[Gabz]

Another thing I am pondering for next year is leasing small garden plots on my property. We have lots of friends and co-workers who tell us that the only thing that is keeping them from gardening is their lack of space. I was figuring on 200 to 300 sqft plots with a nominal monthly charge for watering, and a percentage of the harvest.

It is truly amazing how much you can actually fit into a 200sqft space. That was the size of the veggie patch I had for years when we still lived in Delaware. We had more than enough for ourselves, my next door neighbors, and my SIL.

Because I'm doing most of the "tilling" by hand this year, I'm patchworking everything, except corn, into 6x6 blocks.

[P8riot]

Have you tried a "three sisters" garden?

Plant your corn a little deeper than normal (for root strength), when it is about 6-in high plant pole beans right next to the corn, they will climb the corn stalks (might need a little manual assistance) and return nitrogen to the soil for next year. After the beans have started up the corn stalks plant pumpkins (or other winter squash) in the same area. The larger leaves will shade the rest of the area and keep weeds back. Make sure that you do this in hills as good drainage is essential.

We first did this a few years back as a novelty, but now we do our first corn planting this way every year.