Plant a compact vegetable garden
By David BrooksFrom the September 2008 issue of Boys' Life magazine
What makes this compact garden so productive is that you will be placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows. You can continue to plant as you harvest.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Hammer
- Saw
- Shovel
- Wire cutters
- Tape measure
- 4 4-foot 2-by-4’s
- 16d galvanized nails
- 2 6-foot 2-by-4’s
- 4-foot 2-by-4
- 49 feet of 12-gauge galvanized wire, cut into 7 7-foot lengths
- 8d galvanized nails
- About 1/2 cubic yard or 14 cubic feet of good garden soil
- A sunny spot for your garden
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Frame
1. Using the 2-by-10’s and 16d nails, hammer together a 4-foot square.
Trellis
2. Nail the 6-foot 2-by-4’s to the back of the frame.
3. Nail the 4-foot 2-by-4 across the back of the uprights.
4. Attach the 7 wires on the back of the trellis by wrapping wires around nails.
Planting
Fill the frame with good garden soil. Divide it into 16 squares. The smaller the mature plant, the more you can plant in each square.
A Helpful Garden
Nail 5/8-inch or heavier exterior plywood to the bottom of the frame and lift the frame to table height by placing it on sturdy saw horses or legs. Once filled with soil, it will be easily accessible to a person in a wheelchair or someone who is more comfortable sitting than kneeling.
amazing small space with lots of possibilities
This reminds me of the Square Foot Gardening method. If you look up that book, go for the revised version called “The All New Square Foot Garden”…or somtihng like that.
awsome i will try this
I’m going to try this.
Awsome
i think its a good idea
Thanks metallica! That’s a realy cool idea, I am going to try that with an apply and orange tree.
Go Green!! This thing is awesome!
I will try this!! Do I need to have drainage holes in the bottom of it? I will put it on sawhorses or legs.
This also works really well in a larger area if you have one
For a larger scale of this principle check out the book “How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine” from your local Library. If you want to start a VERY productive produce garden in a relatively small area, this is the book to have!!!
I will try this
great it will help prepare for the garden.
another good way to get a bunch of fruit in one area is makeing a tree with branches that produce diffrent fruit. Its done by tieing the end of branches together for a few months and they will all make one tree. My Uncle Planted one of these and it produced apples, pears, and peaches. Real Cool
you can also hang window box flowerpots on the sides with marigolds in them to keep out rabbits and other small critters.
Cool!!!