Need help planning raised bed lasagne garden

11 years ago

Let's see. I'm not a total beginner but I'm doing things very differently and in a larger scale than I ever have before.

I'm lasagne/no till gardening with the goal of putting frames around the raised beds to be able to use the beds for the next few years. We are blocking out the space with cardboard and lot of compost to get an idea for how much space I really have, but I've come to to the conclusion that I' doing it backwards.

See, I think that ideally the order SHOULD be to daydream about the plants over the winter, then decide how many of each I can use, then make up a map to decide where it goes. That way when it's April, I know what I need to do.

Unfortunately, I moved 4/1 so none of that good stuff happened. No daydreaming and poring over web sites and catalogues, no rearranging floor plans in my head, no prep work. My husband is helping me to create the beds, but I haven't a clue how many square feet I need!!!

So far, we've blocked out two beds that are about 3' x 20' plus 18" x 6' for the 5 and 8 year olds. The 12 year old hasn't decided for sure but will likely get one right next to theirs (it's all very parallel and anal) and I have no idea what the teenager wants.

But if I don't know how many plants I NEED, I'm not sure where to go from there. I can tell you how much food we need, but not how to convert that into numbers of plants. I have two adults, two teenagers/tweens, two young kids.

I don't have the space to do heavy duty seed starting but I can do some in paper towels .

I'm really tired. I'm sure it's half coherent and missing bits. My apologies!
Sandra

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Comments (3)

SandraMort
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm also concerned about cross pollination between sweet and hot peppers, melons and cukes, all of the different tomatoes etc. Hwo much distance do I need to avodi that?
Raw_Nature
11 years ago
Hey Sandra,

First an foremost, i feel for you, I was in your same shoes, just moved in my house a few years ago.. It's tough and very mind tiring, but hang in there, the fruits of your labor is well worth it.. Just teaching the kiddos, and spending time with them is priceless!

You mentioned no till lasanga gardening.. I do no till and It works very very well! Some will tell you it's hogwash, and every situation calls for offstage measures, which is true, but you can almost always do a small garden no till without to many problems.. I think your off to a good start right there my friend!

Don't worry about not planning ahead to much, you still have a few weeks to plan.. You can almost plan to much! Trust me, I'm a perfectionist and I get so carried away in plant spacing for maximum yield,etc, i let the whole growing season go by.. It's better off just putting plants in and learning as it progresses, instead of not growing anything at all..

Your concerned about cross pollination.. I assume your growing heirlooms and trying to save seed.. You really don't have to much to worry about for cross pollination.. Just bag the flowers before they open to ensure isolation of pollen...

I do something very similar tonkasanga gardening, but I don't actually layer it up to compost, I actually unfinished compost, then just some mulch..

Here's what I do,

-cardboard the grass
-pile compost/soil on the cardboard
-mulch
-plant

Don't get to overwhelmed, worst comes timeless just throw some seeds down, any gardens better than none! Please, take it easy, you probably got enough work with the new house.. Don't worry to much... Gardening should be a fun hobby, not a chore.

Joe
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You don't need to wait until another house to make a better raised bed garden. Once you know your mistakes or even if not mistakes, but you know what you want to do better, plan it out and add it to your list of garden to-dos. (I just re-read that you have some HOA but I would guess your next garden plans still fit into what they allow you to do). Some varieties of squash get really large. Even just one plant can cover several tens of feet horizontally or vertically. Check the sizes on all your plants. It also sounds like you might like reading about square foot gardening. It doesn't have to be implemented this year, since you already have your plans set out, but you can consider it for next time. It's also a lot of gardening info to digest so read it and get a grasp on it before changing at a whim. There are alternatives to growing potatoes, though in a bed is OK too. It's not too late for starting them in your area. Asparagus can pretty much remain in that bed forever, so consider that you'll probably never plant anything else there if you don't get rid of the asparagus. For your extra beds as well as different places along your beds and yard, you may also want to have plants which attract pollinators, or plants which may help attract destructive bugs. For that, companion planting might be something to try also.
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gardenlen
11 years ago
don't know what can be done about whatever cross pollination may occur all i can suggest is grow only 1 variety of water melon, rock melon and pumpkin, same with tomatoes never hard of capsicums and chillies X-ing but anything is possible.

to stop X-pollination you might need as much as 4 kilometer barrier, so maybe just buy new seeds each season?

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens bale garden

Need help planning raised bed lasagne garden

Comments (3)

SandraMort
Original Author

Raw_Nature

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Need help planning raised bed lasagne garden

Comments (3)

SandraMortOriginal Author

Raw_Nature

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SandraMort
Original Author