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allforjmj
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| Posted: April 06 2005 at 11:33am | IP Logged
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We have a very small place to do a veg. garden (about 7ft long x 2ft wide) What would you plant? I have another area for our flower garden, but really would like to do some veg. in this spot? I want to make the best use and really get the kids involved in this.
Thanks for the ideas!
Jackie
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JennGM
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| Posted: April 06 2005 at 11:37am | IP Logged
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That's about the size of my veggie garden, also. My is along a fence line, on two sides. I planted tomato plants all along the back row and sides. I then have tried things like lettuce and spinach for the beginning of the season, and I have tried one or two pepper or jalapeno plants...making a salsa garden! I also planted marigolds and basil in the mix, to keep away some of the bugs. Very simple. I love tomatoes, so that's all that was really important. Even my little son helped me last year.
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Lissa
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Peas! My kids love to eat them raw, fast as they can pick them. Time to get them in the ground now, come to think of it...we're late this year!
I'm big on the pick-and-snack garden. Cherry tomatoes, alpine strawberries, mini cucumbers, lettuce, herbs.
You might want to check out the wonderful ROOTS SHOOTS BUCKETS AND BOOTS for ideas and inspiration--lots of small-scale gardens in this book. The author is Sharon Lovejoy
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lilac hill
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Follow thw peas with pole beans, I love the French ones because they are slim and long.
Think verticle--even watermelon can be tied up.
Plan on living mulches--parsley, carrots, etc, whatever is your favorite.
The cukes can be done as tied up vines.
viv
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lilac hill
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Another thing, try Pinetree garden seeds.
They sell small seed packs
Think it is www.superseeds.com
viv
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JennGM
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Something that worked for me was following the book Square Foot Gardening that utilized every bit of space, since mine was so small. Having the fence line prohibited me from doing larger plants like watermelon or cucumbers. It just didn't work for me. Only if you get smaller varieties, that don't vine out.
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chicken lady
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| Posted: April 07 2005 at 6:43am | IP Logged
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Another great book is Sunflower Houses, this will also inspire you and give you lots of creative ideas.
In that size garden , remember, you can plant lettuce(for example) now, and then when it gets to hot throw in peppers etc. What is that called, brain come back!! Anyways the idea is to keep rotating with the planting season. You can also container plant tomatoes, tec if you feel you have run out of room. Oh yes one more super fun thing is to let the children plant a theme garden, for example pizza! Very fun and a huge hit over here!!
I also 2nd the post about tying things up, defiantly go vertical!!
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chicken lady
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[QUOTE=Lissa] Peas! My kids love to eat them raw, fast as they can pick them. Time to get them in the ground now, come to think of it...we're late this year!
Lissa have you ever heard that you were suppose to plant peas on good Friday? My mom always has and I was wondering if this is just her thing or is there something to it, weather wise!!
Excuse the choppy post I'm newly pregnant and depriving my self of coffee makes for some interesting brain functions 
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stefoodie
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my #1 reference when i had a small garden was the book Square Foot Gardening. i still use the principles that i learned there -- like molly said, go vertical!
if you don't have access to the book, there's also lots of info and helpful people here (Square Foot Gardening forum at Gardenweb)
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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Molly - peas LOVE cold weather and germinate great in the early spring. I had never heard about planting them on Good Friday but April 1st was always the date we go by. It is too muddy in my garden right now so I am waiting for a bit of drying to happen and then my peas will go in.
Jackie - you can make a small trellis out of sticks tied with twine to make space for runners/climbers like cucumbers, mini pumpkins, squash or gourds.
Garden season is my favorite!!! What a boost it is to get out and see the perennials popping up through the ground and to watch all the little seedlings pop up in their little pots. I have walking stick cabbage started in the kitchen now and lots more to come. (Walking stick cabbage are great - I envy anyone in the south where they will overwinter and grow to their 8' plus height in the second year. They don't overwinter well in NH and so we never get them to more than about 3' tall.)
Happy Gardening.
