Planning Your Survival Garden

Where to Put Your Garden

The main rule to consider is this: Most vegetables need minimally about six hours of direct sunlight. So long as they receive this minimum aniount of direct sunlight every day, you can put your garden almost anywhere. Consider, though, that you can never give your warm-weather vegetables (tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers, etc.) too much sun. Cool-weather vegetables (lettuce, greens, cabbage) will tolerate a little shade.

There are a few other placement considerations. Keep your garden bed at least 20 feet away from shallow-rooted trees like elms, maples, and popars. Not only will the foliage of these trees block out the sun, but also their roots will compete for water and nutrients.

Don't put your garden in a low area that will collect standing water or near a downspout, where the force from a sudden rain can wash out some of your plants. Do place your garden near a water outlet. By so doing, you will eliminate having to drag a hose long distances. Have a garden shed nearby for tool storage.

Number of Plants Per Person

Bush beans     1-2

Peas, bush     3-6

Peas, vine      3-4

Beans, Pole     1-2

Pepper, sweet     2-3

Pepper, hot        1-2

Beets     10-20

Potato     1-2

Brussels sprouts     1

Pumpkin     1

Cabbage-head     2

Cabbage-Oriental 2

Radish     20-60

Carrots     20-50

Rutabaga     3-6

Cauliflower     4-10

Shallot     4-10

Celery     2-4

Spinach     4-10

Spinach, New Zealand      5

Collards     2-5

Squash, summer, bush     1

Squash, summer, vine       1

Corn, sweet     5-8

Squash, winter, bush     2-3

Squash, winter, vine      2

Cucumber, bush     2-3

Cucumber, pole      1-2

Sweet Potato     2

Eggplant     1

Swiss Chard     1

Garlic     4

Tomato, indeterminate     2

Tomato, determinate        3-4

Kale     2-3

Tomato, paste (Italian)     3

Kohlrabi     4-6

Turnip     3-15

Leek     6-10

Watermelon, bush     1-2

Watermelon, vine      1

Lettuce, head     3-5

Lettuce, leaf       4-6

Melon, cantaloupe     2

Mustard     4-6

Okra     1-2

Onion     10-30

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What Do You Eat?

Sometimes in planning a garden we get carried away with what to plant. Be practical, spend some time thinking about how you cook, and how your family eats. Plan on planting something for everyone's taste.

What you find to eat in your garden also depends on the season. In some areas of the county, you can grow lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers all together during the summer. In warmer areas, lettuce and other greens are grown in the spring and fall. Where we live in California we can grow any type of warm weather vegetable, and in the fall grow all types of stir-fry greens and snow peas.

Other Considerations

Your garden will need to be defined by the number of hours you're willing to spend gardening each week, how much space is available, how your garden fits into your yard, and what site makes the most sense. You'll also have to decide whether you're going to garden at ground level or in raised beds. You may also want to conside a separate garden for the children.

      1. What do I really want to grow?
      2. Do I want a combination in-ground and container garden?
      3. How big should I make my garden?
      4. How much time do I have to spend each week?
      5. Can I integrate my garden into my landscaping?
      6. Do I want raised beds?
      7. Do I need to grow my garden against a fence to support my vine plants?
      8. Do I want to garden vertically?
      9. Does pocket gardening make sense in my yard?
      10. Do I want to grow enough vegetables to freeze or can?

How About Raised Beds?

If you have poor, relatively unfertile soil, you may want to build raised beds. You can use railroad ties or 12-by12-inch redwood planks, or even buy premade raised beds from seed catalogs. Bring in loam, or create a better soil in your garden by combining your present soil with lots of organic material. However, if you have hot summers and sandy soil, raised beds will heat up early and dry out quickly. Under these conditions, you will probably want to have raised beds at ground level.

Pocket Gardens

short on garden space? Instead of thining about convential gardening, think in terms of using the pocket space scattered here and there around the yard. Pack a few beans, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes inbetween a garage and fenced property line. Fan-shaped trellises in half barrels upport cucumbers, while a small planter box on the patio can serve as an herb garden.

Up in the Air

In the planning stage, you need to consider using the space above your garden. Postage Stamp gardeners also go crazy climbing the walls with beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers. These fruits and vegetables and other vining crops take up tremendous ground space, too much for most small gardens. When you use the space above the garden, you can produce large amounts of produce in a surprisingly small area.

Here are a few planning ideas. The drawings below are from our garden books. However, we highly recommend a new vegetable garden planning site to help you design your own gardens.  This site has garden plan software with terrific customer service.

www.Plangarden.com

Postage Stamp Garden 1.  General salad garden 2. 10' x 7' bed  3. 10' x10' vegetarian bed 4. 4' x 4' kitchen garden 5. 9' x9' bed  6. 12' bed.