My first request was for The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden, by Karen Newcomb. Below is my honest review of this book:
I have gardened for a very long time. I grew up around gardens, and since I became a (supposed) grownup, I've almost always had one. These days, I find myself in a rather silly situation - five acres of land, but the deer have gotten so comfortable that I can't garden here...well, I can, but the deer eat all the food we grow.
The only success I have these days is in enclosed spaces, but enclosing a space can get expensive. With some materials we had on hand, We have enclosed a small, 6x14 enclosure for gardening.
Enter the book, The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden, by Karen Newcomb. It is written specifically for those gardening in tight spaces, including containers, flower boxes and small garden plots. I thought this book did a good and thorough job of explaining the process, yet I never felt bogged down by 'too much information'. I liked the information at the beginning of the book that provided some history about different forms of intensive gardening, and I like the way the book is organized through the seasons - preparation of site and soil, adding amendments and planting patterns that help you get the most from a small space, such as companion planting and inter-planting earlier and later crops. Ms. Newcomb even provides specific plant variety recommendations to increase the chances of success, as well as sources for the varieties she recommends.
To me, the overall message of the book is that there are a few different ways to succeed. There are guidelines and suggestions, but no rigidity. If you can't get one soil amendment in your area, there are suggestions of others that will have similar effect. If you want to start your own seedlings, the information is there, but there are also some tips for purchasing ready-to-plant seedlings. There are multiple layout ideas - none of which I would use precisely as shown, but all of which help illustrate the author's suggestions that you plant taller plants to the north (so they don't shade shorter plants), etc.
I like this book, and I appreciate the flexibility it embraces. Having gardened a long time, I have used different methods in different locations with varying results, and I think the author did a good job of presenting small-scale, intensive gardening in a broad and informative way.
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| The new title is a revision of a former book - The Postage Stamp Kitchen Garden Book |
I feel your gardening pain. We only have a small patch of sunlight and it is not enough to really produce much except lettuce which the squirrels think I planted for their dining pleasure. I can get a few tomatoes and peppers but I am thinking that the expense and work are not worth the small yield. I am considering not doing anything but herbs this year as they do well and the squirrels do leave those alone once they are established.
ReplyDeleteYour squirrels sound a lot like our deer, Lana. I wonder if some container gardening would work for you? If you have some tomatoes and peppers in pots...in a wagon...you could move them to where the sun is, but they'd be easy to move for mowing and such. :) As for me, once we get the topper onto the garden (pvc pipe and netting over the top of the fence, to keep deer out and give some hail protection) I am thinking I will dig around the outside of the garden, plant the herbs and some marigolds there (deer and rabbits seem to leave those alone) and then add a rock border. It has to be a fortress...but I'm going to try for cute, inviting fortress, hee hee!!
DeleteI have to do everything in containers since the little patch of sun is on one end of the deck. There really is not anywhere to move to to get more sun since that would involve large, heavy pots going up and down the deck stairs. I tried doing lettuce in the screen porch last year to protect it from the squirrels but it did not get enough light to do much. We do love our shady yard though.
ReplyDeleteShade is a pretty great thing! Out here on the prairie, trees have to be planted and tended. Back in the midwest and south, in the areas where I grew up, the farmers have to bush-hog the edges of hayfields, if they are near forest, or the saplings will establish themselves. Here, we plant trees with polymer granules, lots of nutrients, we water regularly, and it takes them a lot longer to establish. I do love it here - it's just different. :)
DeleteLana, the book sounds wonderful. I love gardening books.. And love to garden.. We have enclosed our garden, [eeeh ---it is expensive..].We had trouble with deer .coons and rabbits.. I just wanted to suggest something else to you.. Save your alumin pie pans [the throw away kind].. Punch a hole in the top, put a string or wire through it and hang them around your fence.Let the wire/string be long enough that they hang down a foot or so.. The wind blows these. We have had great luck with it working.. Wish you the best. Happy Gardening.
ReplyDeleteLaura.. so sorry about the squirrels..We have trouble with them too.. We have 4-5 pecan trees/ 2 pear trees'/2 peach trees. We never get any nuts or fruit.. the squirrels get them all. We have tried every thing, nothing works.. So frustrating.. Best wishes on your garden.
Thank you for the tips, Judy! I have tried pie tins, but the deer still came and ate. It is fairly dry here, and there is no true forest - only stands of trees that people have planted....so I don't think the natural food sources are very good for them. We had forest fires in the forests north of here a few years back and I think the deer came down this way, but it is not ideal for them here...and so they are more 'brave' about eating anything we try to grow. We have fruit trees too, and they have pretty much destroyed many of them (they were dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties). Thankfully, the larger, standard trees are tall enough that we can still get some fruit, if the frost and hail, birds and squirrels don't get them first! :)
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