2/12 Edible Gardening 101:Where to Plant
You need to pick a location that gets at least eight to ten hours of sun a day. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Start looking around. Be mindful of wind and little sheltered pockets of sunshine you could pop containers of more needy plants. if you are putting up a trellis or poles for vertical growing (sweet peas, pole beans, cucumbers etc.), be on the lookout for sturdy anchors . I have put up trellis I thought was sturdy, had beans in mid season, topple to the ground in a summer storm . Broken vines, and lost produce is preventable if you are mindful (learn from me!)
Also do you have a lot of rocks in the area? What’s your soil like? Dig them up and pick them out. Or consider raised beds. These are a great option for poor soil or people who just want one raised bed to experiment on a small investment. Although I don’t think there is anything cheaper than an in ground garden: dig up the sod and remove it, give the ground a light till, add A few bags of composted manure, and you will at least be able to get started.
Then you can experiment with the no dig method (Charles Dowding made this famous) which literally requires minimal effort for weeding once established.
Three types of gardens I use:
In ground: tarp or remove the grass, till and go, inexpensive.
Containers: Require more watering, great for small areas and small families.
Raised Beds: Can be expensive to build, great for areas with poor soil/rocks, less weeds.
Another thing to consider is fencing, if necessary. I use page wire and a combination of wood and metal tposts to keep my livestock out of it. These also provide a climbing structure for some of the vegetables. But I know anything growing on the outside of the fence is fair game for critters!
Obviously from my pictures you see, I am an in ground garden girl. There is something about starting from scratch that appeals to me. And it obviously works, as we harvest almost all our vegetables, herbs and medicinal herbs from this 1/5 acre.
Love Jenn xx