God Bless,
Wendi
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allforjmj
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| Posted: April 07 2005 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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I knew you ladies would have wonderful ideas. I like the vertical idea. And I love tomatoes but I think this year I will use containers so I can use garden space for other items.
Lissa, do peas take a lot of space? (don't they spread out?) Yep, as you can tell I am not a gardner (at least not yet  , but hoping to change that).
Wendi, I love the idea of cucumbers and mini pumpkins going up the trellis, but what about green beans. We all love fresh beans, what variety takes the less room and produce the most?
And do you add sand to your soil for carrotts? I thought I heard something along those lines before?
Any other hints and ideas would be great, let see if we can't get me a green thumb this year! 
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JennGM
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I'll throw in another book to confuse the issue. It's called Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces. The author has a website and a few other books, but this is perfect for weedless, rich soil. You probably would do this method after this growing season, to build up your soil.
To create my small veggie garden (8x2), we bought some wooden ties, squared off the area and then built up the soil with bags of compost or organic soil. So our garden is raised a bit. I mapped out where I was going to plant everything on graph paper, and broke the garden down in grids, even running string in squares! My dh got a kick out of that. But I didn't want to waste an inch of growing space!
For our carrots, we did only a few for show, and bought a variety that was short, not long carrots you get in the stores. I didn't add sand.
BTW, this was my first real veggie garden. I lived in apartments and the extent of my gardening was container or in my dreams I did a lot of reading (as Elizabeth says of her life, I can say of mine: my life is made up of unit studies). I wanted to make it as organic as possible, so I also followed the books on Companion Gardening by Louise Riotte, such as Carrots love Tomatoes.
As this is my first tries at vegetable gardening, I've used it as an experiment for the last 3 years. We're only in a townhouse, with a postage stamp yard. I'm hoping for a yard and a garden in our next house, which never seems like it will come  But I've tried one eggplant one year, okra another, onions, garlic...just a little something so I can see the growing tendencies. Even if there is no bountiful harvest, I want to learn what it looks like, how it grows!
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Lissa
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| Posted: April 07 2005 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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molly wrote:
Lissa have you ever heard that you were suppose to plant peas on good Friday? My mom always has and I was wondering if this is just her thing or is there something to it, weather wise!! |
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I've always heard you're supposed to plant them on St. Patrick's Day (but I bet that only applies in certain regions--it wouldn't be possible up north). Good Friday is a little more do-able! In any event, it's a weather thing. Peas like cool weather, cool soil. Last year we didn't get ours in until June and that was way too late for Virginia...they never amounted to anything. If I plant them in late March or early April, we are overflowing with peas in June!
Which means I'd better get BUSY!
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chicken lady
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Has anyone here ever tried planting their tomatoes in hanging baskets upside down? I have seen this, I LOVE the idea, yet I can't remember if it is a certain type of tomatoe or basket you do this with.
I mention this because this year I really don't have much option for gardening as we have moved and the entire outside of our home in a massive construction nightmare, mud, mud mud and did I mention mud! And, I too, am looking for creative yet beautiful and interesting ways of gardening, the journey is half the fun.
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MacBeth
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| Posted: April 07 2005 at 10:29am | IP Logged
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A little late jumping in here...
I really enjoy vertical gardening, container gardening, Square Foot Gardening, etc...for me, with a small urban plot, growing the Three Sisters, corn, squash, and beans has worked well. The corn grows up (amusing our neighbors--what, corn? Here?), the beans vine up the corn, and the squash grows out over the lawn. All three are planted in the same place.
We have also grown peas instead of beans, pumpkins instead of squash, and sunflowers instead of corn. It works out pretty well, too.
Other ideas:
Bush peas or beans grow low, as do bush tomatoes. These plants stay put in small areas and are easy to manage, while giving rather large harvests.
Try varietal hybrids--yellow tomatoes, white egg plant, purple peas--for interest.
Grow miniature pumpkins and "Tom Thumb" carrots.
