As urban or suburban homesteaders, we’re accustomed to making the most of limited space, creatively utilizing every nook and cranny to grow our own food. The thrill lies in thinking vertically, mastering succession planting, and maximizing yields from compact plots. In contrast, rural homesteaders may initially feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of their gardens. However, a wise approach is to start with a small, intensely managed garden before attempting to tackle a larger one.
Once you’ve honed your skills on a smaller scale, scaling up doesn’t necessarily require exponentially more effort. As you make this transition, consider these key factors.
Manage the Gardening Basics
Regardless of the size of your garden, establishing fundamental practices is crucial. For me, these essentials include securing a suitable location, shielding against pests and intruders, incorporating organic matter annually, utilizing organic fertilizers as needed, efficiently managing weeds, watering plants according to their needs, selecting flora tailored to environmental conditions and soil type, fostering pollinators, and recording observations to refine your approach.
While these gardening fundamentals remain applicable for both large and small gardens, some unique hurdles arise when applying them to a larger garden. You’ll need to adapt these principles to address the specific demands of a bigger space.
Planning for a Bigger Garden
Finding the perfect spot for a small garden is relatively straightforward. You simply look for a level area that gets plenty of sunlight and work with what you have, even if it’s not ideal. The size of the garden itself also plays a role – because smaller gardens require less effort to maintain, you can still achieve great results without too much hassle.
However, when it comes to larger gardens, things become much more complicated.
Without an optimal location, you could find yourself spending all your time hauling water and compost around, or even just trekking long distances to harvest your crops. These minor inconveniences can quickly add up and become major obstacles in your gardening journey.
Ideal Location
When designing a large garden, it’s crucial to choose an ideal location that considers multiple factors. First and foremost, consider accessibility – make sure your parking area is nearby to easily transport bulk amendments and supplies. A reliable water source should also be within arm’s reach, as consistent watering is essential for a thriving garden.
Furthermore, think about drainage solutions like terracing, retaining walls, or raised beds to prevent waterlogged soil and reduce maintenance headaches. Additionally, proximity to your potting shed, vegetable washing station, or root cellar can significantly streamline gardening tasks, reducing the need for excessive hauling and travel.
Protect Plants
When cultivating a large-scale garden, it’s not uncommon for unwanted visitors to take notice. Deer, rodents, and even curious dogs may be drawn to the lush foliage and succulent treats you’ve planted. To avoid unnecessary stress and potential damage to your crops, consider installing a sturdy fence or other deterrent at the onset of your gardening project. This proactive approach can save you from the hassle of dealing with pest control issues later on.
Multiple Entry Points
Having multiple entry points in a large garden can significantly reduce the time spent navigating its various sections. In my own garden, for instance, I’ve strategically placed entries at both the foot and mid-point, allowing me to effortlessly access different areas. This setup has also made it incredibly convenient for me to tend to my chicken run, as I can easily deliver scraps to my feathered friends and collect their manure for natural fertilizer.
Cross-Cutting Paths
When it comes to gardening, walking on soil is a common mistake that can have detrimental effects. Compacting the soil decreases air spaces, which in turn limits the amount of oxygen available to microorganisms essential for nutrient cycling and plant growth. To avoid this issue, consider creating dedicated pathways that allow you to access different areas without treading on the beds themselves.
For smaller gardens, simple intersecting paths can be an effective solution.
Larger gardens may require more detailed planning using graph paper to create a comprehensive layout. In both cases, it’s essential to ensure main paths are wide enough to accommodate wheelbarrows or other gardening tools. Footpaths, on the other hand, should be approximately the width of your average stride, taking into account individual variations in foot size and body shape.
As someone with larger feet and curvier hips, I find that 1-foot-wide pathways provide a comfortable and practical solution for navigating my garden.
