How to Plan an 8X11 Garden
You don't need a large plot to grow a lush vegetable garden. With a little planning and creativity, you can grow enough vegetables to supplement or even replace grocery store produce in a small garden. The trick is to maximize growing conditions to produce the highest yields possible. Arranging raised beds in an 8 x 11 sunny area allows gardeners to plant crops more intensively, resulting in higher yields in less space. Raised beds also have fewer weeds and are easier to maintain. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Make a list of your family's favorite vegetables. Narrow down the list, crossing off vegetables that take a lot of space or that are relatively inexpensive to buy in the store. Exclude large crops such as corn, pumpkins, potatoes and winter squash. Good choices for a 8 x 11 garden include lettuce and greens, broccoli, carrots, beets, onions, peas, green beans, cucumber, zucchini and tomatoes.
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Select a warm location that receives at least 8 hours of sunlight per day. Amend the soil with compost, manure and a balanced fertilizer to get plants off to a healthy start. Keep the soil evenly moist and apply a mulch such as untreated grass clippings to keep weeds down and conserve moisture.
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Draw a garden plan on a piece of paper to scale. For an 8 x 11 garden, use raised beds to maximize space. Plan a row of three raised beds, 3 foot by 3, set side-by-side with 12-inch paths between them. Set another row of three raised beds, 3 foot by 3 foot, parallel to the first row with a 24-inch path running between them for easy access to your garden.
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Organize the garden into sections by plant type and growth needs. Place the greens and broccoli in one corner of the garden and grow peas and beans on a trellis or fence in another corner.
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Take advantage of succession crops. For example, peas are cool-season crops that dwindle as soon as temperatures climb. Plant them in early spring and harvest them before summer. Once the soil is warm, remove the peas and plant pole beans in their stead. Follow lettuce and broccoli with tomatoes or zucchini. By using succession planting, you can grow double the produce in the same amount of space.
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Grow crops vertically. Gardeners have traditionally grown pole beans and peas on fences or trellises, but you can also train cucumbers, small melons and tomatoes to trellises, substantially increasing your yields in a small space. Trellising plants may also reduce diseases and increase yields. Cucumbers, for example, produce healthier and straighter fruit when grown on a trellis.
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Grow compact varieties. Lettuce, carrots and peas are naturally compact, but tomatoes and squash can produce vines 6 to 10 feet long. Select bush varieties of zucchini, cucumbers and melons that don't produce vines. Choose determinate tomatoes instead of indeterminate tomatoes for compact growth, as well.
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Tips & Warnings
The intensive gardening techniques described above take a toll on garden soil. Plant a cover crop, such as rye or clover, once you've harvested crops in the fall. This cover crop grows over the winter to reduce weed growth and soil erosion. Till it under in the spring to add organic material and nutrients to the soil.
Apply manure or compost to the garden every fall to keep the soil in good shape, as well.
References
Resources
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