Texas A&M University published a list of do’s and don’ts for home gardening. These seem aimed at the general gardener who uses the old rows method. How do these play out with a micro-garden that uses raised beds that are small enough that you can reach everything without stepping on the garden? Let’s look at the list.
The following items on the list have nothing to do with the micro-garden. These gardens are designed not to use fertilizers other than compost and can be planted with bug-repelling plants. For example, I planted marigolds in each bed as general pest repellents and placed the cabbage next to the tomato plants. Micro-gardens also don’t plant too many of each kind, so thinning isn’t generally needed.
- (Do) apply preplant fertilizer to garden area in recommended manner and amounts.
- (Do) thin when plants are small.
- (Do) avoid excessive walking and working in the garden when the foliage and soil are wet.
- (Don’t) plant so closely that you cannot walk or work in the garden.
- (Don’t) cultivate so deeply that plant roots are injured.
- (Don’t) place fertilizer directly in contact with plant roots or seeds.
- (Don’t) apply chemicals or pesticides in a haphazard manner or without reading the label directions.
- (Don’t) use chemicals not specifically recommended for garden crops.
- (Don’t) store leftover diluted spray.
That’s nine of the twenty things on the list. Forty-five percent of the things we need to watch out for are gone just because we are using raised beds, close plantings, and no chemical sprays or fertilizers.
What’s left on the list are things that we still need to pay attention to, but that I expect will be mitigated by how a micro-garden works.
Things that might take a small amount of time but shouldn’t be a nuisance:
- Examine garden often to keep ahead of potential problems.
- Keep garden free of insects, diseases, and weeds.
- Keep records on garden activities.
Weeds aren’t going to grow much when you use the proper mix and plant everything close together. Weeds require unwanted seeds and sunlight, and the micro-garden is designed to minimize both for everything you don’t plant yourself. The micro-garden design also makes it easier to mix plants together so they protect each other (e.g., tomato plants with cabbage). I also find that the small plots make it easy to take quick photos with my iPhone, so I can keep a visual record of how everything is doing.
As far as I can tell, the rest of the items on the list (40% of the list) are just as important and take nearly as much time as any other garden design. Proper moisture, mulching, timing, etc., are the same regardless of how you space out the plants.
By micro-gardening, we’ve cut nearly in half the amount of stuff we have to worry about. Instead, we can focus on relaxing and enjoying the garden, as it should be.
Now that it's warmer, I've had to pull a few tiny weed here and there, but it takes all of a minute or two. I love raised bed gardening. Glad you are having fun with yours as well!
It's been doing pretty well. I had a single weed so far -- it was on the edge where the underlying weed barrier had pulled away slightly from the boards. It came out easily enough.