Annual Soil Care
Once the foundation of your garden is established, maintaining healthy soil becomes a crucial aspect to ensure its long-term success. For smaller gardens, this may be as straightforward as manually applying a few bags of organic compost. However, for larger plots, relying solely on commercial products would not only be impractically expensive but also contribute to an unsustainable amount of waste, particularly in terms of plastic packaging.
Bulk Deliveries
Opting for bulk deliveries of essential gardening supplies can prove cost-effective and time-saving. In my experience, compost and mulch are the most common items I receive in large quantities to support my garden’s growth year-round. While it does require some elbow grease to load a wheelbarrow using a pitchfork and transport it to designated beds, proper planning of paths and gates can streamline this process, making it more manageable.
Cover Crops
When applying compost, timing is crucial. Ideally, you should do it during fall or winter, but this isn’t always feasible for planting most crops. To avoid a weed-filled spring, plant an annual cover crop immediately after composting. In my experience, Austrian peas, mustard, and red clover are ideal low-germination temperature options. Broadcast those seeds once the compost is in place, and consider covering beds with plastic to boost germination rates.
Even if it’s too cold for germination at first, I still sow the seeds, as these cover crops will establish a head start over weeds by late winter or early spring. Additionally, when using composted animal manure like cow or horse, there’s a high likelihood of perennial weed seeds being present. Cover crops effectively smother and prevent their germination until it’s time to plant your main crops.
When planting time arrives, simply till in the cover crops or better yet, pull them up and use them as mulch around young seedlings.
Organic Fertilizer
When you’re just starting out with a garden, it’s common to add significant amounts of compost to jumpstart soil health and drainage. However, as your soil evolves into loam, adding too much compost can cause issues like nutrient overloading, particularly with phosphorus and calcium. Instead, consider topping off beds with a thin layer of aged compost (about an inch) for stability and long-term soil health.
For specific plant nutrients, opt for smaller quantities of directed fertilizer, which is not only more budget-friendly but also requires less effort than adding excess compost. Once your soil has reached the loam stage, it’s a good idea to conduct a soil test to gauge levels of pH, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Note that most standard tests won’t accurately measure nitrogen levels, so you can simply add nitrogen-based fertilizers based on plant feeding habits.
To create personalized fertilizer blends for your specific plants, utilize our fertilizer calculator and avoid adding excess nutrients if your soil test reveals imbalances. For optimal results, stick to slow-release organic fertilizers like bonemeal or dried manures, which allow soil life to convert them into usable nutrients. These alternatives improve soil quality similarly to compost while skipping synthetic or salt-based options.
Watering Strategies
This ingenious drum is designed to self-fill from a nearby uphill irrigation pond, providing a convenient and efficient means of manual watering for my entire garden. Simply dipping into the reservoir with a watering can allows me to quickly tend to all my plants, ensuring they receive the right amount of hydration at the perfect time.
In reality, finding the ideal balance of rainfall is often an elusive goal.
Unless you’re fortunate enough to live in an area that consistently receives just the right amount of rain, exactly when your plants need it, a well-thought-out watering strategy will be essential for keeping your garden thriving.
Irrigation
While dry climates present unique challenges, investing in irrigation can be a game-changer. Drip irrigation may seem like an affordable option upfront, but high-quality, mulch-covered lines offer a more sustainable solution in the long run. Not only do they produce less waste and tend to be cheaper overall, but they also promote longevity. In large gardens, setting up and maintaining an irrigation system can be a monumental task.
By opting for systems that are designed to last at least 10 years, you’ll save time and energy in the long haul, making it a worthwhile investment.
Water Wise Plant Placement
I opt out of irrigation and instead utilize planting beds closest to my water source for cultivating thirsty plants. My shallow-rooted baby lettuces and high-water content cabbages and cucurbits thrive just a stone’s throw away from my water barrels, where they can effortlessly absorb the necessary moisture.
