This chapter contains an assortment of garden plans to suit the different needs of different gardeners.
Planning your first organic garden may be a little tricky, but in time and with experience truly good gardeners get to know plants’ likes and dislikes (which may sometimes vary in different localities), and they can spot just the place in their garden for any plant where it will do best.
Where it is at all possible, try to use double-purpose plants — those that are both decorative and sources of food, or those that are protective of other plants — in your garden.
Planning your garden on paper is one of the best ways to achieve success. Use large sheets ruled off into squares, using a scale of 2 feet to the inch. Draw large plants the size they will be at maturity. Locate existing features, such as trees, shrubs, hedges, buildings, and paths. This is important, as they may shade the garden during certain hours of the day. Mark off north and south on your plan. Then add each item you want in your garden, considering them in their order of importance to you and your family and the space and time you can give to them.
For your vegetable garden, plan on using and replacing early vegetables with those that do well in spring and summer. In turn these will be replaced with cool-season vegetables for the fall.
Keep records, for you will probably want to change your plan from season to season, including some new vegetables or different varieties and discarding others that may not have done well. Note how well certain plants did on certain sites, the effect of their form and color, and the rotation of your crops. Rotation is very important in garden plots that are planted year after year.
The heavy feeders (those that need generous fertilizing, including corn, tomatoes, cabbage, and other brassicas) should be followed by legumes to help the soil recover from the demands of the heavy feeders, especially in poorer soils. In a live humus soil legumes may go in third place if desired. The last group are the light feeders, which include root vegetables, bulbs, herbs, and protective flowers such as marigolds and nasturtiums.
For the serious gardener a complete record of space used and treated in a vegetable garden is an invaluable aid in planning the next year’s garden. It is not enough to place the high vegetables to the north, the corn in blocks, and the asparagus where the tractor will not run it down. A map showing the pH factor in various garden areas should be made and kept up-to-date. Application dates of slowly available materials, such as rock phosphates, should be recorded. With such, you can make a long-range plan of your garden that will serve you well in future years.
Few garden projects are more fun to experiment with than companion planting. Good plant neighbors are those that occupy different soil levels, like beets and kohlrabi, or that find in each other’s company the light requirements that best suit them. An example of this is the compatibility of celery and leek: The upright leek finds room near the bushy celery plant. Other compatible combinations are cabbage and beans, beets and onions, cucumbers and sweet corn, carrots and peas, cucumbers and beans, early potatoes and corn, early potatoes and horseradish, tomatoes and parsley. Asparagus beetles are repelled by tomatoes growing nearby. To repel the cabbage maggot, plant mint, tomato, rosemary, or sage in the next row. Radish will grow extra well and especially tender near lettuce.
On the other hand, avoid the incompatible combinations such as sunflowers and potatoes, tomatoes and fennel, tomatoes and kohlrabi, pole beans and beets, pole beans and kohlrabi. Note, however, that localities and seasons also seem to affect “companions.” More than one gardener has gleefully told me she planted onions with peas or beans and had a wonderful crop of both.
We are sometimes surprised when we go out into our garden in the morning to find that the bugs have held a candlelight ceremony and arrived overnight. Timing can discourage these unwelcome guests. I find fall-planted squash is entirely free of squash bugs. Onions around spring-planted squash help to keep insects away. Aromatic herbs as border plants are very helpful to the garden.
In the drawing opposite you see a model companion garden very much like my own (though smaller). Walkways around the fence inside make it easy to use a tiller. Note, too, how a protective fence is used for such climbing plants as beans, cucumbers, peas, and grapes.
Flowers add beauty to the garden but are chosen as well for their beneficial influences on crop vegetables and fruits. Note vegetable interplantings, too, in most of the rows. Perennials such as asparagus and horseradish are placed at the outsides to make tilling of the full garden easier.
