Barbara Pleasant - Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens

STARTER VEGETABLE GARDENS

24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens

Barbara Pleasant

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN GRUEN

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Fern Marshall Bradley and Gwen Steege
Art direction and book design by Dan O. Williams
Text production by Jennifer Jepson Smith

Photography by John Gruen, except for pages 62, 91, 96, 117, and 122 by the author
Photo styling by Lisa Newman
Illustrations by William Howell Golson
Garden plans by Alison Kolesar

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

2010 by Barbara Pleasant

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pleasant, Barbara.
Starter vegetable gardens / by Barbara Pleasant.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-60342-529-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-60342-530-8 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Vegetable gardening. I. Title.
SB321.P58 2010
635dc22
2009049114

To Madison,
and a new generation
of gardeners

PART I:
DEVELOPING YOUR GARDEN PLAN

PART 2:
ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES AND
MORE PLANTING PLANS

PART 3
PICK-OF-THE-CROP VEGGIE VARIETIES

Planting a garden is hope in action. As you tuck in seedlings or pat seeds into soft soil, you hope they will grow. But maybe you also feel a little anxious because, truth be told, youre just learning to tell a radish from a rutabaga. Relax. You can grow a successful organic food garden right now, this season. This book will get you started with simple, delectable garden plans and the instructions to see them through to a bountiful harvest. Next season, when youre ready for a little more challenge, you can graduate to specialized planting plans to expand your cultivated space, grow a pet crop like gourmet potatoes, or add more herbs and flowers for a garden thats as beautiful as it is practical.

Tending your garden will be more pleasure than struggle. Granted, there will be some bending and lifting involved, but you wanted a hobby that you could enjoy outdoors, moving around, right? The work wont be terribly hard. While I cannot guarantee that every crop in your garden will succeed any more than I can promise you a summer without hail, I can say this with certainty: Growing at least some of your own food will change your life for the better.

DIG THIS!

Food gardens can be as pretty as they are productive. Including colorful flowers looks great and attracts butterflies and bees as well as scores of pest-eating beneficial insects such as lady beetles.

This book is intended to be of endearing value to three groups: new gardeners ready to jump into food gardening with both feet, experienced gardeners who are coaching new gardeners, and seasoned greenies who can grow prize-winning roses or peonies but are stumped on the fine points of growing a gourmet salad garden. In pursuit of this goal, the book is divided into three parts.

New gardeners are often told to start small, but how exactly is that done? The first section of this book takes the confusion out of this process by showing planting plans for three different Growing Gardens, each of which starts very small and simple and gradually expands to approximately double its initial size over a three-year period. Check out all three Growing Gardens if youre having trouble visualizing how a robust food garden can fit in your yard. Each uses a different soil-building strategy to transform underutilized space into a fertile new garden.

The Easy-Care Bag Garden is sized for one or two people to plant and maintain, and it starts out with a no-dig approach: bags of potting soil arranged on top of lawn grass or untilled earth. At maturity, it supports two dozen delicious food plants.

A Bountiful Border uses design principles borrowed from formal flower borders, with emphasis on building superior soil through deep digging. These balanced planting plans are ideal for gardeners who prefer the order that comes with formal style.

The Front-Yard Food Supply transforms a small front yard into a beautiful tapestry of colorful beans, tomatoes, and chard. Eye appeal is built in from the first season, and soil quality improves as the beds receive regular helpings of compost and mulch. As the garden evolves, there are plenty of opportunities to add personal touches with handmade trellises and artful accessories.

For Growing Garden graduates and other experienced gardeners who simply want to enjoy plenty of great garden food, garden plans. Designed for short-, moderate-, and long-summer climates, these plans make the most of regional crops with proven track records for delivering great results.

Every passing gardening season teaches me new things, so learning to be a better gardener is not the exclusive turf of beginners. Thats the double-duty goal of : to help new gardeners learn basic skills, from planting seeds to harvesting crops at the best time, while providing interesting twists (and valuable pointers) for food gardeners who need a quick refresher course. Even folks who have hoed ten seasons of beans might pick up a tip or two reading over the seed-starting instructions for vivid Paint-brush Beds (page 98). The Beneficial Border (page 126) may give experienced growers new insights into the world of bugs.

As you get to know your climate, site, and soil, youll encounter certain challenges, be they drought, disease, or stubbornly infertile soil. Reacting to problems gets old fast, so instead this section invites you to build your gardening skills, which will improve your ability to prevent many problems and manage them better when they do occur. Explore the practical possibilities here, whether youre installing your first soaker hose in the Marinara Medley garden (page 108) or piling on mulch in the Managed Mulch garden (page 114).

Choosing strong varieties is vital to growing a healthy garden. Can you simply buy packets of seeds off the rack at the store? (Yes.) Or should you order seeds from a specialty seed company? (Yes, there too.) But whether youre stocking up on cheap seeds, ordering gourmet or historical strains, or looking for a variety to address a specific problem, be sure to check out . In these pages, I review the best old and new varieties for your garden. Read before you buy, and youll be several steps closer to finding the perfect varieties for your garden.