Garden Plan 2020

It's march and the farms in Kansas are already turning green. The grass at fish house is growing and the snow is finally melting. It's time to start planting cold weather crops and germinating indoors. Honestly, I should have already started germinating in January - February. Oh well. I don't even have a plan for my garden yet... so... that's what this thread is for.

Let's start by thinking about what grew best last year -

- Snap Peas
- Strawberries
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Raspberries
- Blueberries


And what else has grown well historically -

- Chard
- Beets
- Basil



A few of my friends have offered to let me use their yards to make a garden, so I want to simplify things at Fish House and grow less varieties of plants.

I need to consider what space I have available in my garden and what was grown there previously. I would like to get things set up to a point where I can just grow the same things every year and rotate them between beds.



Don't be fooled by this simple diagram. Tomatoes and potatoes are both in the nightshade family so potatoes don't count as a "root" vegetable. They're a fruit! Earth apples.

I need to consider what space I have available in my garden and what was grown there previously. I would like to get things set up to a point where I can just grow the same things every year and rotate them between beds.



Don't be fooled by this simple diagram. Tomatoes and potatoes are both in the nightshade family so potatoes don't count as a "root" vegetable. They're a fruit! Earth apples.

Oh, thank goodness. I've been looking all over DuckDuckGo and Google for this crop rotation tool I found a couple years back. Of course I couldn't find it, but fortunately I had the foresight to put a link to it on the wiki! https://wiki.wetfish.net/crop-rotation

https://www.onions-potatoes.com/agriculture/croprotation.php

Alright so let's think about what plants I wanna grow and what sequence they'll need to be grown in.

- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Peas
- Strawberries
- Beets


Now let's look at the available growing space. There are three raised beds and the "garbage patch", a large section of the back yard where I've generally grown miscellaneous crops. One of the raised beds is home to asparagus, which grows perennially from established roots. For this reason, asparagus cannot be rotated and I'll need to consider a symbiotic cover crop instead.

Asparagus is a heavy feeder, so companion planting with cover crops from the legume family provides additional nitrogen to the soil naturally. Bush beans and peas can be grown as a companion for asparagus, they take up a small amount of space, add nitrogen and require no vertical support. Sew peas and allow them to grow until they bloom, then cut and leave them in place as mulch.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/weed-preventer-asparagus-beds-42530.html

The garbage patch is large enough to be split in half, so that gives us 4 growing areas for rotation.

Hmm...

After doing a bit more research, it looks like strawberies have a 2-3 year growing cycle where they produce more berries the longer they stay established. After 4 years it is necessary to rotate them to prevent disease and replenish nutrients in the soil. https://strawberryplants.org/transplanting-strawberries/





Hmm...

Alright here's what I'm thinkin'

Hugel - Kale & Peas

Garbage Patch 1 - Carrots
Garbage Patch 2 - Corn & Peas

Bed 1 - Potatoes
Bed 2 - Strawberries
Bed 3 - Asparagus & Peas

Potted - Thyme
Potted - Rosemary
Potted - Oregano
Potted - Basil

Due to their large size, the hugels are somewhat difficult to manage compared to a raised bed where you can easily walk around and harvest. The blueberries do quite well on the hugel. I'm considering transplanting the raspberries from the back yard onto the hugel and getting some more blackberries and blueberries. The front of the hugel would be covered in berries while still leaving plenty of space on top for growing annual crops.

Cleaning
-

• Clear organic matter out of raised beds

- [...] Clear dead weeds from garden paths
-

• Disassemble front yard trellises

-

• Move logs to garbage patch

- [] Trim tree branches above hugel

Planting
-

• Sow carrot & pea seeds in garbage patch

-

• Sow pea seeds in asparagus bed

-

• Sow pea & kale seeds in hugel

- [] Remove 1ft of soil from potato bed and set aside
- [] Plant potatoes
- [] Transplant strawberry stragglers back into strawberry bed
-

• Transplant mature strawberry plants

-

• Transplant raspberries into hugel

Finishing Touches
-

• Cover garbage patch and raised beds with the soil and mulch from disassembled trellis beds

- [] Start germinating corn
- [] Start germinating watermelons?? ?

Edit: Did a bunch of stuff

Did a whole bunch of work this weekend