Transcript SANG - The Self-Sufficient Gardener

Starting A New Garden
Where to Begin?
Goals
You want to go from this…
to this.
•Grow food efficiently and quickly.
•Build a system that is resilient and low maintenance.
•Do so with the least amount of outside inputs.
•Do so with the least amount of work.
Goals - Further
•Grow food efficiently and quickly.
•Good soil – loose and fertile, retains adequate water.
•Build a system that is pest resilient and low maintenance.
•Plan around companion planting and permaculture
principles.
•Do so with the least amount of outside inputs.
•Find ways to utilize what we have on the land or
salvage.
•Do so with the least amount of work.
•Find the least labor intensive methods.
Inputs
•Analyze the inputs that are needed.
•Develop a process to efficiently use the inputs.
•Set achievable goals to get the desired output.
Supplier
Input
Process
Output
Customer
You
A Plan
Starting
Produce
Your Family
Nature or
Utility Co.
Sunlight and
Temp
Nurturing
Nature or
Store
Nature or
Utility Co.
Seed
Company
Seeds
Hardening
off
Growing
Medium /
Nutrients
Transplant
Water
Maintaining
Seeds /
Stock /
Plants
Harvesting
Waste
Inputs
•Outputs become new inputs - perpetuity.
Supplier
Input
Process
Output
Customer
You
A Plan
Starting
Produce
Your Family
Nature or
Utility Co.
Sunlight and
Temp
Nurturing
Nature or
Store
Seeds
Hardening
off
Growing
Medium /
Nutrients
Transplant
Nature or
Utility Co.
Water
Maintaining
Seed
Company
Seeds /
Stock /
Plants
Harvesting
Waste
Inputs
•A Plan
•Set goals and decide what you want to do and how you plan to
achieve it.
•Sunlight and Temperature
•The garden should be sighted in a way that optimizes sunlight
while reducing evaporation and unwanted heat and wind.
•Growing Medium and Nutrients
•Rich loose soil.
•Water
•The garden must retain water or at the least slow it down.
•Seeds/Stock/Plants
•Choose varieties that thrive where you live.
Inputs
A Plan
•All endeavors start with a plan.
•Decide what you want out of your garden and set a goal. Do you want
100% independence or something more reasonable like supplemental
food for family meals?
•Write it down, draw it out.
•Cater the plan to your needs. What do you and your family like to eat?
How much time can you devote to a garden? No two gardens are alike.
•Think about succession. When one crop is done, what goes their next?
Does the thing going there compliment or fight what was their before?
Can you plant your successor crop before the pioneer crop is complete?
•Include companion planting in your plan.
Inputs
A Plan - Illustrated
Path of the
sun
Succession
planned
Peppers
Lettuce  Beans
Spinach  Fallow
Same family
plants
separated by
space
(prevents
pest
infestations)
Corn
Basil
Garlic
Tomatoes
Tall plants
further from
the sun path
Companion
Planting
Questions?
Inputs
Sunlight and Temperature
•The biggest challenge with a new garden is simply where to start.
•The first step is picking a site.
•Remember there is no “perfect” site. All sites have drawbacks and
benefits.
•Full sun is considered 6 or more hours per day of direct (not mottled)
sunlight. Most plants need 6 hours. Any less = suboptimal growth.
Substantially more = evaporation and scorched plants.
Inputs
Sunlight and Temperature
•Consider the angle of the sun for your location.
•In the Northern Hemisphere the sun is ALWAYS angled so the light falls
from south to north. Therefore, you want your garden facing south as
much as possible.
Inputs
Sunlight and Temperature
•Look for obstructions and find ways to work with them or around them.
•Remember that coniferous trees always block the light but deciduous
trees will lose their leaves in the fall. Consider this when looking for
your sun path.
•South facing walls make great reflectors and windbreaks. This is good
in the winter, not so much in summer.
•No map will ever be a good substitute for simple observation.
Inputs
Sunlight and Temperature
Sub-optimal zone
House
OK zone
Better zone
Good zone
Goal Achievement
Sunlight and Temperature
•A list of potential sites has been generated. Have a first
choice and then backup choices if the next input tests fail.
•Knowledge of the path of the sun across your property.
Questions?
Inputs
Growing Medium and Nutrients
•The beginning plot matters. Is there grass there or is it bare dirt? Bare
dirt is essentially ready to plant with but grass must be removed or beat
back.
•Time is the deciding factor. Do you need to plant in one week or
twenty?