The primary object of the weekend garden is to get the “mostes’ result with the leastes’ effort.” Remember that garden space may also be saved by doubling rows of narrow-growing crops. Thus, onions, which take only as much space as the diameter of the bulb, may be grown in double rows 6 inches apart. Mulch may be arranged between the two rows, when the plants are large enough, to cut down the amount of hand-weeding, if necessary. Carrots, beets, parsnips, and turnips may be handled in the same way. Cos or Romaine lettuce, which grows elegantly tall, is also a space saver and may be grown close together. Bush varieties of squash and cucumbers and beans also take less space.
Annual vegetables that like sole possession of their garden space for the entire summer include lima beans, Swiss chard, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, onions, parsley, parsnips, peppers, sweet potatoes, late white potatoes, salsify, squash — both summer and winter — New Zealand spinach (grows well in hot weather), and tomatoes.
Just because you are a weekend gardener doesn’t mean that you cannot enjoy some of the perennial vegetables as well, if you are willing to plan for them and give them their own space. Asparagus, chives, horseradish, perennial onions, rhubarb, perennial herbs, and berries are possible, and most of these can stand a certain amount of benign neglect. They must, of course, be located where power tillage or cultivating tools will not be inconvenienced by them. Usually it’s best to give them a plot of their own, removed from the rest of the garden.
Study your garden catalogs for small, space-saving varieties, even dwarf vegetables, as well as for early, midseason, and late varieties. If you have a gardening friend or neighbor, consult him as to the best varieties for growing in your area. Don’t be shy — gardeners just love to give advice!
If your schedule allows you to garden only one or two days per week, here are some tips.
• Plan a small garden the first year.
• Prepare your garden soil in the previous fall, incorporating compost.
• Grow the vegetables your family likes best — choosing varieties that produce well in your area.
• Interplant some companion plants in each row.
• Plan for a watering system with a timer for use when rainfall is insufficient. Use a soaker hose in the garden.
• Harvest often to keep plants producing (peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, okra, for example).
• Pull spent plants and replace with warm-weather plants either started indoors or purchased.
• As the season advances, start a fall garden in the shade of cornstalks, etc., and pull when young plants are well started.
• Mulch plants to cut down on weeding. Plow in mulch in the late fall as preparation for early-spring planting.
Whether the postage stamp garden is tucked away in the corner of a city backyard or blossoms in the rarefied atmosphere of a penthouse far above the traffic of the streets, it can bring the same rewards and satisfaction to its creator as a larger one of more impressive proportions. The small backyard garden on the ground may be cared for much the same as a larger garden would be and with good soil, water, and sufficient sunlight may be expected to have much the same degree of success.
But city gardening in high places is different from that in a city backyard. High above the street, dust and fumes may not be troublesome but there are other problems to deal with — excessive winds and beating sun. A certain amount of experimentation as to the placement of the garden will best determine the location most likely to be successful.
Because the roots of the plants are confined to limited quarters in their box or boxes, the soil must be prepared with care. It should be composed of sandy loam (topsoil), humus, and peat moss. Fertilizers such as decomposed manure and bonemeal should be mixed in the soil. Good drainage is essential.
Plants can be protected from high winds by windbreaks of various kinds, such as a fence of cedar saplings, a perpendicular board fence, or one of close basketweave. For a more decorative effect, use a screen of plate glass, glass brick, or other interesting material.
Plant as many started plants as possible, such as tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), onions, and herbs. Okra transplants well, so you might try growing a number of plants in a pot, setting them in when they are larger where you want them to grow. Yellow squash and zucchini can be grown in peat pots and handled the same way. All of these plants do well in sunshine if given wind protection. Avoid lettuce and other shade-loving plants. But you might like to tuck in here and there a few sun-loving flowers such as marigolds and nasturtiums, which can also do double duty as protection from insects. Yes, you may be surprised at the number and variety that will find their way to your garden! Some, serving as pollinators, are not all bad.
A roof garden may not be as easy as one on the ground but can be a lot of fun to plan, plant, and care for. To the confirmed gardener, having this miniature plot means not just having fresh vegetables for your table but also the joy and satisfaction of “growing your own.” For the city dweller a “garden in the sky” may be just the stuff that dreams are made of.
Tips for Roof Gardening
Soil. Use a good, friable loam. Fertilize with dried manure. Be sure the roof is strong enough to support a box or boxes. It’s advisable to check with a structural engineer.
