This spring I've finally put my preparations and research into effect, and perhaps not a moment too soon. The worldwide food shortages are beginning to impact even food-rich countries like America. To be honest, compared to droughts in even first-world nations like Spain, I have absolutely no right to complain, but I am taking a serious leap into growing our own food supply in a revisitation of the old WWII Victory Gardens.

Here's a few things I've learned so far that books and such didn't prepare me for, and lessons learned the hard way.

Thoroughly weed, then mulch - It's best to have 2 different colors of mulch. Your "bulk mulch" will go between the planted rows, and should go down over the bare soil after it is weeded. Don't mulch the planeted rows until you get sprouts. Once you get sprouts (or if you're transferring from planters) mulch around the base, up and down the row, with the 2nd color of mulch. This will make identifying where it's safe to step, as well as the boundaries of weeds and such, a lot easier. The mulch will also allow the soil to retain more water (which most veg need lots of), and will help prevent weed growth.

Plant a flag by each seed - If you aren't transferring from planters, but are planting seeds directly, plant a small flag near each seed. It makes it a thousand times easier later on to tell whether or not you're cultivating a vegetable or a random weed. If I had done this, it would literally have cut my weeding time down by about 3/4. Instead, still in these early stages of sprouting, I'm having to strain to tell the difference between what is a weed, and what is desired veg.

Keep a log/picture book - I really wish I'd done this. If you're planting from seed, it's a really good idea to keep a separate page for each row, and on each row's page, note what you planted, when, how far apart you spaced stuff, and some photos of what the veg should look like at each stage. It's easy to tell what a mature Bell Pepper plant looks like. It's the ones with the bell peppers on it. But what about the other months of its early life?

Keep your rows perpendicular to the drainage - If your yard drains from north to south, your rows should stretch east and west. This is to retain your soil and moisture, as erosion will quickly affect an "ungrassed" area of the lawn.

Preventive Mixture - If you're thinking about starting a garden, then as of today, start saving all your used coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, and ash (assuming you burn any wood, not chemical logs). The mixture of those three things, spread around the base of each plant, will prevent most pests from eating your veg. It's not foolproof, but it helps a lot.

Plant Marigolds and Aromatic Spices at the Edges - Marigolds exude some scent that deters rodents (like rabbits) from eating your plants, and also encourages beneficial bugs to the area. Aromatic Spices (like oregano, basil, etc) similarly drive away many pests and encourage good bugs. Since you'll still need to be able to walk between your rows, limit yourself to one plant at each end of each row.

Keep your compost heaps along the edge - If you keep your compost heap along the edge of your garden, the mineral-rich water drainage that goes through it will saturate the surrounding area, enriching it. It also allows you to water your compost heap with whatever excess you might otherwise lose when using a sprinkler. Best of all, though, next planting season, rather than carting your fresh compost across the yard, you need only rake it out flat and you've got instant, soft earth that has just expanded your planting area. When your heap gets a couple of feet high, simply start a new one right next to it, and cover the old one with dirt and mulch. It'll continue to break down throughout the year without your help.

Space rows wide enough to sit between them - Even though the package of radishes and carrots says you need only plant them a few inches apart, remember that you still have to get in there and weed the things. If you can't sit down, there's probably not enough space to move through the rows comfortably. Don't worry about food loss. Remember the adage: he who sews thinly, reaps thickly; he who sews thickly, reaps thinly.

Line your planting area with a border - I only had enough border to do the bottom edge, and I'd only done it to retain the soil. What I didn't realize is how much this helps keep grass from spreading back into the fertile area. I really wish I'd had more borders down before the grass had come back. Now I'm fighting grass and weeds.

Water early, Water late - Two brief waterings (30min or so) spaced around 10 hours apart are a lot better on average than one hour-long watering. This is pretty subject to local climate and specific crops though, but it's a good rule of thumb, as most veg require lots of water.

If you wait, it's too late - If I've learned anything at all from this process, it's that if you wait until the day the stores no longer have food, or when you can't afford to buy it, then you waited too late to grow your own food supply. You'll starve before you'll ever get to subsist off of it. If you have any concern that you might need to grow your own food supply, the time to start is while there is still food on the table, and the prospect of it being there tomorrow is still likely. Even a perfectly tended garden will take weeks and months before producing anything edible.

This is what I've learned so far, and I haven't even yielded any veg yet. I'm sure I'll learn more along the way, and veteran vegetable gardeners feel free to give any advice you have.

What made you decide to plant in traditional rows instead of high density? High density solves many weed, soil ecosystem, and moisture retention problems while producing greater yields on the same amount of land. Rows are easier to maintain if you have a bad back or something but high density is more comparable to the plant's natural environment.

