We finally got a few nice days and it’s made me more excited than ever for spring. The Midwest is collectively thanking Mother Nature.
Since we plan is to be in our barn apartment sometime late-spring, we’ll be on the premises during the growing season this year. If you’ve been around here for awhile (hey, mom), you remember we gardened hot and heavy for a few years at our first house. We tried gardening one year at our current house but there’s just not enough sun in our yard to make it happen. So we ditched that effort.
But I missed it so much. I miss the excitement of seeing plants grow from a tiny seed. I miss the feeling of accomplishment when you pick a cucumber or can tomatoes. There’s just something right about eating food that you grew in your yard. AmIright?
So, in true Woodward fashion, we are going over the top this year with a garden at our property. You could probably call it a farm. And you will probably be giggling at us when we overdo and fall flat on our face.
Welcome to our world, friends.
There is a perfect plot next to the barn that gets full sun and is located close enough for easy access and maintenance. (In other words, my laziness knows no bounds.)
Ryan and his dad dumped a load of farm-grown fertilizer on it last fall and we’re hoping that helps the soil be extra rich and ready. The space is about 30 feet wide by 50 feet long. We started by listing everything we wanted to grow. Between Ryan and I, it was a long list.
- Sweet corn and popcorn
- Tomatoes (several varieties)
- Cucumbers (slicing and pickling)
- Peppers (sweet, banana and jalapeño)
- Lettuce
- Radishes
- Onions
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Squash (summer and winter)
- Pumpkins
- Herbs (cilantro, basil, dill, rosemary, mint, lemon balm, parsley)
- Eggplant, okra, and a few other randoms that we don’t need much of but wanted to fit in, if possible.
When considering what to grow, we really aimed to only grow things we actually eat. And we’re trying to grow more of those things we like canned (like tomatoes and banana peppers).
Then, I went through and laid out the garden. Things I considered:
- Companion planting – which plants grow well together and which need to be separated. (I like this chart at Old World Garden Farms.)
- Height – I also tried to consider how tall the plants would grow and how the shade from those plants would affect other plants. (For example, the tomatoes will grow high on trellises and hopefully give the cool weather crops like lettuce, radishes and carrots a little shade and a longer growing season.)
- Vining – for our pumpkins and squash, I added them to the end of the garden, where they can be free to roam down the hillside. We’ll see how they like this space, but I hope it allows them to grow big and not bother the other plants.
Here’s what I came up with.
Disclaimer: I have no idea what I’m doing.
So it may be wrong and we’ll deal with that. But, I went off of the seed packets for how many plants could feasibly grow in a row. And I decided to make the rows different widths based on the width actually needed by the plant. It’ll take a little math up front when we actually start working in the garden, but I think it will give some good variety to the space, too. And it should utilize every inch.
Notes:
- Succession planting means that I’ll plant a bit at a time over a few weeks. This will – hopefully – allow me to pick more of the plants throughout the growing season
- Trellis means that I plan to fashion some sort of a trellis to allow the plants to grow vertically. Currently, I’d like to try something like these DIY cages from Old World Garden Farms.
Who else has their garden plans? And who else is going over-the-top?
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Kenz @ Interiors By Kenz says
I expect nothing but overalls from you!
Kim Woodward says
Done.
Katrina says
I right there with you it feels amazing to eat food you’ve actually had a hand in growing such an awesome feeling 🙂 Can’t wait to see pictures of your garden space, we plan on planting a garden this year too, hoping to get the space all prepped and ready this weekend for next weeks planting !
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
I really want to plant a few veggies this year! I still need to prep the area that we would use, it’s currently a pit of monkey grass and weeds. I have until mid-April before the last frost here in VA.
Anu says
Oh, I am going to have to live my gardening dreams vriutally through you! 🙂 We tried growing some veggies, but the black walnut in our yard is just so big that nothing seemed to grow. Apparently black walnut trees are toxic to most plants. Your little guy will love watching the plants grow.
Kim Woodward says
What a bummer! Those black walnuts are crazy deadly to plants.
Donna says
Mmm – nothing tastes like garden picked!! Thank you for the link to the tomato stakes. They sound like just what I am looking for. I have a terrible time with the tomato cages. :p
Kim Woodward says
I’m anxious to try them! Seem like a great solution.
Kristen | Popcorn on the Stove says
Oo – I’m so jealous! I want to set up a garden this year but I’m not sure how. Our backyard is constantly in the shade (thanks to a very large tree) and our front yard has no dirt. Maybe I can find a window box that’s meant for apartment living…
Julia@Cuckoo4Design says
WOW, I’m so jealous! I wish I’d have room for all this!
cassie says
my husband is more of our gardener…. me…. i like to reap the benefits. will you be starting a CSA? 😉
daisy says
Ooooooh, how fun! Did you know that you can grow pumpkin and watermelon on trellises too? If you need basil seed, I have some that I just harvested about a month ago. I can’t wait to see your garden grow! Henry will be over the Moon!
Rebecca says
Over the top is the name of the game at my place. We’re starting a farm, so a lot of our acre will be put into production for that, but here’s a short list of what we’re planning to grow this year: tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, pole beans, bush beans, dry beans, lima beans, asparagus beans, squash (summer and winter, several varieties of each), potatoes (both Irish and sweet), peas, many types of greens, watermelons, and carrots. That’s just for the summer; we have summer and fall gardens here.
I’m also growing 10 different herbs and several kinds of cut flowers. And mushrooms.
It should be dry enough to till this weekend. Yay!
Katja@Shift Ctrl Art says
What a wonderful garden plan. I am so excited for you. There is just something about fresh harvested greens that you grew yourself. I have been contemplating just an herb garden. Starting small here 🙂
Ceci Bean says
What a wonderful mix! I would warn that mint should not be planted in the ground (better in a container) because it is highly invasive…but maybe only in my CA climate? I can’t wait to get going on my planting too.
Kelly @ Corner of Main says
How exciting!! I can’t wait to see how it goes (and grows). Good luck!
Gretchen@BoxyColonial says
exciting! I think I’m mostly just going to live vicariously through you ;). I still haven’t started any seeds, and I should already have cool weather stuff in the ground, I’m pretty sure. oops. My big goal is to plant tomatoes before it’s too late this year and then actually check on them enough to keep the worms off of them.
Leah says
Jiminey Christmas!! What a farm!
Katie says
We are growing a lot of the same things! I get excited about the prospect of a canning bounty too!