Mulch. A mulch will help prevent sudden drying out of the soil from wind and sun. Use peat moss, decomposed manure, leafmold, or black plastic.
Vegetables. With full sun, good soil, and boxes about 8 inches deep, you can grow broccoli, parsley, radishes, bush beans, endive, onions (from sets), New Zealand spinach, Swiss chard, small-size tomatoes, and shortrooted carrots and beets. Cage peppers, standard-size tomatoes, and bush squash for wind protection.
Herbs. Herbs are a good choice for shallow boxes usually used on a roof. Try thyme, chives, parsley, mint, sage, and basil.
Flowers. Marigolds, zinnias, ageratum, petunias, calendulas, sweet alyssum, lobelia, portulaca, celosia, iberis, forget-me-not, salvia, coreopsis, aster, and scabiosa are all good choices. Many now come in dwarf varieties.
Boxes. Boxes should be deep enough to hold 8 to 12 inches of soil. Make them as wide as you wish or your space will accommodate. Provide drainage holes in the bottom of each box. Paint the insides with asphaltum, or other wood-preserving compound, and the outside with several coats of quality outdoor paint. Dark green is a good color. Cypress or redwood has good durability.
Vines. Vines are possible if the wind is not too strong. An arbor over part of the roof would make a good vine support and also supply some shade and shelter. Try ivy, honeysuckle, or morning glories.
Why have a culinary herb garden adjacent to your kitchen door? For the simple reason of convenience and quick accessibility. Whether you are a busy houseperson or a busy businessperson, you want to give your family the most inviting and taste-tempting meals you can prepare in the shortest possible time. Those of us who cook with herbs and delight in their flavor, fragrance, and freshness find this small kitchen garden a little luxury that is pleasurable, affordable, and easily obtainable, well worth the small amount of time its maintenance requires.
Most herbs originated in rather dry, often rocky soil and do best in soil that is lightly fertilized. Most herbs like sunlight, though some will do equally well in shade. And fresh herbs add that certain something hard to achieve with dried.
Basil. You haven’t really lived until you have tasted fresh basil with tomatoes. This sweet, wondrous-smelling plant is at its very best when used fresh. Pesto is that delicious Italian sauce made with fresh basil pounded with olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Use it on spaghetti or green noodles, spread on toasted bread, or on vegetables and in salads.
Fresh bay leaves make up the ubiquitous bouquet garni that is used in many meat and vegetable dishes, noodle dishes, condiments and soups.
Thyme. Jeanne Rose, in Herbal Guide to Food, describes the thyme as a little plant with a big flavor. It is available in an incredible range of scents and flavors from nutmeg, caraway, mint, pine, and pepper to lemon, citronella, and many more. Thyme is delicious in stuffings and salads, on vegetables such as beans, onions, and tomatoes, and in herb butter and breads. Try out several varieties and surprise family or guests with unusual flavors.
Mint in its variations can liven up many things besides that timehonored southern favorite, mint julep, usually flavored with spearmint or peppermint. White mint is especially useful in jellies or with lamb. Apple mint can be used to scent and flavor salads. Pineapple mint, ginger mint, and peppermint can be used in teas. Mints are good in breads and stuffings, with vegetables, in soups, or with eggs, meats, or game. Many sauces can be given a delightfully tangy flavor with the use of various mints.
Marjoram is indispensable in French cooking. It is used as a garnish, in soups, salads, eggs, cheese, vegetables, meat or poultry, stuffings, pasta, breads, and drinks.
Parsley. I need not dwell on the uses of parsley as it is so well known and universally used, so pretty and reliable in the herb garden. Just remember that it is an extremely rich source of minerals and vitamins as well, including vitamins A and C.
Chervil is another herb essential to French cooking, and one that we need to show more respect. Try seasoning peeled avocados with olive oil, pepper, lemon juice, and a really generous dose of chopped chervil. Or use it generously sprinkled over cold cream soups, fresh green salads, carrots, or potatoes.