Definitely a good tip on companion planting. Probably the easiest way to control pests. The only thing I still have problems with are squirrels even with spices so this year I'm trying a bucket of dry dog food. I hear they get fat, slow, and disinterested.

Also if one started a well maintained compost pile last year this year it should be ready to mix into the soil prior to planting. Healthy soil has a good amount of humus. And most people just till the top few inches of soil but it's best to double-dig to about 24inches. Greatly improves aeration and root growth.

Nice post, gave it a star.

Paint stirring sticks and a Sharpie make nice markers for plants.
Or . . . staple the plastic ID tag the plant came with onto the stick.

I always raise several different types of tomatoes - 11 this year - and here in the Arizona desert it's a bit of a learning experience.

I did ok when I lived in Central California, but with the wind and heat here it's a different ball game.

We're going to have to put garden shade cloth up if we want success with tomatoes from what locals tell me.


I was going to mulch with straw or hay, but with the winds we have here - in excess of 50 mph last week - the mulch wouldn't last long.

The garden is protected by the house and carport from the usual winds from the S/W and North, but still, the garden gets blown around a bit.

It will be interesting to see what tomato grows well here.

The desert soil is alkaline, but has been amended pretty well.

I tried to get some topsoil in, but it wasn't available in January when I started digging the garden out by hand.
Then I bought a rototiller.

It's ok though, lots of uses for it off-season, digging trenches etc.

Sweetie prefers to pull weeds, but I've found that cutting them with a Hula Hoe works well.
They do grow back, but after the 2nd cutting most times they don't have the energy to grow back.

One thing I did in Central California was to make a double size garden, amend the soil - which was also alkaline - where the garden went on one half and plant Buckwheat in the other half.
Buckwheat has a lot of nitrogen within and is an excellent green manure.
Just till it under at the end of season and next year the Buckwheat half is now the garden and you grow Buckwheat in the previous garden half.

Pole beans and the like add nitrogen to the soil as well and perhaps using them as green manure would be a better way to go.
Not to mention you have an edible crop.

Plant lots of tomatoes, they're good for you and the neighbors will enjoy the excess and love you as well....

I meant to add, start your plants from seedlings.
The little peat pot/tray gizmos work well.

Be sure to remove the bottom of the peat pot when planting.

Our bathtub is next to a big pebbled window.
I sat the seed tray on a milk crate to get it up a bit and they got sufficient sunlight to grow nicely.

It helps as well to repot them into larger pots after about 5-6 weeks if the weather is still cold.

Starting from seed is economical as well as a touch of satisfaction when you have a successful plant grown from seed.
More varieties from seed as well.

Look for heirloom seeds for some interesting specimens.

Don't turn down a good plant from the nursery though.
Found some intesting peppers I've planted in large containers.

For those who don't have the room for a garden, grow tomatoes and peppers in large containers.

There are some stunningly beautiful multi-colored pepper plants that are seriously hot, but make for a beautiful balcony container plant.

[edit on 17-4-2008 by Desert Dawg]

[edit on 17-4-2008 by Desert Dawg]

Originally posted by apc
What made you decide to plant in traditional rows instead of high density?

Ignorance of the method, actually. I'm not familiar with the high density method. If you have some primer tips, I'd be happy to try it out next season.

Originally posted by apc
The only thing I still have problems with are squirrels even with spices so this year I'm trying a bucket of dry dog food. I hear they get fat, slow, and disinterested.

Oh? How's it working out? We have squirrels here, and while I wouldn't want to leave out a bucket of the Science Diet, I could pick up some cheap dollar-store brand stuff and use that.

Originally posted by apc
Also if one started a well maintained compost pile last year this year it should be ready to mix into the soil prior to planting. Healthy soil has a good amount of humus.

I've heard if one is really anal about their compost (no pun intended), it can be ready in 12 weeks, but that's really a lot more effort in my compost than I'm prepared to do. I'm like you... lay it in place, turn it occasionally, give it a year, use it next season.

Originally posted by apc
And most people just till the top few inches of soil but it's best to double-dig to about 24inches. Greatly improves aeration and root growth.

We were very fortunate in that my mother-in-law knows some landscapers who came out with a big tilling machine, and tilled down 18-24 inches. That saved me a LOT of work and got done in one day what might have taken weeks to do otherwise.

Star'd & Flag'd. Thanks for posting those tips. We've just started growing some things and I need all the help I can get. So far we've started all of our spices/veggies in small planters and pots. Our soil here in DFW TX is very heavy with clay so getting things going can be a challenge. I've designated a small area of our yard as the garden and have layered some topsoil/potting soil mixtures in a weeded area. Those spice-repellent tricks sound great as we don't use any chemicals on our plants.