•One week options
•Double dig method, immediate lasagna garden, tiller, raised beds,
nothing!
•Five week options
•Chicken tractor, black plastic death ray
•Ten week options
•Mulch-kill method
Inputs
Growing Medium and Nutrients
•One week options
•Double dig method – Use a shovel to remove the top layer of sod, set it
aside. Dig a strip and move the dirt from the first strip out of the way.
Rinse, repeat until proper size is achieved. (Cheap but hard!)
•Immediate lasagna garden – Lay down cardboard and water it heavily.
Place compost on top. Plant into the compost. (Can require some money
but is super easy!)
•Tiller – Run a tiller over the sod several times. Remove any large clumps.
(Extremely costly and still very hard work)
•Raised beds – Build a box, add soil. (Fairly easy but can be expensive if
outside inputs are brought in.
•Nothing! – Poke a hole, plant a seed. When the plant comes up in earnest
put mulch around it. (Not super reliable but cheap and easy)
Inputs
Growing Medium and Nutrients
•Five week options
•Chicken Tractor – Put a chicken tractor on the plot and wait. It takes about
two weeks for the chickens to kill all the grass and about three more before
the ground is ready to plant. (Fairly cheap, fairly reliable)
•Black Plastic Death Ray – Lay down a layer of black plastic and allow the
sun to bake the grass beneath. (Easy but expensive and all the black
plastic is left.
Inputs
Growing Medium and Nutrients
•Ten week options
•Mulch-Kill Method – Place liberal amounts of cardboard and mulch down
on the plot during Fall/Winter and wait. In the spring or during planting time
you can remove the cardboard and reuse the mulch or you can pull the
mulch back, poke holes in the cardboard and plant.
Goal Achievement
Growing Medium and Nutrients
•The garden plot is either ready to plant or will be by the
time planting is required.
Questions?
Inputs
Water
•Evaluate your plot.
•Is it on a slope?
•If its on relatively flat ground then you have a moderate plot in regards
to water. It won’t allow it to run off and wash your soil away but it may
stay in your garden longer than you’d like.
•If it has a slight slope to it then you have an aggressive plot that will
need to be tamed. The water will drain off easily which is good and bad.
The plants won’t be waterlogged but the soil can easily wash away.
Inputs
Water
•On sloped ground – plan to retain and protect your soil.
•Cover crops or mulch on bare ground – always.
•Dig swales to keep more water and slow it down in drier climates. Dig
drainage ditches to divert water away in wetter climates.
Goal Achievement
Water
•The garden utilizes water in a way that makes irrigation
and watering of plants unnecessary.
Questions?
Inputs
Seeds/Stock/Plants
•Buy good quality seeds or plants from a trusted supplier.
•Buy OP varieties (don’t get caught up in the term “heirloom”. Hybrids
are OK but are not sustainable. Hybrids also sometimes require
additional inputs and attention.
•Buy varieties that work in your climate and growing conditions. Look
for what growers in your area are using.
Inputs
Seeds/Stock/Plants
•Learn to save your seeds. Most methods are extremely simple and just
require a little work and attention to detail.
•Learn to propagate plants. Using grapevine cuttings is as easy as
saving seeds.
•Buying plants from a nursery is a good first step but I strongly
encourage everyone to learn how to grow from seed.
•Always have a plan for the next year’s crop.
Goal Achievement
Seeds/Stock/Plants
•Plants that grow well with limited outside inputs and
maintenance from the gardener.
•Plants that survive to fruition and seed and provide a good
output.
•Stock for the following year.
Questions?
Other Input Considerations
Support
•Do your plants require support?
•What’s the cheapest way to accomplish this?
•Use things from your own land!
Other Input Considerations
Support
Use an existing structure
Other Input Considerations
Support
Use another plant
Other Input Considerations
Support
Use salvaged material or material you harvested
Other Considerations
Tools
• Buy the best quality tools you can afford. You can rely on
these tools for a good long while.
• Tools you may need:
1. Shovel
2. Trowel
3. Hoe
4. Rake
Other Considerations
Tools
• Some designs are inherently failure-prone. Avoid these.
Questions?
Process
Steps
• There are several steps in the process of growing a
garden after the inputs are secured.
1. Starting seeds (if directly sowed skip to step 5)
2. Nurturing to transplant size
3. Hardening off
4. Transplanting
5. Maintenance
6. Harvest
Process
Starting Seeds
• The first challenge is finding a suitable container.
