small garden help

Everyone seems to think gardening is easy. I’ve been doing it for a decade and it’s still hard to get right. My suggestion is go ahead and plant but you would be deluding yourself if you believe that you will be able to have a decent harvest. Bugs, blight, disease, poor soil, ph, drought, too much rain, fungus, etc all bite you in the ass and are near impossible to diagnose if you aren’t experienced. That said, maybe the planets will align it you will get lucky. Gotta start sometime.

I am a non-gardener who has never done enough to get good at it. My go-to plan is...

The Square Foot Garden.

IMO, there is no better beginner method out there. The info is Oder, yes, but tried-and -true. The author went all around the world in his later years to teach developing countries how to build this very simple garden.

The Square Foot Garden was developed by an engineer. It is a turn-key method, a true step-by-step guide to “making vegetables” in your yard. Focuses on small-space situations also. You only need a 4 x 4 plot (or less, really!) to grow.

[link to www.amazon.com (secure)]

E-text $11.95. Probably a regular ebook somewhere. I am not tech savvy.

There are a LOT of knock-offs of this method, as it works and has been around awhile. But I think his book is still the best, has been used in every imaginable situation, and he DOESN’T OVERCOMPLICATE EVERYTHING. This is where I was always getting lost!

This is what I am working on today, actually.

Nutritionists say greens are an important nutrient benefit. It is what I use most. Lettuces grow, and you can cut what you need as you go. They keep growing, and you just cut another salad tomorrow. And you have a usable crop prey quickly! Plant enough to harvest some as “baby greens” and keep some to grow to maturity later. Kale and collards too. You can grow kale and collards in hot weather too, surprisingly.

Really, look at his stuff. It was written for the people like me who have never done this before. Good luck!