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Growing Lots of Food in a Small Space




I had Ryan draw a little sketch of our yard!
We live on less then 1/10 of an acre!
So really, really small!
Our home is bigger then the yard....
trust me it's not very big!
I just want you to see how much is possible with very little ground!
We even still have a little play yard for the kids!
We plan to plant potatoes in a large bin on the deck.
There is also going to be 3 small composting bins along the driveway by the house.
Oh and Ryan forgot to draw the other peach tree we have in the left corner of the back yard in front of where we plan to plant some squash.  Even I'm starting to be amazed at how much food growing potential our little yard has!

Anyway click on the pictures to see them closer!
If you have questions about it or wonder what something is feel free to comment and ask!


You need to know that I don't at all have a green thumb!  But I love fresh fruits and veggies!  I have found the secret is in the soil.  If you nourish and feed your soil with good compost etc. and have a healthy environment for your plants the soil will feed your plants and you have a productive garden!  I have noticed that it takes about 5 years (at least it does for us) to start getting really good soil and a very productive garden.  Also I live in Zone 5 and found this planting calendar helpful.  Just for fun below are some pictures of us working on the back yard playground, the garden last fall and planting seedlings this past week!






Here is what we have started indoors:
  • Cabbage
  • Cauliflower
  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers-sweet and hot
  • Herbs and Flowers
What we plan to plant outdoors ASAP:
  • Peas
  • Kale
  • Collards
  • Spinach
  • Other Greens
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Onions
  • MORE HERBS
With just a little creativity and thinking it's amazing how much food you can grow in very little space!  Urban Gardening at it's best!  This year we are also going to try planting all non-hybrid organic type foods to see if we can harvest the seeds and dry them to use for next year!  Self reliance at it's best!  I hope you feel at least a little inspired to plant something this year.  Nothing is healthier than your own home grown food!
Happy Spring!



7 comments:

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

I have found it doesn't take much room to plant a garden either. As you said, I started with good soil and my plants grow well. To feed my plants--After I make a green smoothie and pour it in my cup. I re-fill the blender up and water the greens with the residual left in the blender.

Tammie said...

Denise: Great idea thanks for sharing! I will have to remember that when rinsing out the blender!

Courtney said...

What kinds of things do I need to put in my soil? Right now we have standard backyard cement/clay stuff... what do I do? Do we need to rent a tiller? I've got about 1/10th of an acre of dirt to plant our garden in.

Amber said...

That is awesome. If you are in Utah-- how do your blueberries do-- do you grow them special- since they need more acid soil than what we generally have here? Thanks for sharing!

Tammie said...

Amber: We just got the fence up this past fall and are planing the berry bushes around it this Spring. So I don't have a good answer for that yet. I do know we will have to put acidic stuff in the soil for them. Gardens Alive has a "food" for blueberries that I think we are going to try!

Tammie said...

Courtney: I have found a mix of organic compost, vermiculite, and peat moss really helps to amend the soil! I also really like to do what is called a cover crop. In the fall after harvest we till up the garden and throw down some grain, usually wheat but other ones like Buckwheat, Clover, etc. is supposed to be good too. Then in starts to come up in the spring, at that point we till it in and it is supposed to provide added nutrients to the soil.

We also have lots of clay here and adding gypsum is supposed to help break it up.

Again it seems to take a few years to get a good soil but the compost mix really seems to help you to have decent soil the first year!

Kim Witter said...

I'm really starting to understand the appreciation I have for what God has given us as I try not to waste and use all of what we have from into house (peelings etc. for compost) and take it outside our house to our garden. We use the animals waste from our chickens and horse and put back into our land and the garden. It feels good to be so wise with what we have been given because we have been given so much