• Too small and you’ll have to “pot up”.
• Containers and seed starting mix can be expensive.
• Seed starting mix is one thing I don’t feel bad about
spending money on.
• Containers can be had without any expense.
Process
Starting Seeds
• Container options:
• Paper towel/toilet tissue holder rolls
• Newspaper pots
• Empty drink cups
• No container at all – soil cubes
• Make sure your container drains excess water away.
Process
Starting Seeds
• The actual process
• Make a soil cube or fill the container with soil
• Place one to two seeds in the center
• Cover with dirt equal to twice the seed diameter
• Mist lightly with a spray bottle
• Light is not necessary in most cases at this point but
keeping the pot warm will help (about 75 F is optimal
for most).
• Whenever possible, direct sowing should be the first
option.
Process
Starting Seeds
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Solution
No germination
Bad seeds
Replant
Too cool
Add heat
Too dry
Add water
Crusted soil
Use starting mix
Questions?
Process
Nurturing to Transplant Size
• The needs are very similar to the inputs at the beginning
of the presentation.
• Light – Can be accomplished with a bright fluorescent
shop light purchased for < $10 at Lowes/Home Depot.
Plants should be kept as close to the light as possible
without actually touching it.
• Water – Whenever possible water from the bottom. A
misting every day or so also helps.
• Temperature – Keep the temperature constant and
slightly cool (~65-70 degrees).
Process
Nurturing to Transplant Size
• Provide about 8-12 hours of light per day.
• When the plants are large enough and the appropriate
planting time has arrived the plants can be transplanted.
Process
Nurturing to Transplant Size
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Solution
Long white stem/
Too little light or too hot
Move light closer
Plant falls over
Wet/decay patches
Reduce temp
Damping off (fungus)
Plant stem thins/breaks
Reduce temp
Reduce water
Add cinammon
Sprout disappears
Pest
Inspection
Questions?
Process
Hardening Off
• The act of incrementally adjusting your plants to outside
conditions.
• The most difficult step.
• Day 1 – one hour of full shade and temps from 55-75F.
Days 3 and 4 – two to three hours in moderate sun.
Days 7 and 8 – four to six hours a couple of which are in
somewhat full sun. Day 10 – four to six hours of
somewhat full sun and a couple hours of dark.
• These are general guidelines. Adjust according to what
your plants tell you.
Process
Hardening Off
• I also practice hardening off in-ground.
1. Transplant your seedling when the timing is correct.
2. Immediately cover the seedling with a shade cloth
tent.
3. Perform hardening off procedure outlined in previous
slide.
Process
Hardening Off
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Solution
White dry spots
Sunburn
Take plant out
of the sun or
cover it. Let it
rest.
Questions?
Process
Transplanting
• Its important to know when your plants can be safely
transplanted.
• Do not transplant before a safe date unless you are
prepared to protect them.
• Dig the hole a few inches deeper than it needs to be.
• Whenever possible use native soil to allow the roots to
spread. Top with compost rather than backfill with it.
Process
Hardening Off
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Solution
White dry spots
Sunburn
Cover the plant with a
shadecloth.
Plant withers a bit
Transplant shock
Make sure the surrounding soil is tamped down.
Some transplant shock is
normal.
Questions?
Process
Maintenance
• Once the plant is established it is time to maintain and
protect.
• If the plan was good beforehand the plant will require
very little from you.
• In times of drought water it.
• Check your plants at least once every two days.
• Interact with the plant.
Process
Hardening Off
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Leaves droop or curl
Too hot/dry
Mulch and/or add water.
“Bullet” holes in leaves
Pests
Manually pick them
Or missing stems/leaves
Solution
Release chickens
Questions?
Process
Harvesting
• Knowing when to harvest can be easy – tomato, green
bean, asparagus, bell pepper.
• It can also be hard – peas, watermelon, potato.
• Know your days to maturity and specific information on
your plant.
Process
Harvesting – Saving Seeds
• It is relatively easy to save seeds.
• Fermenters – tomatoes, cucumbers
• Dryers – peas, beans, corn, okra
• Biennials – carrots, beets, turnips
• Bolters – lettuce, spinach
• The key, again, is knowing when to harvest.
Process
Harvesting
• Problems?
Issue
Cause(s)
Solution
Not sure when to harvest
Inexperience
Use the internet
Harvested too early
Inexperience
Some produce can be
ripened “off plant”
Questions?