In contrast, deep-rooted or drought-tolerant plants like potatoes, tomatoes, beans, basil, and summer spinaches (Malabar and New Zealand) are planted at a greater distance from the water source, as their watering needs are relatively minimal. By strategically situating plants that demand frequent watering near your water supply, you can significantly minimize your watering workload.
Plant Like a Professional
While meticulous planning can simplify tasks like gardening care and watering, the most time-consuming aspect of maintaining a large garden is undoubtedly the initial process of planting numerous specimens to achieve full coverage.
Plant Nursery
When it comes to seed starting, you have a few options at your disposal. One approach is to directly plant your seeds into the ground, which requires frequent weeding and watering until they become established. However, this method can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Instead, consider using a nursery or starting area to care for your young seedlings. This can be as simple as setting up a wind-protected zone in your backyard or utilizing a greenhouse.
By containing all your seedlings in one spot, you can easily tend to hundreds of plants in just a few square feet. For some plant species, transplanting can be a stressful experience that stunts their growth. To mitigate this issue, start your seeds in soil blocks or cells filled with a mixture of soil and compost. Before the roots reach the edges of the soil area, transplant the entire block or cell into the garden bed.
The key to success is using the same planting medium for both starting and transplanting. If you’re using the square foot method, use the corresponding soil mix for seed starting. Alternatively, if you add a layer of compost to your garden soil, start your seeds in compost-based cells. When transplanting, consider doing so on a cloudy day to minimize shock. To further reduce stress, cover your new plantings with a floating row cover for a few days.
While some gardening experts advise against using garden soil for seed starting due to disease risks, this can be a viable option if you’re working with high-quality, organically managed soil.
Stocked Soil
Having a nursery on hand can greatly simplify the process of maintaining a large garden. By keeping a variety of plants ready to be planted at any given time, you’ll never have to worry about finding yourself with bare soil and no plan in place to revitalize it. This approach not only ensures that your soil is always healthy and weed-free, but also allows for a steady supply of fresh produce from your garden.
Simply put, something old can be pulled out, making room for something new to be planted – a simple yet effective strategy for keeping your garden thriving.
Garden Smart for the Longterm
To maximize your efficiency and productivity when tending to a sizeable garden, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind. By streamlining your workflow and optimizing your approach, you can minimize wasted time and energy, ultimately allowing you to tackle the tasks at hand with greater ease and precision.
Plant Right
While I appreciate giant ballhead cabbages, fava beans, and Brussels sprouts, they aren’t a good fit for my garden’s climate without significant extra effort. Instead, I focus on growing the tastiest options early on, while using fava beans as a cover crop to condition the soil for future crops. Occasionally, I’ll grow a small batch of winter Brussels sprouts in my greenhouse just for fun.
Ultimately, unless you’re willing to put in the time and work required to nurse plants that aren’t well-suited to your local climate and conditions, it’s better to choose varieties that thrive where you live. Seek advice from your local extension office, fellow gardeners, or consult regional guides to get inspired and find the right crops for your area.
Plan for Pollinators
When it comes to large-scale food production, a thriving pollinator population is essential. Without one, you’ll either be doing extensive hand-pollinating or facing reduced yields. Given the space, incorporating pollinator plots and formal habitats into your garden design can have a significant impact. These areas will not only provide a safe haven for pollinators to over-winter and raise their young, but also offer an added layer of protection against insect pests.
By prioritizing pollinators, you’ll concurrently reduce the time spent managing pest issues, creating a more harmonious and productive garden ecosystem.
Keep on Learning
Each year, my garden serves as a hands-on educator, imparting valuable lessons on effective care. Take, for instance, the experience with sunflowers. Planting them consecutively in the same bed taught me a crucial lesson about allelopathic plants. Since then, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the importance of rotation and diversification in my garden’s ecosystem.
By observing and recording your garden’s responses to different conditions and interventions, you’ll find that managing a large garden becomes increasingly straightforward. It’s a testament to the transformative power of experiential learning, where practical wisdom and insight are just as valuable as any theoretical knowledge.
