A single large garden space is not needed to produce an abundance of your favorite garden vegetables. Gardening with a variety of growing spaces can yield a bountiful harvest. Utilizing a combination of raised beds, whiskey barrels, container boxes, self-watering storage tubs and even 5 gallon buckets, when properly arranged and maintained, provides an attractive, functional and productive garden.
The Growing Space
At sixtythreesixty, we have a relatively moderate garden space. Two garden areas provide about 400 square feet of total space. That may sound like a large space but it is comprised of a wide variety of smaller separate spaces. The main garden area is made up of four separate raised beds that are 5 feet by 11 feet. The older garden is a mix of two raised beds, various containers, planter boxes and whiskey barrels.
After years of gardening in different locations, with different climates and always with a different space to deal with, we have adopted a wide variety of growing methods. Self-watering plastic tubs and 5 gallon buckets, whiskey barrels, DIY cedar planter boxes and raised beds. All of them work. That is why we have incorporated them in our garden. This hodge-podge of growing spaces provides a bountiful harvest that yields many servings of fresh and stored vegetables.
The Harvest
Last year was the first year gardening with the full variety of spaces. Starting with a first picking of tomatoes in early June and ending with the final pickings before the early freeze in September, the garden yielded many fresh servings of vegetables. And a good bit of the harvest was stored during the summer peak. Tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes were relegated to the larger raised beds. The other vegetables were grown in containers. Pints of corn, beans, peppers, potatoes (mashed), cauliflower and broccoli were frozen along with tomato juice, home made pizza sauce and green tomato salsa verde. A variety of pickles were canned as well as salsa, tomato sauce and whole tomatoes. We also dried peppers and herbs. A bountiful harvest to enjoy all year long!
Here are a few photos that represent a sampling of our 2020 harvest.
June 10 – First Tomatoes July 13 – Banana Peppers July 22 July 27 August 8 August 10 August 15 Mashed Potatoes Vacuum Packed for Freezing August 16 August 20 August 24 August 26 August 28 August 29 September 2 – Last of the Onions September 7 – Last Harvest of the Year, Ripe and Green Tomatoes, Peppers, Beans, Basil and Sage
With all of the different spaces to work with, a good plan is needed each year to grow the proper plants in the best spaces. Larger plants go in the raised beds. The rest get spread amongst the different containers. Full sun versus partial shade and planting rotations from one year to the next are also taken into account. With over 25 separate growing spaces, keeping track of what went where last year and what will go where this year is important.
So, even though it is February, this is the time of year that the planning begins to take shape. And with a little help from mother nature, this should be another great year for the garden!
