Container Gardens

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From my previous posts, you may know that we live in a small town with a very small yard, but garden a very large garden on a friends farm around fifteen minutes drive from our house. A move to our own farm would be several years away at the earliest and I am looking for ways to grow more right here at home. Our neighbors have expressed interest in a privacy fence along one side of our yard. (Which is okay by me) I am interested in somehow incorporating containers on my side to make it more productive with food producing vegetation. I know there are many gardening books out there that address this issue and I plan on researching it thoroughly. (we won't be putting up the fence until next spring) I have time to plan carefully. I was hoping to get input from all you knowledgable people. The fence line runs approximately 30 feet turns at a 90 degree angle and I have approx. 20 more feet. Part of this area will be in the shade. I am interested especially in trellising as a way to have higher produce. Our children play in the yard so I am not ready to dig it up and take away their play space. This would be strictly perimeter gardening. Also, there is a big tree in the center that is too good to give up. Eventually we'll try to replace our trees with dwarf fruits, but that will be a long way off. Any book suggestions or experience on what crops you have had succes with would be appreciated. One more thing...I live in southern Kentucky. I'm not sure what zone. Thanks!

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), May 02, 2000

Answers

Jenifer, I have hundreds of garden books--but since the internet I have gotten lazy & when I want an answer without going through my books I go to web sites. Some of my favorite web sites are: garden.com -- allag.com -- blossomsandbloomers.com --hitbox.com (this has lists of top garden web sites). My personal passion are herbs, along with veggies--as I'm a vegetarain. It depends a lot on what your family likes! These web pages have all the help you could ever want. Have fun & enjoy!!! Half the fun is the planning!! Enjoy -- Sonda in Ks. (P.S. garden.com will tell ya exactaly what zone you are in & answer any question--if they don't have the answer you want try another web page)

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 02, 2000.

Checked out the sites...great places to start. I'm in Zone 6 within 100 miles of Zone 7.

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), May 02, 2000.

dwarf fruit trees grow great in containers, I had three[ one peach and two apples] in containers [the peach was in a container for 10 years]and when we moved here i put them in the ground and they are doing great.Once out of containers they tripled there yeilds.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), May 02, 2000.

If you can find a copy of John Seymour's Self- Sufficient Gardener, you will find instructions for espaliered fruit trees. This is a method of pruning/training the trees to grow up along a fence or wall. It is very beautiful and productive. Do check this method out! You may be able to find instructions in an English gardening book as well.

-- Jean (N IL) (schiszik@tbcnet.com), May 02, 2000.

Hi Jennifer: I used to garden a lot in containers when I didn't have the space for a garden. Tomatoes will do well as will peppers and you can plant lettuce around their base as the foliage will provide shade and protect it from the heat. Cucumbers and squash can be tied to the fence you mentioned or trellised to conserve space.

Strips of cloth are good for tieing crops as it won't cut like twine. Nearly anything can be used for containers as long as it will hold soil and has drainage capabilities. I used a lot of discarded 5 gallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. I think containers do dry out quick so they require almost daily watering in hot weather and I fed them frequently.

I also grew potatoes once in a wooden frame filled with straw. Made the frame (4'W x 6'L) from pieces of 2"x10" boards then put down damp straw about 6 inches thick and put the seed potatoes on it and covered with another 4 inches of damp straw. After they began growing I added more straw always leaving part of the foliage exposed. When I needed more height I added another frame of boards and more straw. When I harvested the potatoes were nice and clean and all you had to do was remove the straw and lift off the top frame. Good luck

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), May 03, 2000.



Marci, What kind of yield did you get from your potato patch?

-- Jennifer (KY) (acornfork@hotmail.com), May 05, 2000.

"John Seymour's Self- Sufficient Gardener", thanks for recommending this book, kind of hard to find, but thank's to Ebay I was able to get a copy. Very informative book.

Blessings

-- Judy Murray (jmurray@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu), June 08, 2000.


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