GARDENING K First Permaculture Class ~ March 14, 2012
Overview
Our Story Successful Beginners, Not Experts
Our Methods Top 5 Excuses for Not Gardening Resources
Our Story
2010: Concerns about health & hard times How can we thrive in a no/low-energy world?
Books and online resources Square Foot Gardening Learned about seed types Brainstorming
Fencing Garden Structures Soil components
Our Story
Homesteading Research Micro-farming and CSAs Birth of Arcadia Farms www.arcadia-farms.net
Types of Seeds
Open Pollinated A seed which produces offspring just
like the parent plants. Open-pollinated seed allows growers to harvest and save seed for the following year.
Types of Seeds
Hybrid or GMO A plant resulting from the cross mating of
distinctly different parental types. Many seed companies are highly motivated by profit and so they intentionally release unstable hybrids whose exact parentage are guarded trade secrets. If a gardener saves the seeds, their resulting crops will not be true-to-type.
Types of Seeds
Heirloom Heirloom varieties are open-pollinated
varieties with a long history of being cultivated and saved within a family or group. They have evolved by natural or human selection over time.
Our Methods: The Basics
Bought non-hybrid and heirloom seeds Jiffy greenhouses in laundry room Parent’s greenhouse Transplanted in June
Our Methods: Square Foot Gardening
Square Foot Gardening is the practice of planning small but intensively planted gardens in raised beds.
Our Methods: Raised Beds
Benefits: Easier on the back No tilling the ground Eliminates need for a lot of gardening
know-how because you don’t have to amend the soil
Intensive production
Our Methods: Soil Mix
Mel’s Mix 1/3 Peat Moss 1/3 Vermiculite 1/3 Compost
“The Secret”
Our Methods: Intensive Planting
No waste space Ideal for those with limited space More efficient production Shades out weeds (“living mulch”) Bio-diversity mimics God’s planting in
nature
Our Methods: Pest Control
6’ Deer Fence Chicken wire ($1/linear foot) Landscape posts ($2 on sale) Post holders ($3 after rebate)
Marigolds Fishing line Deer won’t jump a double fence
Our Methods: Fertilizer
Jobes Organics Fertilizer
Unneeded Compost
Top 5 ExcusesFor Not Gardening
Excuse 1: I don’t have time. Average of 30 minutes per day
You could do less! Factors
How close is the garden to the house? How often will you be watering? How much weeding will you need to do? How much fertilizing will you need to do? How badly do you want to save money and eat
healthier?
Top 5 ExcusesFor Not Gardening
Excuse 2: I hate weeding. Intensive planting shades out weeds
Watch out for compost! Address the aisles
Mulch Landscape fabric
We spent around 3 hours for the year
Top 5 ExcusesFor Not Gardening
Excuse 3: I don’t have space. Intensive planting
Do you have a 4’ x 4’ sunny space? Container gardens Look online for inspiration We grew over 500 tomatoes in 8 square
feet
Top 5 ExcusesFor Not Gardening
Excuse 4: I don’t know how. Neither do we! Abundant resources Establish a community of gardeners Everyone starts somewhere
Top 5 ExcusesFor Not Gardening
Excuse 5: It didn’t work last time. “The godly may trip seven times, but they will
get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. Proverbs 24:16
I'm convinced that one of the "secrets" to success is facing the fact that failure is a part of the process. Lots of people sit around and dream about accomplishing big things but never move because they're afraid of failing (and the stigma that comes with it). Great people see failure as an inevitable opportunity to improve/re-imagine/try again, instead of a paralyzing setback.
Resources
All New Square Foot Gardeningby Mel Bartholomew
The Vegetable Gardener’s Bibleby Edward C. Smith
Carrots Love Tomatoesby Louise Riotte
Mother Earth Newswww.motherearthnews.com
iVilliage Garden Web Forumshttp://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/
Googlewww.google.com
Arcadia Farmswww.arcadia-farms.net
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