| Just seven years ago, I would have never thought I would take such an interest in gardening or horticulture, let alone vegetable gardening. Long before I was even born, my grandfather had a passion for vegetable gardening…so much so that it actually became a small business for him and my grandmother. Back in the 1950's and 60's they owned a produce market west of Neenah where they sold a variety of homegrown vegetables to consumers, grocery stores, and wholesalers from around the area.
While the market was closed for a period of time before my uncle reopened it in the 1970's, homegrown vegetables were just a way of life. Our family always had a vegetable garden and every summer reverted to a familiar routine (mainly for my mother) of picking, preparing, and freezing. I worked for my uncle for ten summers beginning at the age of twelve, for the first year picking strawberries, peas, or whatever else was in season, and then in the market preparing and selling produce. As a result, I perceived growing vegetables to be long, hard work. Because of the large quantities I saw of any one vegetable at the market, and the space dedicated to our family garden, I always believed a large garden area would be needed to enjoy the variety of vegetables I was accustomed to.
All in all, I think I probably had my fill of dealing with vegetables for a while…until a few years ago when Brown County Horticulture Extension Agent, Paul Hartman, was a guest speaker for an introduction to horticulture class I was taking. His topic was vegetable gardening. As he talked about recommended vegetable cultivars for Northeast Wisconsin, a long-forgotten part of my past started coming back to me: Jubilee sweet corn was one of the sweetest all-yellow varieties we grew and sold at the market, especially for canning; Buttercrunch lettuce was my aunt's favorite; Big Bertha green peppers really lived up to their name; Early Girl tomatoes always brought us the first homegrown flavor of the season; and so on.
Although these vegetable varieties are as good today as they were twenty years ago, they aren't just grown in traditional large garden areas anymore. Intensive gardening techniques maximize production in smaller spaces and provide real opportunities for would-be vegetable gardeners who have previously been discouraged by "large garden" perceptions.
What is Intensive Gardening?
Intensive gardening involves the attempt to extract more produce from a given area by planting crops closer together, incorporating fencing, growing in succession, or similar techniques. A combination of these techniques is often employed.
Wide row planting is one technique that literally expands on the concept of traditional single row planting. Seeds or plants are planted in a band that is substantially wider than a traditional row, allowing easy access to the center of the row from either side (i.e. three feet). While seeds are scattered over the entire row area to maximize the production area, the usual practice of thinning seedlings to promote optimal growth still applies.
Square foot gardening also employs the concept of planting in areas versus rows. With square foot gardening your row becomes one or more 4 foot by 4 foot blocks that are further divided into sixteen one foot squares. Different crops can be planted in each square, but more often a different crop will occupy each 2 foot by 2 foot sub-block. Like wide row gardening, it is important to be able to reach the center of each main block from the surrounding pathway in order to maintain the garden and avoid compressing the soil.
Raised bed gardening, the planting surface to a desired height. On a temporary, year-to-year basis, soil may simply be mounded to a height of approximately six inches. A more permanent raised bed garden can be constructed with sides of board, railroad ties, layered rocks, or other strong materials. Additionally, this method allows you to plant in unfavorable conditions, for example where drainage is poor, and offers gardening access to those who have difficulty reaching gardens at ground level.
To improve intensive gardening opportunities, trellises and other vertical supports may be used alone or in conjunction with other methods. Trellises add a vertical dimension for vine crops such as cucumbers and tomatoes. They not only help conserve space, they also reduce the plant's exposure to the disease and pest damage that sometimes occurs when plants are left in contact with the soil.
Companion planting, succession planting, and intercropping are all terms that refer to planting two or more crops in the same growing space during one season. Fast growing vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and radishes like cool weather and will mature early in the season. Additional crops may then be planted in the same space for harvest during the summer or early fall.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Intensive Gardening
Depending on your needs, space, and time, intensive gardening has both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side:
- Techniques where plants are closely spaced, such as with square foot gardening, discourage weeds-they have difficulty competing with the number of vegetable plants in each block.
- While the maximum yield per plant may be somewhat lower, your garden's overall production is higher due to the increased number of plants in it.
- With square foot gardening, soil will not be trampled or compressed by foot traffic thus promoting better growing conditions.
- Watering is easier due the small amount of space involved. It is also less difficult to amend the soil of a raised bed garden.
- Intensive gardening enables gardeners with limited spaces to still enjoy the benefits of homegrown produce, even if vegetables are simply incorporated within a small area of a typical flower garden.
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While there are some disadvantages to intensive gardening practices, they are no more troublesome than traditional gardening woes:
- Poor results from common soil problems such as compaction, poor soil, lack of drainage, etc. can be magnified when planting higher numbers of plants in an area. The soil should be tested and amended accordingly with organic material, etc., to rectify any potential problems before planting begins.
- While weeds will have difficulty growing once a bed is established they can still get out of control, especially when the vegetable plants are small. Make sure the bed is weed-free prior to planting and keep up with weeding until the vegetables are large enough to block them out.
- Because a higher number of plants are competing for the same resources, they will likely need more water and fertilizer. Amending the soil prior to planting will help, however it will also be necessary to keep a little closer eye on moisture levels in the soil.
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Vegetable "Enhanced" Gardening
If you're still not quite ready to take on vegetable gardening full-throttle, this season would be a good time to experiment on a small scale with vegetables. Start with a small raised bed garden containing a mix of compost and soil. Plant a tomato, a few pepper plants, and sampling of lettuce for fresh salads. One of my favorite tomatoes that I have planted and grown on a trellis for three years is 'Juliet'-a firm but tasty hybrid cherry tomato that was an AHS winner in 1999. I also enjoy the colorful stems of 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard in contrast with herbs like 'Purple Ruffles' basil. Colorful Nasturtiums are also edible flower addition along with dwarf sunflowers, zinnias, and more.
Choose reliable plant varieties and get creative in using trellises and other supports to maximize your gardening space. Your little test garden should be fun and provide you with the extra treat of fresh vegetables for your dinner table. |