Thanks again

Libra, excellent advice. Star & flag.

We've also put in an organic garden this year, as we eat a lot of vegetables and figure on prices being even higher by summer. Living in the high desert, at an altitude of about 5500 feet, makes gardening very challenging. And with water rates going up so high, we decided not to plant anything else unless we can eat it.

This is not like California, to say the least, where you could stick most anything in the ground and it would grow. Our soil is 90% rocks, so we dug out the entire area down to a couple feet, had decent soil delivered from a local nursery and added horse manure we were lucky enough to get free from a friend's ranch just outside of town. Other than tomatoes, this is the first time I've attempted a large garden up here in the high Sierras. It has been a lot of work so far, but I think it will pay off.

Currently, because of the cold nights, only lettuce, spinach and sunflowers are in the ground and we have to cover the lettuce on colder nights. We have to wait probably another month before we can safely plant everything, so in the meantime, we're moving the seedlings outside in the sun every morning and bringing them in every evening.

I don't know if you're familiar with the Siberian pea shrub, but this is a very interesting plant. It's not only beautiful, but very hardy in cold weather, and also likes poor soil and little water, and produces peas that are very high in protein. We tend to have high winds up here, so these shrubs make a good wind break and grow fast, up to twenty feet or so.

We don't have much of a squirrel problem since we have two big dogs roaming the back yard, but have had to cover the lettuce to keep the birds from eating it. We've also planted sweetpeas and nasturtiums in the garden to attract bees, and a small herb garden as well.

Thanks again for the great tips, and if you desert gardeners have any more advice, I'd love to hear it.

Originally posted by apc
What made you decide to plant in traditional rows instead of high density? High density solves many weed, soil ecosystem, and moisture retention problems while producing greater yields on the same amount of land. Rows are easier to maintain if you have a bad back or something but high density is more comparable to the plant's natural environment.

Just my 2 cents on this side-issue.

I used to use the "square foot" system, and got good results. When I got larger and larger gardens, I've found that rows make it easier to irrigate (I live in a dry climate). I can flood one row, and build a little dam, then flood the next row and flood the first, etc. Much less work than hauling water.

Also, SOME weeding is inevitable. Dense weeding is difficult, and the linear rows are a convenient place to stand. Small children also weed more effectively when they can see what's "in" a row, versus teaching a newbie what to weed in the dense spot.

And in my arid environment, gourds and melons do quite well; but they like rambling rows instead of dense styles.


Not that one method is superior. not at all. But the usefulness of rows really works for my current situation.

.

Originally posted by thelibra

12m8keall2c, I'm curious, do you also do stuff like raise your own rabbits, chickens, etc? With that much food back there, it looks like y'all probably invest a lot of time and effort into self-sufficiency.

No rabbits but we did have chickens for a number of years. Unfortunately, when they became Dad's chore, they had to go. The cost of feed versus the number of eggs we were getting left them with little more than novelty value.

[edit] Ever put a chicken to sleep? [/edit]

Actually, I mostly do it for the therapeutic value it affords. It really isn't that time consuming, and there's nothing more satisfying than going to Pick dinner... toss in a few fish from the pond and enjoy!

I like to try different New things from year to year, but we always plant a fair amount of the staples.

Corn, Green Beans, Tomatos, Peppers, Zucchini Squash, Cukes, Pumpkins, Various herbs and spices, etc. The etc. list keeps growing, though.

Thanks . Glad you liked it.



[edit on 17-4-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

A few tricks from a Southern gardener:

Potatoes: instead of planing your spuds in rows or hills, space the plants a few feet apart. When you see the plant, place an old tire around it. As soon as the plant has a few leaves above the top of the tire, fill it with soil. Repeat until you have four or five tires on top of each other.

When you're ready to harvest, don't get a shovel. Just kick the tires over and all the new potatoes will spill out. Also a good use for those old tires that we have lying around cluttering up the place.

This will also work on tomatoes, but be careful. I did this in conjunction with a high-nitrogen liquid fertilizer one year and had to use an axe to cut the plant down that fall. If you try this, make sure to STOP FERTILIZING when it puts out blooms; otherwise you'll get tons and tons of tomatoes about 1/4" in diameter.

Tomatoes and carrots grow well together. They use different minerals, so each helps the other.

Onions are great for making a barrier against pests as well as spices. Start them from seeds in little containers and in a few weeks you can transplant them into rows. Yeah, you can buy sets, but if you can grow from seed, you won't be dependent on the local nursery. Just let a couple onions grow undisturbed, and you'll have a big old seed pod on the top of the stem. Once it starts to die, carefully break the seed pod off and put it in a bag to catch the mature seeds for next year's planting.

