Gardening tips! - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 11:43 AM

DH and I are going to be moving soon to a house that has a rather small side yard that wraps around to the front. I would like to do some gardening so that I can have my own pesticide-free produce!

Can anyone offer some advice on gardening in very small spaces? I have to leave room for my youngens to play, which makes this somewhat, no VERY challenging!

I would like to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, lettuce, etc. Has anyone ever grown veggies & fruits in movable planter boxes? I know that I can do that with my herbs in one of those huge urns with the multiple holes. Are there containers that you can grow larger produce in? And how much space do I actually need for different types of produce?

Fortunately, DH's best friend has a garden and whenever we visit, he fills a bag with fresh produce for me! But they live 45 minutes away! I want to grow my own!!!!!!

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 11:50 AM

Also, I want to get my 5 & 1 year old DD's involved. What do you recommend for making it child friendly as well?

Thanks everybody!

phantastica · 07-31-2006, 11:50 AM

I know you can grow tomatoes in a patio container. Green beans vine, so maybe they could grow up and take advantage of some vertical space? At my local farmers' market, I purchased a lettuce bowl ... it's a mixture of greens in a patio container and it looks like this:

Gardening is so great for kids!! They can easily pick cherry tomatoes, they see where food comes from, and it's an excellent way to get them wanting to eat vegetables.

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 11:53 AM

phantastica, that looks too cool! What type of greens are they? Salad greens? Now THAT would work for me! How big (diameter) is the bowl would you say?

Hey, if you didn't tell me it was food, I'd think it was just a beautiful plant!

phantastica · 07-31-2006, 11:58 AM

They're usually mixed salad greens. At the end of summer they get kind of big and a little bitter, but you can just pull them, replant some seeds, and have fresh young greens for the latter half of summer. (they grow quickly)

Mine is in that typical 18-inch or so shallow patio container, round.

srmb60 · 07-31-2006, 12:05 PM

Cucumbers will climb a trellis too. Radishes are easy and you can eat them by the time your green beans need more space.

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantastica

Gardening is so great for kids!! They can easily pick cherry tomatoes, they see where food comes from, and it's an excellent way to get them wanting to eat vegetables.

I couldn't have said it better myself! I just cut up an apple for their snack and my oldest daughter asked me for the seeds. She wants to plant them and grow an apple tree! When we move to a larger home with a larger yard, I'm going to let them pick out their own trees and plant them in our yard. Oh, and we'll NEVER move from that house...EVER!

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 12:12 PM

Thanks SusanB!

WaterRat · 07-31-2006, 01:17 PM

Hope, there are lots of books available for gardening in small spaces. You can grown most of what you mentioned in containers. We have a large garden and I'd love to share it with all of you - but things wouldn't be fresh by the time they got there!

I picked raspberries on Sat, as well as a zucchini and some lettuce. The peas are nearly ready (the edible pods are nearly done

) and the green beans have blossoms. We didn't plant broccoli or cabbage this year hoping to break the life cycle of the root maggots - ewwww - that eat them. We picked broccoli at the local U-Pick farm, and I'll just get cabbages as I need them. We also have carrots, beets and 3 kinds of potatos coming along, as well as tomatos and peppers in the greenhouse. Our neighbor gives us cucumbers, which DH loves, and I don't.

olivia627 · 07-31-2006, 04:55 PM

Pat, can I move to Alaska with you??? What an awesome garden you have!

Thanks for the info. I'll head to the bookstore in search of books on gardening in small spaces.

olivia627 · 08-01-2006, 11:47 PM

Okay, I lost my mind on Amazon! Got just a little carried away...

I bought:

Great Gardens for Kids
[Paperback]
By: Clare Matthews, Clive Nichols (Photographer)

Container Gardens: Fresh Ideas for Creating Beautiful Potted Gardens
[Paperback]
By: Better Homes and Gardens

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
[Paperback]
By: Sharon Lovejoy

McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
[Paperback]
By: Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey

Kids Container Gardening : Year-Round Projects for Inside and Out
[Paperback]
By: Cindy Krezel, Bruce Curtis (Photographer)

Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers: Using Ed's Amazing POTS System
[Paperback]
By: Edward C. Smith

I'm gonna be reading and gardening ALL summer and fall!

Jayde · 08-02-2006, 12:06 AM

Olivia (Hope)... which do you prefer?

You really have the garden bug! Wow.. Amazon needs more enthusiastic customers like you!

olivia627 · 08-02-2006, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayde

Olivia (Hope)... which do you prefer?

It doesn't matter...Hope is my name. Olivia is my oldest daughter's name.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayde

You really have the garden bug! Wow.. Amazon needs more enthusiastic customers like you!

I know! I tend to go overboard at times, especially when I buy books! I can spend hours and hours in a bookstore! I would have gone the library route, but I know that I'll want to keep these forever. My daughter is so excited about gardening, and I wanted to get books that would peak her interest and offer tons of creative gardening ides for kids. The books got great reviews, so we'll see!

With all of these books, I should win the award for Best Garden In The Neighborhood!