As local as it gets…

Last week, I was introduced to someone as a local farmer.  While I was flattered, it sounded strange to me, and I almost corrected the misnomer.  I’ve often called myself a gardener, but farmer sounds so much more official.  Then I realized, maybe I am a farmer, after a fashion.  So I looked it up:

The Perfect Peach

Main Entry: farm·er

Pronunciation: \ˈfär-mər\

Function: noun

Date: 14th century

1 : a person who pays a fixed sum for some privilege or source of income
2 : a person who cultivates land or crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish)
3 : yokel, bumpkin

“farmer.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010.

My garden May 2009

Hey, #2.  That’s me.  At least I hope that’s it, not a Yokel, or a Bumpkin!  But, cultivates land or crops?  Check! Check! Raises animals? Check!  HEY LOOK!  I AM A FARMER!  And if I can be, so can you.  Check out the pictures of my land and crops I cultivate, and the animals I raise.  My “farm” currently consists of four 4′ x 4′ raised beds, a 2′ x 4′ asparagus patch, a small herb garden, a 4′ x 6′ greenhouse, 40 chickens, 4 pet rabbits, 3 farm cats, 2 farm dogs, and a peach tree.  This small amount has enabled us to have something fresh on our table all year.  We do have five wooded acres, but no pasture, and it’s all very steep and hilly, so we will never have a traditional farm.  This year, we’re expanding the garden with the hope of growing most of our own vegetables, some of our fruit, and having a bit left over to sell at the farmers’ market.

How will we do that on bedrock with no topsoil?  With a kitchen garden built Square Foot Gardening style.  The only flat, sunny spot we have is the gravel/ muddy area right in front of the house where we park.  Yep.  I’m going to garden in the driveway.  If I can do that, surely you have somewhere you can garden this year, too.

Shakespeare and his ladies.

Here’s how.  You need to get your hands on a copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening.  I’d recommend you buy your own, as the library won’t like it if you return their copy all dirty, and it’s a definite take-it-out-with-you kind of book.  Not to mention you’ll want to use it as a reference over and over, so you might as well have one around.  Now, Mel recommends starting with a 4′ x 4′ raised bed, made out of 2 x 6 lumber.  I’m going to suggest you start with a 3′ x 6′ bed instead.  I have 4′ beds, and they are very hard for me to reach across (I have chronically short arms…)  You actually gain 2 sq. ft. of growing space this way, but the narrower box will be easier to reach across.  So.  Go to the lumber store, have them cut you some 2 x 6’s so you have 2 3′ lengths, and 2 6′ lengths.  Take these home, screw them together at the corners, and find a spot to put them.  (In your driveway, if needed.)  Once you have the box where you want it, put down a layer of newspaper as a weed barrier and fill you box with Mel’s Mix -1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost.  (It’s a SFG thing, read the book or check out the website, it will all make sense.)  At this point, to truly have a square foot garden, you’ll need to install some type of Grid over your box.  Please look at Mel’s website for more details on his grid system. Thanks, Mel!

I want to talk about planning and planting.  Now you have a box.  18 sq. ft. of gardening potential.  So, what should you plant in it?  One resource I ran across recently was this great Kitchen Garden Planner.  It has several already designed layouts to choose from, or you can create your own, and it will help you figure out your spacing, and number of plants required for each vegetable.  It essentially tells you what you will have just read in Square Foot Gardening, but, seeing tiny orange carrots will help you visualize what you’re going to end up with.  So, now you have a box, some “dirt” and a plan.  All you need now is a trowel, a bucket for water, something for a scoop, and some seeds.

Here’s a short list of seed catalogs/ websites to begin with:

Marianna’s Heirloom Seeds (Dickson, TN)

New Hope Seed Company (Bon Aqua, TN)

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (Mansfield, MO )

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (Mineral, VA)

Johnny’s Select Seeds (Winslow, ME)

This should get you started, anyway.  If you want to see what other kitchen gardeners are up to, check out kitchen gardeners TN.   Next time we talk gardening, we’ll talk compost!  Leave me a comment, and let me know how your kitchen (or driveway) garden is coming along.