Posted on 03/13/2015 12:27:32 PM PDT by greeneyes
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Square Foot Gardening is an excellent resource, and specializes in "raised bed" gardening,where you controll the growing medium(soil), moisture, and is easier on the back.
It is excellent for a small spaced, but highly productive garden; it maiximizes productivity for a small space.
It is a controlled elevated garden based on mature plant size, moisture retention requirements, and controlls the soil type.
To start a garden, for larger areas, which are not a raised bed, I would reccomend "sterilizing the soil" with 6 mil plastic as suggested by JRandomFreeper.
However, I have misplaced his intructions and procedures as it will knock out weed seeds , nematodes , and other soil-borne issues which inhibit plant growth in large areas.
Hopefully he will comment and provide procedures.
Personally , I prefer "Wide Row" gardening which maximizes production and minimizes wasted space in the garden.
My "wide Rows" are the width of my tiller, rather than planting in a single line/row, and minimize the wasted space and path between crops.
Crop rows are about 26 - 28 inches wide, with 'foot paths' of only 14 inches wide, thus maximizing garden productivity.
You mentioned earlier that someone recommended using "Round UP" (Monsanto) on the weeds.
I would reccomend against it, as it appears there may be some chemical residual latency left in the soil, and may, after a time, wash into the local watershed .
We have discovered the “jiffy” anything is not so nifty. I either make our own or use espoma, although hubby sometimes gets lured in by a sale at Walmart, and often regrets it later.
It’s been easier for me than rows. I placed the beds at the against the retaining wall at the edge of my patio. So I can stand on the patio and tend the beds on the uphill side without bending over. They are just 3ft wide and 4ft long.
Hubby has raised beds now that are 3 to 5 foot wide piled up and running the full length of his former garden plot, and have strips of carpet to walk on in between of about 1 foot in width.
That’s interesting. Maybe the bee will be like the ground hog, and predict the coming end of winter. LOL
Well, it might be better than using a Missouri Mule?
Might be able to find it using a search engine, I have found stuff that way, when I couldn’t find them using FR search feature.
I actually tried the wide row planting last year. I think it failed due to the fact that the rye grass had also been planted in the same area. I did not know about it until I had started the garden there, it’s a long story. But it all got away from me when I had to be away for over 2 weeks. When I got back, my garden was invisible and the rye grass was knee high. I tried weeding and using the rototillers but it was too late.
I got a few tomatoes, some green beans, a few potatoes. The only thing that did at all well was the peppers. Lots and lots of jalapenos and banana peppers. Oh, and one lonely zucchini.
That’s nice. Not as great as a geo/dome but still better than nothing.
I already tried the FR search, and was unsuccesful.
Hopefully, Johnny will respond with instructions, as I hadn't found them elsewhere.
There are two types of ryegrass : one is a perrenial, the other is an annual.
That is why I also suggested "Soil Sterilization" for larger areas with 6 mil transparent plastic.
It may take several months, but it will allow you to reclaim land for a garden, or just ryegrass elimination.
Just lay out the plastic over the area and stake it down for a season? I can do that.
I was suggesting using a general search engine - not the FR one, which I always have trouble locating stuff with it.
Sometimes, when I am doing a general search, FR pops up with a post that answers the question. LOL
Hopefully Johnny will see the question and respond.
When I was in VISTA, I looked into geo-dome by Buckminster Fuller fro the purpose of 'emergency housing'.
Domes are structuraly sound and wind resistant, but so few things are designed for 'curve' foundations; all furniture and appliances are designed as rectangles.
As a result, there is much wasted space , but heating and cooling currents are productive.
Provided the greenhouse is adequately secured against prevailing winds, I think you will find it more productive with the squared
and perpendicular walls(Shelves/trays) since they are all rectangles.
I made a Geodesic Dome out of 'tongue depressers' about 2 1/2 feet high ,and was able to stand on it (when I weighed #170 pounds, many decades ago, LOL !).
I use annual winter rye grass as a “green” soil conditioner, and just turn it over, cover with plastic, and work it in later.
It’s supposed to be helpful in destroying some pests and add a bit of nitrogen to the soil. It can interfere with germination though, so it needs to be killed off and worked in well ahead of time.
Me too !
I lost/ misplaced Johnny's instructions on "soil sterilization" , and have been kicking myself .
So is Pedigree also made in China now? What about the canned pedigree, does it have problems too?
I believe that to be correct, but prefer Johnny's expertise
I believe the 6 mil transparent platic is left in position on the surface where you intend to sterilize, until the soil temperatures reach 180 degrees.
It eliminates all soil borne bacteria ,weeds, nematodes , and pests
You still must rotate crops every 4 years as it has no/little effect on soil borne viri.
But I yield to Johnny's previous expierience and instruction .
I thought I was being smart by copying such info onto my word processing program and saving it. Lost a lot of info when the computer died, as I hadn’t backed it up for a while.
I lost a lot of prepper info too. Now I have a green notebook for garden stuff and brighter green for prepper stuff.
That is very cool!
Or should I say, “Hot”? :-)
I leave that through August so that everything dies under it.
CLEAR works better than black plastic, from measured temps over 147F.
Then, I till and plant (after removing lots of material to the compost pile).
/johnny
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