We grow food Margot eats all year round and that we donate to our food cupboard in an animal-proof garden that is so much easier to maintain.
As Margot approached the transition from school and we began to brainstorm how to keep her happy, healthy, and, engaged, we turned out attention back to our unsuccessful garden... Could we make it into something she enjoyed helping with and grow some of her food, and maybe even to share with the community?
We are fortunate to have a large section of our property that is sunny, well-drained, and relatively level. Since our property began as a farm in the 18th century and the section in question utilizes the former paddock in front of the old barn, it just seemed like destiny to re-imagine a garden for the 21st century. And when we noticed that Margot just loved hanging outside with us while we gardened, we were sold. So after 4 years of trial and error, we think we have a formula that has worked to result in an 18 x 100' garden.
Animal proofing
We did not feel it was worth investing any time in a garden if we could not keep animals out: we have almost everything here in southeastern Pennsylvania that could decimate a garden... deer, rabbits, and every manner of rodent you can imagine. And they all nibbled happily on our first gardens no matter how many marigolds we lined our raised beds with. But because we had a section of paddock with old stone walls 6' high, we could imagine a closed garden utilizing the existing wall on two sides (eventually growing to three), making building a garden walled on all sides more realistic.
The use of 4x16' cattle panels curved overhead to create the outside wall (in the picture above, on the left along the northern edge) has been key. Burying one end in the ground and the other in a raised bed creates a tunnel about 4' wide and 6' tall at its peak running along the outside that keeps deer out. 3' hardware cloth on the outside (buried 12" underground) keeps small rodents out, with 5' willow fencing provides an additional screen. For added protection, we also included 1/2" hardware cloth under all raised beds. Gravel walkways provide a final barrier to tunnelling rodents. So long as we remember to close the gate, we have NO furry friends!
Raised beds
We knew that Margot will find it harder to work whenever she has to bend, and so raised beds became important. But we had also found that working on our knees and bending over was very hard on us too... a good excuse for always putting off weeding! Our first beds were 12-14" high, which did not make much of a difference, so when we changed the design we raised them to 20-22" high. Now they are SO MUCH EASIER to maintain!
The next question was what to build them with? We could not imagine making a bed more than 12" high with wood: aside from eventually rotting, it would be hard to keep the sides from bowing out under the weight of the soil when wet. So our first beds used 8x8x16 concrete block, laid in a base course 4" below grade to keep the weight of the soil in the raised bed from pushing the block out (we also fill the voids in the blocks with rubble to increase the weight). We then added a second course of 4x8x16 block to raise the height while allowing more room to plant. The other advantage of using these blocks was that we could easily reconstruct the garden as needed (which we did!).
The first layout needed tweaking, which gave us an opportunity to try raising the beds. We were also interested in trying some 2' wide beds, but knew that these would leave little room for the actual planting if we relied on concrete block. So we were happy to find 2' x 2' concrete pavers 2" thick for the 2' wide beds (see above). We use a variety of braces to hold these in place.
We still use concrete block on beds that are 3-4' wide. Over time, we noticed how easy it was to push the 4x8x16 blocks on the top course out of place, so we now run pressure-treated 2"x4"x12's screwed into the block along the top of the wall to tie all of the block together (see picture) This last step has made it safe in most cases to lean on when weeding or harvesting , and conveniently provides a base to which wooden 4x4 posts supporting the arbors can be attached.
Accessible dimensions
Margot does not use a wheelchair but does need a firm, level surface to walk on, so we opted for gravel paths in between raised beds. We also wanted to maximize space while giving enough room to maneuver a wheelbarrow or cart into the main areas of the garden. So the long outside edge on the north side of the garden is 4' wide - comfortable for pushing a wheelbarrow or for Margot to walk. The path along the southern edge with the existing 6' high stone wall is 3' wide - tight for a wheelbarrow but still easy to walk with a crate. Most other paths are 2' wide and never long more than 6' long to get between the short sections of 2' to 3' wide beds - an efficient use of space without feeling crowded. The garden is 100 feet long, so we added three 4' wide gates leading into 6' x 18' wide areas at the eastern and western ends (each holding tools and materials), and a 10' wide area in the middle (with a sitting area and a washing up area). These dimensions have worked well with Margot (and us), though would have to be increased for a wheelchair user.
