical sticks.
THE EASY-CARE BAG GARDEN
YEAR ONE PLANTING AND CARE
THE EASY-CARE BAG GARDENCHAPTER
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A fl ap of plastic helps keep the soil moist for slow-sprouting parsley seeds.
7 Sow lettuce. In Bed 3, prepare the
center bag (lett uce) as in Step 3. Let-
tuce seeds sprout faster than parsley,
so they don’t need to be covered with
a plastic fl ap. Aft er applying fertilizer
and making drainage holes, scatt er
the lett uce seeds over the soil’s surface
so that they are about 1 inch apart.
Pat them into place with your hand,
barely covering them with soil. Keep
the soil moist until the seeds ger-
minate. Two to three weeks later, fi ll
any gaps in the planting with small
pinches of seeds.
8 Plant herbs. As soon as they’re
available at garden centers, buy rose-
mary, thyme, sage, and oregano plants
for Bed 3. Prepare the end bags in
the bed as in Step 3. Keep the plants
watered until you’re ready to set them
out. Plant them at even spacing, with
each plant about 10 inches in from
the edge of the bag. Position each herb
in its planting hole so that the base
of the main stem is no deeper than it
grew in the container. Aft er fi lling in
the hole, water well and use scissors
or pruning shears to snip off any bro-
ken branches. (Note: If you purchased
parsley plants for Bed 2, plant them
now too.)
IS THERE A PERFECT TOMATO?Probably not. Cherry, plum, and saladette tomatoes are generally eas-ier to grow than large-fruited beefsteaks. Hybrids are generally more dependable and fast-maturing than heirloom varieties, though there are exceptions to every rule. Tomato varieties are discussed in detail on page 167, but keep in mind that you are always wise to diversify. Even if you’re growing only two plants, choose two different varieties to keep things interesting in your garden and on your table.
row on either side of the trellis. Poke
seeds into the soil 1 inch deep and 2 to
3 inches apart.
With the string trellis in place, you will know exactly where to plant your snap peas.
After poking pea seeds into the soil, pat the surface with the palm of your hand to fi ll in the holes.
6Sow parsley. In Bed 2, cut away the
upper surface on three sides of the
bag to be planted with parsley, leaving
the plastic att ached along one short
edge. Apply fertilizer and make drain-
age holes as you did in Step 3. Plant
about 25 parsley seeds ¼ inch deep
and ½ inch apart (fewer than half will
germinate). Pat lightly to fi rm the soil
over the seeds, then spritz with a light
spray of water until thoroughly moist.
Fold out the plastic fl ap over the
seeded area, and hold it in place with
a stone or small board. The plastic
fl ap will help keep the soil moist until
the parsley seeds germinate, which
usually takes one to two weeks. Aft er a
week or so, check daily to see whether
parsley has sprouted. As soon as seeds
germinate, you’ll need to lift and cut
away the plastic fl ap. (If you buy seed-
lings, see Step 8.)
Planting parsley seeds in rows makes it easier to track their germination.
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43,000 in print!
Paper: $19.95 US / $26.95 CANISBN 978-1-58017-702-3No. 67702Hardcover: $29.95 US / $39.95 CANISBN 978-1-58017-703-0No. 67703
53,000 in print!
Illustrated Planting Plans for 24 NO-FAIL GARDENS Including:
• An Easy-Care Bag Garden• Backyard Veggie Border• Front Yard Food Supply• Family Food Factory• Paintbrush Beds• High-Value Verticals• Marinara Medley• Managed Mulch Garden• Sweet Corn & Company• Benefi cial Border• Cajun Spice• Good-for-You Garden• Six-Weeks-Sooner Salad Garden
Award-winning writer Barbara Pleasant is the coauthor of The Com-
plete Compost Gardening Guide and author of The Complete House-
plant Survival Manual. Her work has been honored by the Garden Writ-
ers Association and the American Nursery and Landscape Association,
and she is a contributing editor at Mother Earth News. She lives in
Virginia, where she grows vegetables and herbs as well as assorted ber-
ries and tree fruits. Read her blog at www.barbarapleasant.com.
Barbara Pleasant
THOUSANDS OF NEW GARDENERS, ONE NEW BOOK TO SHOW
THEM THE WAY
Storey books are distributed in the gift and book trade by Workman Publishing. To order, please see your sales representative or call (800) 722-7202. Storey books are distributed in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son, LTD, (800) 387-4333.
Starter Vegetable GardensFull-color; photographs and illustrations throughout
192 pages; 9‹/• x 12
Paper: $19.95 US / $24.95 CAN
ISBN: 978-1-60342-529-2
No. 62529
Publicity Contact: Amy Greeman (413) 346-2113 or [email protected]
• National review mailing
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• Feature pitch to Lifestyles editors
• Excerpt in Mother Earth News
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• Author interviews
STARTER VEGETABLE GARDENSPLEASAN
T
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BEST SELLER
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Flexibind: $24.95 US / $33.95 CANISBN 978-1-58017-569-2No. 67569
From pounding posts and starting seeds to caging tomatoes and understanding when to water, author Barbara Pleasant uses simple, straightforward language and high-impact visuals to show how to start, maintain, and expand a boun-tiful vegetable garden in small, manageable spaces. Both instructive and inspiring, Starter Vegetable Gardens is an essential one-stop resource for anyone just beginning to cultivate a vegetable-gardening green thumb.
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