Gardening 101

Since one of us has already embarked on the journey of planting, I thought it would be helpful to see what detailed information we could collect about gardening. I found a few other blogs that have covered some points regarding beginnings and maintenance of a garden.



# 1 Garden planning

I'm not sure if we are all on the same page as to what we have envisioned for a space to plant. If I am not mistaken, judging from each of our perspectives that we relayed the day of the discussion, each of us has a different idea of how we are to bring change. I will attempt to focus mine on possibly reclaiming and rebuilding what is already built. Even though these are not points regarding planning a garden, I believe this is an important place to start. One of the points covered in Food 52 is that thinking ahead and foreseeing as far ahead as possible will benefit our efforts.


#2 Plotting the garden

After we have researched each necessary preparation, the next step would be finding a place to make this a reality. Tlayolohtli has had a head start in finding a location for a garden. As I'm more interested in urban gardening, I will continue to find ways to have a reliable garden in an urban setting. Another helpful resource is found again at  Food 52 as they discuss how to prepare the land on which to plant. It also covers anticipating for water, sun and wind; which are going to be a large dictating aspect for the future of the gardens.


#3 Mapping the garden

Of course the nature of site is going to dictate the orientation and shape along with what and how is planted. I like to think that efficiency can be achieved along with a nice place to walk through by the gardens. I can't help but imagine simple yet fragrant avenues that lead into sweet blooming flowers and herbs. This step will allow the creation of a plan of where the plants go, even in a small space. This is an important step not only to allow for there to be a map of which plant is where, but it would also allow for the planning of plant rotation. If gardening is going to be a long time commitment, this system will allow for the efficiency of soil use. It will prevent the garden from using up all of the nutrients and require fertilizers and other unnatural and expensive means to produce food. Again Food 52 has a detailed explanation.

#4 Composting

This may be an unusual step, but I thought, this is a good step to allow for compost to be available for future use. Why not start ahead while the seeds are germinating, which will take a few weeks at least. Composting is not a pleasant experience, as there are lots of funky smells involved.  After one adjusts to the natural phenomenon of things decomposing, it is actually liberating to compile foods and other natural substances that will come together to fuel the plants later. I found an in depth explanation and how to at Apartment Therapy 

#5 Seed starting

Now,there are many different ways to achieve the end goal of creating many small plants at the same time. I wanted to focus on a method that would incorporate the reusing or recycling of something. The main components necessary are warmth, light and moistness for the plant to comfortably germinate. The first one I found is on a foam tray, which allows for an indoor beginning and then a transfer to the earth as soon as the plants are ready; found at Food 52 along with tips. This could be a good way to start, because the gardener will have more control over the plants and their comfort as they begin to grow. This ensures a successful harvest preventing the seeds from dying from cold, too much moisture or malnutrition in the earth. The second method that I found was in egg shells. I was really impressed with this idea, as it allows for the shell of eggs to have other purpose than just to carry the egg. This is also continent as it the eggs come in a tray, which can be used to house the germinating seeds and stack multiple eggs and crates. Source: Apartment Therapy  

#6 Watering

Even though we are proposing for this movement to be applicable to any place or landscape, the big difference will be in the availability of resources. Water is the main challenge, as most places either do not have a dependable source or it is a resource that is not affordable due to droughts and such. I found tips on Gardners.com, that can be useful in determining what would be the necessary amount of water that the garden will need. After calculating this, the next step would be to find alternative methods by which to acquire water. There are many different ways to gather water and to store it, which will afford the possibility of planning ahead and being independent form the "grid". Some examples are grey water systems along with rain water collection tanks. 

#7 Maintenance

The next and obvious tip would be how to plant the seedlings, but I thought this was too easy of a step. I think a point that needs studying would be the maintenance of the garden as this will aid in yielding a far better harvest and better product. Food 52 has a detailed article on how this is done and what the best way is to expand and replant once the garden is set up.