The width of the beds was also important to making them accessible... even just useable!. Our first design with beds 4' wide made it hard to reach into the middle of the bed - this left us either planting one row and wasting space or planting two rows and crowding our plants. So we now use 3' beds wherever we have a trellis - this is easier and cheaper to construct, and allows room for the trellis to be buried 8-10" into the soil. We use 2' wide beds elsewhere - these are fine for smaller plants though we add some wire supports along the outside for cucumbers. We did keep 4' wide beds for tomatoes, which just need a lot of room.
When we saw how cattle panels could be looped into trellis wall, we realized how this could solve an accessibility problem for vines and other plants: growing these on the trellis placed pickles, squash, melons, and cherry tomatoes a very comfortable height for picking. This support is essential for plants like these that either flop over or trail over the ground. Growing these plants up the trellis also gives them more sunlight and airflow, reducing the kinds of fungi and insects that thrive under moist conditions.
Comfort
We have found that people like Margot are much more readily affected by being hot. So another advantage of the trellis walls is that they provide comfortable shade in the walkways. We hope to eventually become successful enough that the vines will grow up on to the 6' arbors at each end of the garden or even the 10' one in the middle... but in the meantime, we sometimes string shade cloth to control the heat. We have also found that people like Margot are much more readily affected by being tired, so we put a loveseat in the middle arbor to provide a comfortable resting spot.
Plants
What should we grow to keep us healthy? Aside from what we like to eat, I was interested in trying to grow food for Margot, who is tube fed. About ten years ago, we switched from Pediasure to our own recipes including fruits, vegetables, greens, meat, and other ingredients, all of which really improved her health. We settled on a subset of foods that are healthy, that will not clog her tube when ground up, and that are easily prepared in bulk. So the question was, which could we most easily grow, grind, and freeze? The winners so far include butternut squash, kale, spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes, beets, and melons. In fact, we have grown enough butternut squash and kale to last us all year long! We try to stagger planting to get spring and/or fall crops (kale, spinach, beets, potatoes) to supplement the summer ones.
Next, what could we grow that Margot could help with? Of course, she can help to carry milk crates of materials into and out of the garden, but harvesting is tricky, and no tomato will survive Margot's grip. Now that we have grown potatoes very successfully, we are experimenting with having her harvest them. The bonus is that we have have such great crops that we have been able to provide extra potatoes to our food cupboard! We are also experimenting with growing potatoes in bags and buckets to increase the harvest in the future without relying only on our garden.
Other details
We are always looking for ways for Margot to get involved, so this year were were excited to explore some new mulching techniques (read more about our magic mulch here). So we laid a layer of cardboard around all of our plant once planted, and then the wood chip / chai tea mixture on top afterwards. It completely suppressed weeds, and really helped to manage the hot summer days and feed the soil.
Between hot humid days and occasional torrential downpours, it is hard to not over- or under-water. We laid a drip system under the cardboard in 5 different zones for different plant groups, to deliver water more carefully... But some of the plants seemed to have wet feet. This may be because the bottom 8-12" of soil in the beds consists of soil dug up from elsewhere in the garden, which tends to have a high concentration of clay. We may experiment with converting several smaller sections into wicking beds, so that plants draw only what they need. These beds will also offer some peace of mind if we go out of town for 7-10 days.
We also experimented this spring with hoops and plastic to get a 3 week start, which really helped spring veggies like spinach. lettuce, and beets. We will use a similar system this fall, with shade cloth over hoops to control summer heat and then replaced with plastic to extend the season later.
Comments