French tarragon. You can achieve herb happiness in your culinary art with French tarragon, often called the king of culinary herbs. Its tart, somewhat sweet licorice taste adds excitement to béarnaise or hollandaise sauce. Jeanne Rose suggests basting a roasting chicken with tarragon-mushroom butter. (See Suggested Reading.)
Sage, an old kitchen favorite, is used to counteract the greasiness of fatty meats. It is used in stuffings of goose, duck, turkey, and chicken, and it is also good with rabbit, eggs, cheeses, beans, onions, and tomatoes.
Summer savory is good chopped into salads or with baked fish or roasted pork.
Rosemary is one of the most important herbs. Even the flowers are put into salads, and the herb is used for everything from garnishes to desserts and jellies.
To those accustomed to using only dried herbs, the truly fresh ones from your own kitchen garden will open up a whole new world of epicurean excitement.
A little yard where children can play and have their own garden should be located where soil, sun, and drainage conditions are good — preferably in the service area where it can be watched from the house.
Water should be available nearby. Part of the playhouse may be used as a storage area.
Plant trees and shrubs that do not bear unwanted fruit for children to nibble on, fall on, or track into the house.
Plant a grass that can “take it,” such as bluegrass, fescue, or Bermuda.
Use concrete or asphalt to build a “drag strip” for riding toys — making wide places for “turn-out stations.”
Use chain-link fence or a similar type with clear visibility.
Floodlights, mounted on adjacent buildings or in trees or on a high pole, can add hours of evening playtime.
Buy started plants for the kids’ garden, varieties that are quick and easy to grow, or prolific producers such as squash. If the child is old enough to help tend the garden, be lavish with praise when something of his or hers is brought to the table.
A “no-stoop garden” is the nicest kind! Here are some suggestions to make a convenient garden for an older or disabled person.
• Box (or boxes) should be of a height easily reached by the individual.
• Boxes can be any length but should be just wide enough to be easily reached from either side.
• Box should be sturdy enough to support gardener, if using cane, walker, or wheelchair — also sturdy enough for soil when wet.
• Elevating an area improves drainage. Holes should be bored in the bottom of the box and in the pan underneath the box.
• Use a watering can with a comfortable handle and detachable sprinkler head. Try using a spray wand.
• For a larger garden you may want an overhead spray arrangement. For spot watering, use ice cubes; they’ll melt slowly with little drip. Set a plant or two beneath the drip.
• Cover holes with copper screening to prevent plugging up.
• What will you grow? Just about anything you want to. Have planter boxes of different depths.
• Harvest often and keep a “floating crop game” going, quickly reseeding harvested plants.
Choose your tools carefully and buy good quality. You will not need a garden tractor but at the very least you should have a digging tool, a clipping tool, and a cultivator tool. Kathleen Yeomans, writing in The Able Gardener, suggests that you “test-drive” before you buy. “Lift them,” she says, “and manipulate the tool from the position in which you will be using it. Whether you stand, stoop, or sit to garden will determine the handle length you require. If you expect to be sitting while you garden, sit down and go through the motions of using the tool.” Buy tools that fit your hand comfortably, especially if you have unusually small or extra-large hands. A tool that seems heavy in the store will feel twice as heavy when you are working with it in your garden.
Your little garden can be caught in a late freeze just like a big one. Have some type of hot cap handy to protect tender plants. In a pinch use grocery bags, weighted down with stones or clods. Remove them during the day if the weather is warm.
Keep a sharp eye out for insects that may suddenly discover your garden, often overnight, if they are in the immediate neighborhood. Seeing them almost eye to eye in the elevated garden makes them easy to spot and you can quickly take care of the problem. Just be sure they are “enemies” and not beneficial kinds.
Give careful thought to the location of your elevated garden. Will it receive full sunlight for at least six hours of the day? Will a large tree shade it morning or afternoon? Does it have protection from the wind? And is it located convenient to your degree of disability, if you garden from a wheelchair, standing with a cane, or using a walker?