We always marked our rows with the seed packet placed where we started sowing. Of course, if you save your seed, you'll have to substitute something like a note. Also, we never started weeding until we could identify the food from the non-food. Weeds do not spread unless you let them go to seed.

The little potting trays mentioned do work well, but I re-use egg cartons. Water sparingly and often to keep the soil damp but not so much as will destroy the carton itself. You just can't plant pot and all this way.

Melons and beans are another good combo. the beans grow high (usually on a trellis; chicken wire works great) and the melons grow low.

And ALWAYS save your seed!

TheRedneck

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
Then I bought a rototiller.

"What happened with the rototiller? From the frowny-face, it looks like there was a problem with it."


No, it was a great tiller.
A Troy-Built 8 horsepower with a plow attachment that made for nice wide rows with flat tops.
When we made the final California to Arizona move (about 400 miles) we ran out of weight capacity in my race car trailer when the shop was moved.

I left the tiller with a neighbor and sold my little lawn tractor & trailer.

I didn't think I was going to do a garden again, but the quality of produce here is lacking compared to what was available in markets of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

I mean, what the heck, when the tomato bounces better than a tennis ball it's time to do something.


Anyway, I found that getting rid of the tractor/trailer combo was stupid.
I thought that since most desert homes don't have lawns I didn't need it.
Fighting weeds on a half acre was a bitch to do by hand and I don't like using poison.
Not to mention I'm not gonna use it in the back yard where the garden is.
A couple of drags with the blade on the back every few weeks keeps the weeds knocked back pretty good.
And . . . I could use a garden trailer.


My Central California garden was pretty big and it helped that it was in back of the house in an area outside the bg back yard.

The soil did test alkaline, but it didn't hurt that horses had been kept there in the past.
An ancient riverbed with sandy soil and not many amendments were needed.

One thing people forget when they're growing a garden is that they are growing soil as well.


As noted, rotate the crops even in a small garden.
At the least don't plant this years tomatoes where tomatoes were planted last year.

"I'm not nearly experienced enough to know why, but several books and sites said to avoid using potting soil for food-veg. I think it has something to do with the nitrogen content, but I'm not sure. It might be due the Miracle-Grow effect, where it causes a super-bloom, but destroys the soil and the plant in the process. "

Miracle-Gro makes a potting soil for veggies as well as flowers.
Used it for the seedlings and they're doing ok.


"That's brilliant! I didn't even think of hitting up the local ranches as a source of fertilizer. Thanks for the idea. I'm certain they wouldn't miss it."

Another good source is stables where horses are boarded.
Usually they'll give you all you want for free.
Especially if it's a somewhat small or amateur operation.

We used to buy horse manure that had been used to grow mushrooms for our Southern California garden.
It did very well in the garden and after I spread a pickup load on the lawn it greened up nicely.


"Thanks again for the great tips, and if you desert gardeners have any more advice, I'd love to hear it."

I'll have more later in the season, still learning my way around, but it looks like welding up a steel pole with some brackets for wood 4 x 4's for the shade cloth will be done in the next couple of weeks.

Sweetie swears that planting hot peppers next to tomatoes will make the tomatoes hot.
I've heard it other places, but am of a mind that it's an old wives tale.
For that reason I have a very hot pepper plant in a large container next to the same size container with a tomato plant.
We'll see what happens there.

My garden right now is about 10' x 18' and it looks like we'll get a pretty good harvest.
Plenty of room to expand and we could end up with 10' x 40' easy as well as going 30' wide if it comes to that.

Survival stuff aside, veggies from a home garden are the best there is....

I think I'll do the potato tires this year too! I've never had any earwigs but neem oil works on most pests I've encountered. I did find someone on another forum say they have success with half-buried open containers filled with used cooking oil. Apparently it attracts them and they crawl in and die.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
I used to use the "square foot" system, and got good results. When I got larger and larger gardens, I've found that rows make it easier to irrigate (I live in a dry climate).

I can see how for a large garden rows would be convenient. I'm only growing in a small ~1x4m plot at the side of my yard which is enough to keep a perpetual supply of carrots, spinach, and lettuce through the season. It's all about maximizing available space rather than making it easier. With high density+biointensive a lot of the focus is on maintaining good soil quality with a near-natural environment. Rotations can only help for so long if the soil is constantly exposed and the ecosystem disrupted, requiring more and more fertilizer over time to maintain yields. But it can indeed sometimes be a balancing act getting to the middle of the patch.