Sustenance on an Urban Lot

Wired Magazine Example Garden

This image is part of an article from WIRED magazine’s June Edition. The article has not been posted on the web yet and when it does I will expand on this slightly but it offers some intriguing insight that may allow more geeky garden designs and gives great ideas on how to become more self-sustaining.

It goes so far as to include an apiary, a chicken coop, and a fish pond. The apiary is also known as a bee yard, is where bee’s and honey are kept, and may be a little further than I was planning on going; I’m just not sure if I’m ready to go down the road of beekeeping… However, the chicken coop is on the agenda for this fall and will hopefully be up and running by the spring. The fish pond was something that I initially wrote off as for aesthetics, but upon further exploration of the article it appears that they are actually harvesting the fish!

This is an interesting concept and I had never thought of it up until now but it is something that I believe I will pursue as I move forward. Even though I have been eating tilapia for years I never knew that it was such a hardy easy to grow fish that will produce 1/2 pound of meat for every 1/2 pound of feed! I am already planning on constructing a rainwater garden that will absorb any excess water from the rain barrels by utilizing native plants to use the water all winter and die in the summer if it runs out. However, the idea of adding another level to the ecosystem in my backyard sounds great!

Currently, I have added a few different environments to my yard, including native shade plants like hostas, ferns, and hydrangea’s along the north wall of the house. I have a few sunny areas under a large Pine that host some roses, a little bamboo, some succulents (for the drier areas), and a couple Japanese maples. In order to encourage healthy vegetable growth and lower insect infestations, I have surrounded my 96 sqft of vegetable space with gravel and raised the beds by 18 inches not including the tilled soil underneath. The variation in light and moisture in these boxes is pretty drastic with some getting full sun and arid conditions for peppers, tomatoes and eggplants to some having some shade and moist conditions for leafy greens and lettuces. Along one of the fences I have raspberries and blueberries planted and on the opposite side of the yard, where it won’t shade the vegetables I have a cherry tree in a raised bed as well.

Due to a lack of time I planted the remaining space in the middle of the yard with grass for the year, however, by the time this fall comes around I will have a good portion of covered with a tarp to kill grass and will have added more native grasses and bushes by the spring. Additionally, since I don’t have the time or resources there will be beans and corn planted in the location of the rain garden and chicken coop to utilize the space, but that will not be the case by the spring as I intend to harvest as much rainwater for 2011 irrigation as possible.

I will post more pictures and specifics here as the garden progresses and will also post a link to the full article once it is on the web but until then, get out and garden! Everything you plant will improve the environment, strengthen your bond with your surroundings, and nourish your body and soul!

 

Backyard Garden Progress

Growing Brussels Sprouts

I started the first box in mid-March, even though the weather was still a little chilly, but I built a small cover to shield the new seeds and transplants from the elements. As you can see it seems to have worked well! Right are my brussel sprouts, with which I have never had previous success, but appear to be doing great!

For the first time I tested the PH of my soil and added natural lime to pull down my acidity, but in the end I believe it’s the soil composition that will cause the plants to thrive. By never walking on the soil and amending the soil one square foot at a time, you are in direct control of each inch of your garden. This will allow the roots to easily spread through the cavernous areas in the boxes and will provide the necessary nutrients through the addition of simple organic material (never use chemicals).

Walla Walla's and Nappa Cabbage

Which leaves me to my final point, if you really want to maximize a small amount of space considering the square foot method of gardening is proving to be the best route. I have reduced my total space by over 30 square feet and am already looking at having a huge increase in harvest over last year. By not planting all my varieties together, which is what I have always done, and instead spreading them through the garden I am creating a much more visually appealing space. However, other benefits are derived because each square can be planted at different times and your harvest will come over the course of the entire year!

Radishes and Nappa Cabbage

Keep checking back for more posts documenting the growth of the other two boxes! The one below is the earliest planted one, the second one is only just beginning, and the third is a blank canvas at this point…

Early April Garden Box

 

First Harvest…

So, for years I have been talking about my “garden boxes” and have consistently delayed the actual building of them until the February past… Since moving into our home in North Portland we have done all of our gardening in a decent mounded garden but it has never provided me with the proper soil, sunlight, location, and comfort of a nice raised bed. The one thing it has provided me with is a decent amount of food, a place to hone my gardening skills, and a location to amass a tremendous amount of compost from yard debris and my kitchen compost.

This past February we had unseasonably warm temperatures for around 2 weeks and, with the announcement of a surprise visit from my father-in-law, I decided to jump on the opportunity to get a head start on “the project” as it would be come formally known in our household. I rented a rototiller, warned my wife that I would be busy for a “few weeks”, and just dug right in! By the time her and her mother came home from running errands we had managed to destroy the entire side and back yard! I believe her comment on the situation was something like, “it’s nothing but mud!” Uhhh, what did you expect, we tilled the whole thing 4 times…

Early Large Project

Fast forward almost 6 weeks (stay tuned for more details on the building of boxes) and the boxes are built, concrete is finished, gravel is laid, grass is planted, decorative plants are in, and vegetable garden is started and already producing! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, many afternoons of working until the wife pulls my headlamp off and makes me come in to eat and significant hours researching gardening techniques to be sure I am maximizing my small space; but it is all beginning to pay off.

Yellow Onions

Last night, Saturday, April 10, 2010 I harvested my first meal from the garden! Since I was a young child working in my fathers sprawling garden in Hockessin, DE I can’t ever remember a time when I have pulled crop at such an early date! I credit the technique that I’m using, Square Foot Gardening, as well as some good planning, great soil, and a lot of love… Walking into the garden, with Arcade Fire creeping from the half functional outdoor speakers on the garage, I approached the boxes with my scissors and care. I looked at my nappa cabbage and tried to plan where it would spread in the future, attempting to carefully shape it into a perfect mound so it will not interfere with many of the other crops around it. This is very important when you are trying to maximize your garden in such tight quarters, and with the proper care, will also help the plants to become stronger and more productive by eliminating unnecessary growth.

Pulling some of the larger protruding leaves, I snipped the base of them as close as possible to the soil and stacked them on the edge of the boxes. I learned that not only do these new boxes make growing the vegetables easier with their beautifully black and loamy soil but they also make harvesting the vegetables much easier by raising them up 18 inches. Gathering all my cut leaves I headed in to make my salad…

Nappa Up Close

It was a very simple tossed asian salad made with a handful of nappa cabbage, 8 small heads of baby bok choy, 1 julienned red pepper, tamari soaked almonds, 1/4 cup chopped green onions and some rinsed fresh cilantro leaves. For the dressing saute in 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil 1 Tbsp ginger, 1 Tbsp garlic, and deglaze with 1/4 cup rice wine. Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp dark sesame oil, and about 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or more if you like it more pungent). Toss salad with the dressing and enjoy!

Ours was served with marinated flank steak and white rice but you can eat it alone or prepare it with any number of asian inspired dishes for a great meal! Stay tuned for more great dishes straight out of the garden…