Planning the Vegetable Garden, Part I

Now is the time to start imaging the garden for next year. What worked in the garden this year, and what didn't? Did you learn that no one in your house really likes turnips? Then either leave them out of the garden altogether, or perhaps try one of those new Japanese hybrids that promise to be as sweet as a melon. Didn't grow enough broccoli? Give it more room in next year's plan. Ran out of lettuce? Plan to plant successively, and intercrop with other things.

Then there are the longer term design issues. Maybe you'd like to create a shady sitting area from which to contemplate the garden while sipping a lemonade (I recommend it!). A potting area outside of the greenhouse, with a trellis for shade, could serve to harden off the seedlings you intend to start indoors in late winter. Now you can think bout what you want, and soon you can pull out some graph paper and start designing and mapping the garden.

The vegetable garden differs fundamentally from perennial, ornamental gardens, and requires an annual planning process. How you want your garden to function will determine what kind of layout you'll have. A well-laid-out garden means that everything is visible and easy to access.

Dahlia, the dedicated vegetable gardener at LQ, runs a tight ship. She and I were comparing notes one day about how we thought one should lay out the beds in the veggie garden. We'd already worked together for a couple of years at that point, and found we got along well. "Of course the beds should be permanent, so you don't have to redo them every year. And of course the beds should be double dug to work the soil deeply, but then never stepped on so that they don't get compacted. And they should be straight, so it's easy to use row covers and trellis systems. And so of course the paths should be wide and straight; four foot wide beds are exactly right." Several more "of courses" followed; we were in agreement on everything!

"You know," said I, "I learned vegetable gardening in Santa Cruz, where I lived on a small, 5 acre farm in town, which was owned by a disciple of Alan Chadwick (you can google him)." "The Farm on Ivy Lane??" asked Dahlia in disbelief. "So did I!" It turned out we had lived in the very same room at the Farm ten years apart. No wonder we agree so well! This little oasis was also where I met my husband, Steve. But his approach to planning a veggie garden is very different from mine, as you'll see in the next blog. Perhaps this is because at LQ we are trying to make a garden which works for the owner, the other residents, and for tours. That's what I meant when I said above "how you want your garden to function will determine the layout".

The beds in the LQ veggie garden are permanent, with established paths. They are carefully prepared each spring. Cover crops, sheet compost, and/or finished compost is dug in, then the beds are raked smooth. The beds are slightly raised, but because they are never stepped upon, the soil remains loose and friable, allowing easy penetration of rainwater running off the more compacted paths into the tiny air pockets in the soil of the beds.

At the entry of the veggie garden is an especially formal section we call the "potager" (POH-tah-zhay, which is just French for vegetable garden). In this area cut stone defines raised beds which form a symmetrical pattern in front of the greenhouse. Each bed is carefully planned for maximum of aesthetic delight, as well as for crop rotation and most desired crops.

As the plants grow, the two foot wide beds allow access to all parts of the garden. With the bed width set at four feet, it is easy to reach into the center of any bed from one side or the other. Mulch on the paths eliminates mud as a problem.

By contrast, the veggie garden at TP grows rather by topsy. There is a nice wide path down the center, but some beds become inaccessible as the season progresses and the plants grow. I find that sometimes I can't avoid stepping in a planting area to get to the plants behind it. Still, it's productive!

One of Mrs. B's delights is to always add a touch of whimsy to her gardens. Here a sculptural plant stand forms the centerpiece in a potager bed. Note the many edible flowers, such as Tagetes minuta, or "Tangerine Gem" marigold, which tastes like orange peel in a salad and adds color.

The LQ vegetable garden in high summer, with the corn tasseling, and flowers blooming all around. Flowers are not "just for pretty" in the veggie garden. They serve as alternate food sources for a wide range of predatory insects and pollinators.

Take some time to dream about the garden now. It's good to keep a journal throughout the growing season, tracking how the various varieties did, what problems you encounter, how the weather was. I'm not as good at this as I should be; I try to keep it in my head, which definitely has its limitations! Next year I hope to keep the garden journal as a part of this blog, which should help all of us!