I love planning. Every year, I put together a garden plan on paper and pencil because there’s something super enjoyable about drawing up a plan. Now, keeping with that plan and documenting how it goes throughout the year, that part sucks and I rarely do it.
This year, I drafted a plan during the first week of February. Key steps for building my garden plan:
- Identify topics of interest I may want to explore this year.
- Determine what I will grow.
- Map out the beds.
- Order seeds.
Step 1: Topics of Interest
A few of the things I would like to explore, research, and/or (re)try this year:
- Soil testing
- Composting
- Animal control
- Pest management
- Tea ladder
- Melon patch
- Side yard bed
- 3 sisters
- Flame weeding
Each of these warrants their own post(s), so I’ll just note that they are on my mind at this point.
Step 2: What to Grow
Every year I make a laundry list of things I want to grow. And every year I regret some things and wish I had grown others. So, this year I devised a system – The Reitz Farm Value Index.
Essentially, I made a list of everything I could grow. Each thing was rated on effort (successfulness of past attempts, length of time to grow and harvest, area consumed in the garden) and affinity (my wife and I each ranked how much we liked each item on a scale of 1-5).
Essentially, each item has a higher index score if it takes low effort (historically successful, less time, less space) and/or if we both really like eating it. The highest scoring item was lettuce – it’s super easy to grow and we both love it.
I then reviewed the list. I still made a few manual alterations. For example, for the first year, I won’t be growing cauliflower or broccoli. We love them, but my past success has been poor, they consume a lot of space, and they have been huge pest attractors. Not worth it.
Step 3: Map the Beds
Determining how many of the top items I can grow is dependent on space. So, the next step is to map out my beds. I have three 8’x4′ beds that are end-to-end and a small sunflower bed next to our alley that can grow 11 sunflowers in it.
There are a couple keys to maximizing space – growing up, co-planting and seasonal alternation.
Each year, I build a lot of structures and grow vegetables up the structures to maximize yield from minimum ground space. This year, I built structures for my tomatoes. I use 8′ stakes to build a structure and always use indeterminate (vining) tomato varieties that will grow up and back down the stakes.
Instead of building more structures for other plants, this year I am using some natural structures through co-planing. Co-planting allows you to grow multiple, complementary plants in the same space. This year I am co-planting:
- Carrots & Radishes (radishes grow quicker and when harvested will loosen the soil around the carrots)
- Corn, Beans, Squash (bean vines will grow up the corn stalks and squash vines create ground cover that prevents weeds)
- Sunflowers & Cucumbers (cucumber vines will grow up the sunflower stems)
I’m also cognizant of the seasonal timing of each plant and will alternate in seedlings for one plant as another is completing its harvest. For example, around the time that it’s getting too warm for my spinach and kale, it will be time to put in zucchini and yellow squash – so I will grow them in the same space.
Step 4: Seeds!
I often forget to plan until it is time to plant. This year, because I was ahead of the game, I looked around a bit and decided to order seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I like their mission to preserve seed varieties, and there’s something special about heirloom varieties that you don’t find in most mass-produced produce.
All of my seeds arrived in under a week and came with a few free packets of bonus seeds. Thanks Baker Creek!
And that’s it. This is the plan I’ll work from this year. I’ll make gametime adjustments as needed, but I’m excited to get started!