And I urge you most sincerely not to let yourself get too tired. This is supposed to be fun, but sometimes we get carried away and just want to keep going. Take it from me, for I, too, am an “able disabled” gardener with weak hands, small strength, and painful arthritis.
Group 1:Plant seeds of these vegetables in large containers (bushel baskets or 5-gallon buckets). They need full sunlight and warm weather. These vegetables should be planted outdoors when it is warm and the danger of frost is past. You can start tomato and pepper plants indoors six to ten weeks early, then move them outdoors at the proper time for earlier harvest.
Group 2: These vegetables can be grown in pots 6 to 10 inches. They can withstand a little shade and do well in cool weather. Plantings should be made when it is warm and all danger of frost is past.
Don’t plant onion seed. Use dry sets or green plants, or use an onion from the kitchen that has sprouted; usually it will divide itself into several plants.
Life can be very lonely for the elderly, housebound, or disabled. But how they can enjoy butterflies! Julia Percival and Pixie Burger give us a suggestion in their book Household Ecology. “Often you can persuade butterflies to settle and feed on a sunny windowsill if offered the right confection. This confection is simple. Half a teaspoon of honey and half a teaspoon of sugar mixed in a cup of warm water will make an adequate butterfly nectar.
“To make a feeder use a saucer and a wad of cotton. Butterflies taste through their feet, so they need an island of cotton in the middle of the nectar sea. The cotton will absorb the honey-water so that the butterfly, when it lands on the cotton, will taste the food through its feet and then it will stand on the island and lower its rolled tongue and suck the nectar up.”
When our ancestors first happened on the formulas for making wine and beer, it was considered a tremendous boon from the gods. Alcohol was supposed to have an in-dwelling spirit adopted from the life of the fruit and plants from which it was made. Hence the origin of our modern term “spirits” for such drinks.
Beers, wines, brandies, cordials, bitters, and whiskeys can all be made from the herbs, fruits, grains, vegetables, and trees in your garden. (See the plan on pages 202–203.)
Trees
Persimmon, wine
Sassafras, root beer
Peach, wine, brandy; washed
peelings plus a few stones
can be used to make brandy
Pear, wine
Fir; Native Americans used
the young treetops to make
a beer said to prevent
scurvy
Plum, wine
Lime, wine additive
Lemon, wine additive
Orange, wine
Apple, wine, cider
Cherry, wine, cordial
Elderberry, wine
Birch, beer
Vines
Hop vine, beer
Honeysuckle, wine
Grape, wine
Vegetables (fully mature)
Parsnips
Potatoes
Beets
Carrots
Turnips
Rhubarb
Pumpkin
Hard-shelled winter squash
Herbs
Anise, used to flavor liqueurs
Wintergreen, wine
Ground ivy, bitters
Sage, wine
Maguey (Agave species), tequila
Nettle, beer
Flowers
Daisy, flower heads, wine
Dandelion, flower heads, wine
Roses, petals
Clover, flower heads, wine
Berries
Blackberry, wine, cordial
Raspberry, wine
Cranberry, wine
Strawberry, wine
Boysenberry, wine
Dewberry, wine
Various hybrids
Weeds
Barberry, wine
Burdock, beer, bitters
Red currant, wine
Black currant, wine
Gooseberry, wine
Wild grape, wine
Wild hops, beer, ale
Juniper, beer
Red mulberry, wine
Shadbush (Juneberry, serviceberry), wine
Wild strawberry, wine
Beverage Additives
Lemon, sangria blanca
Lime, margarita
Orange, tequila sunrise
Pineapple, piña colada
Tomato, sangria
Jalapeño chile, sangria
Onion, sangria
Coconut milk, piña colada
Mint — sprigs to mint julep
Whiskey
Corn, chief ingredient of
Bourbon whiskey
Rye whiskey, rye is chief
ingredient
Barley malt, Irish whiskey
Barley malt, Scotch whiskey
Hundreds of effective aphrodisiacs have been discovered over the centuries. Many can achieve amazing results. Virility can be sustained, preserved, and even recaptured with specially selected herbs and foods.
Many herbs have proved effective as aphrodisiacs through the ages. They include basil, chervil, chives, mint, parsley, sage, tarragon, thyme, and garlic.