Grow edible flowers like nasturtium (sp?) and violas. My kids love nasturtium because of the peppery flavor. Here is a website of edible flowers with recipes!
Have fun!
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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As far as green beans go I always grow bush beans. We eat them off the plants or snap them and freeze them. I don't think you would need a lot as a bush will provide lots of beans. I always grow a lot as I freeze for the winter - we are just finishing last years in time to plant and anticipate this years.
I am not much good with advice for small spaces. I am very much a "if it's unused yard" it gets rototilled and planted with something.
You might try a teepee in your yard. You can grow bird house gourds or morning glories (or both) to climb up and cover it. If you don't have room in the garden you could start them in decent sized pots and just set them at the base of your teepee. Ours is always a lot of fun and a great focal point in the garden.
I try to garden as organically as possible as well and use the companion planting too. I find that it really works well in discouraging pests on plants.
God Bless,
Wendi
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Lissa
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allforjmj wrote:
| Lissa, do peas take a lot of space? (don't they spread out?) |
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Nope. they'll spread *up* if you give them something to climb.
You inspired me! We finally got our pea bed dug today. Gotta soak the peas tonight and get those babies in the ground!
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allforjmj
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Okay Lissa, I have to ask this, you have to soak the peas first?  I am lost!! (or hopefully will soon be educated!)
I guess I know which section to hit at the library this week!  And it sounds like I better get there soon if I want peas!!!
Anything else this poor farmer needs to know ladies?
I would like to try strawberries, any help?
Jackie and her poor brown thumb
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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Jackie - I'm not Lissa but I will jump in here. You don't have to soak peas but it certainly helps them germinate quicker. I also use a garden innoculant (available at any Agway / Blue Seal type store) on my peas and beans to protect them from rot and disease as they germinate. (I have found this especially helpful with peas since it is so cold and wet when we plant.)
If you want to grow strawberries in a small space you can try lots of things. They do very well in strawberry jars (the pots with lots of holes around the sides), or if you have the space to create a pyramid you can grow A LOT of strawberries in a small space using that idea. You can make them yourself or buy them from a place like Miller Nurseries in NY. I have purchased my strawberries from them and have been very happy with them but I am sure there are lots of places to get them. It's a good idea to read about the type of strawberry you choose. Some are ever bearing so they will produce all summer and some only bear for a few weeks. Also the first year you need to pinch off some of the flowers so the plants can give nutrients to root development etc and then you will get heavy bearers the next years. You also have to replace strawberries every few years (which you can do using their own runners). Hope this helps a little.
The other thing to keep in mind as you begin gardening is that "trial and error" is a great way to learn. Don't get discouraged if something you try doesn't work out this year - just try again. We tried the sunflower house in "Roots Shoot Buckets and Boots" for three years until it really worked for us - and we still have not been successful with the morning glories on the "roof" but we finally had a great "house" for the kids to play in.
Enjoy -
God Bless,
Wendi
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stefoodie
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Jackie, I'm not Lisa, but soaking will help it germinate faster. Some wintersowers just stick them in a flat/pot with some Miracle Gro, water and cover with a holey Ziploc, and set outside, until it germinates (the seeds will know when it's safe, i.e., warm enough to come up). You can transplant them out when they have 2 true leaves (not the "first" leaves/cotyledons).
As for strawberries, you should be able to get some at your local Lowe's or Home Depot. Or you can order online -- Raintree Nursery, Territorial Seeds, The Cook's Garden, Johnny's Selected Seeds and Nourse Farms (where I got mine) are all respectable businesses (see Gardenwatchdog.com for reviews if you like), have websites and easy online ordering. They're about $8-12 for 25 plants.... read up on types of strawberries so you can determine if you want everbearers or something else. Your state's agricultural extension should be able to tell you what varieties will grow best in your area. You also need to decide if you want a variety that grows runners or not -- some gardeners have found strawberries to be a bit invasive. if you need more info a great place is the Fruit Forum at Gardenweb
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: What would you plant in a small garden