Soup, meat, fish, and desserts featuring the aphrodisiacs grown in your own garden can become powerful sexual stimulants. Suburbanites, with a small plot of land behind their house, can supply themselves with aphrodisiacs in abundance, but what of apartment dwellers who have no scope whatever for ordinary gardening? Must they be penalized because they have chosen (or been forced by circumstances) to occupy part of a building that is surrounded, not with the good earth, but with concrete, asphalt, or paving stones? Are they to be deprived of the pleasure and satisfaction of growing their own “contributory crops”?
Fortunately, the answer to these questions is “No,” an emphatic “No!” Experiments have shown that a great deal can be achieved in that very small garden — the window box. While such small-scale gardeners cannot expect to produce the same quantity and variety as the owner of 600 square yards, neither do they need to. They can provide themselves with a surprisingly large number of herbs and vegetables of a stimulating nature, quite often sufficient to their needs.
Assuming that the apartment has a living room, bedroom, and kitchen, and that each has an average-sized window, each window box can accommodate a reasonable selection of plants. In fact, even one window box can grow a succession of herbal or vegetable plants, if you change them from time to time.
Chives can be grown from seeds. The chopped leaves give a distinctive flavor to salads and a pleasing, tangy taste to soups and egg dishes. A bit milder than onions, they improve chicken and shrimp dishes. Chicken broth with chives, yolk of eggs, and powdered almonds makes an invigorating nightcap.
Garlic as an aphrodisiac is second to none. The trouble with garlic is its powerful odor. If a garlic-flavored dish is prepared, it should be shared.
Mint, on the other hand, has a delightful fragrance. It is a powerful amatory aid and can be said to stimulate the appetite. A meal of lamb, new potatoes, and peas can be deliciously enlivened with a mint sauce, doing something more than satisfying hunger. Even boiled cabbage sprinkled with this herb may leave one in “mint” condition.
Parsley. The aphrodisiac properties of parsley were appreciated by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Parsley is just chock-full of vitamin E. Parsley is more than just a pretty face; use it lavishly as a stimulating addition to boiled chicken and omelettes.
Thyme. That oldest and most attractive of kitchen herbs, thyme, can be grown either from seed or by root division. As an aphrodisiac it crops up with almost monotonous regularity in world literature. Far, far back in time it was found invigorating by the Egyptians. John Gerard in his Herball, written in 1633, praises it; and Benedictine monks still use it as an ingredient in their liqueurs. Use discreetly, for a little goes a long way, and it tends to kill other and more subtle flavors.
Vegetables. While some apartment dwellers may choose to concentrate on herbs and fill their window boxes with only basil, tarragon, fennel, rosemary, lavender, and so on, others might prefer to add a few stimulating vegetables such as radishes, dwarf carrots, spinach, peas, and beans, all of which have been shown to be “contributory crops.”
Cress. Another possibility is cress, the aphrodisiac properties of which have been recognized for thousands of years.
Oysters. If you like raw oysters, fine; if not, try them in a creamy stew with parsley, celery, and mushrooms.
Three garden plans for window boxes
Construction of Box
Measure window ledge. Box should be a few inches shorter in length than the window ledge of the same width and no more than 6 inches high. Use well-seasoned lumber, oak if possible. Spray interior with paraffin and apply match. Let surface oil burn off and then extinguish flame by turning box upside down. Paint outside of box. Color should harmonize with surroundings. Bore half-inch hole at five or six intervals in bottom of box for drainage and aeration. Nail small wedges of wood on base of box to keep box level and clear of the sill. Wedges should be high enough so shallow tray may be pushed under box to catch surplus water. In ends of box, screw metal hooks that will fit into wall staples and hold box securely in position.
In bottom of box put a layer of broken crocks or oyster shells to cover drainage holes. Second layer should consist of dead leaves, decayed turfs, and straw. Over this put good loam, filling box to within an inch of top. A bushel of soil is usually ample.
Invest in a small-spouted can for watering. Foil placed behind box will reflect sunlight most herbs need.
