2008 Garden Plans

Not shown in the sketch is a 1.5 meter high hedge on the N, E and S sides. Lined out areas are structures or permanent paths. Garden is roughly 19 x 15 meters, and each square represents about 50cm.

Background

If you go back a few hundred years this part of Amsterdam was a peat bog, probably either under water or regularly flooded. A system of dikes and canals were built to drain the land, which then caused another problem, the land sank probably a few meters further below sea level.

No one in the garden complex seems to know the exact history of our land, but apparently within the last few decades, they decided the land was too low. First a layer of plastic was put down over the peat, then about 1.5 meters of coarse sand (almost gravel), then about 50cm of fine sand. The water level was allowed to rise again, roughly to the middle of the fine sand layer. At some point organic material like compost was also added to the top sand layer, but it’s still mostly sand. This is what the garden complex is built on.

Community gardens still get a little bit of government subsidy, which among other things means the government owns the land and gets to relocate us whenever it wants to the most convenient land available. About 6 years ago this garden complex was moved from another location to where it is now. I’m sure within several more years, we will be moved again. I think I’m only the second person to use this piece of land as a garden. Before that it was just undeveloped urban space, perhaps part of a park.

The gentleman who used the garden before was an elderly man who reportedly decided one day gardening was no longer fun and abruptly stopped. It was possible to see in the garden a spot being weeded, then suddenly abandoned. The plants left behind in the garden included lots and lots of weeds, a few garden center purchased flowers and a few store bought packages of vegetable seeds growing in a couple of places, garlic in one spot, two well constructed support structures of runner beans, a cold frame with pepper plants, a cold frame with strawberries, and tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse.

Among the more interesting plants were a few artichoke plants, a nice collection of chrysanthemums, a large red currant bush and 13 fruit trees.

He was particularly fond of cole plants, because they could be found everywhere in the garden, mostly broccoli and cabbage, just a few tucked into every corner. There is no indication he used any sort of system of rotation for the plants. I’ve heard from some of the others the previous gardener used a garden tiller, and the ground was nice and loose. It was pretty easy to pull up most of the weeds by hand (only a few days work). I’m told the seeds from the weeds will stay in the ground for about 2 years.

Together with the greenhouse and cold frames there was a shed and a semi-sheltered patio area. There is also a network of solidly constructed paths going through the garden. The total area is 300m2 (about 3000 ft2), but roughly 2/3 of this is taken up by all these structures and paths or shaded by the trees. One of the fruit trees in particular, a plum tree, is very large and right in the middle of the garden.

The fruit trees were all planted too close together, and at least half will need to be removed within a few years. I think that was the intention when they were planted, and I think this was a fine way to do it. I would rather have old varieties of fruit trees, and most of the trees are in the wrong part of the garden anyway, so I will probably remove all of the fruit trees over time if I keep the garden that long.

The previous owner was also a packrat and a scavenger, and left a huge amount of trash behind. The cold frames and sheltered patio were all made from old recycled house windows, and several of the windows have since broken, leaving shards of broken glass in the garden. Almost all of the ties, supports, plant labels and so on were made from non-biodegradable materials, and many were left behind in the dirt. It’s been a lot of work to clean all of this up, and there’s still a lot more work to be done.

I’m determined to emphasize biodegradable materials, so I don’t leave behind the same problem for the next gardener.

He also seems to have not completely grasped the concept of composting. He left several full composting containers, but these too have lots of plastic and metal in them, I guess he used them for trash sometimes together with his garden waste. They also have a very high content of sand, suggesting he mixed in a lot of garden soil.

I see this with the other gardeners in the complex (and in fact with other people all over the country), they don’t seem to understand what the difference between compost, trash and manure is. Many of my fellow gardeners dig a hole in the ground and bury their garden waste as an alternative to composting, and often complain bitterly at how inconvenient this is. There has apparently been some talk over having a community compost pile, so that others could use the unwanted compost, but these discussions got bogged down with fears of contaminating ground water or other environmental damage. As an alternative to a community compost pile, they frequently order truck loads of compost made from collected household waste, something they can apparently get at little or no cost. Only a few of the gardens in the complex have their own compost pile.

Goals for 2008

Since I only have a little bit of information on what crops were previously grown and their locations, it’s not possible to continue on with any kind of rotation strategy that might have previously existed. The intention will be to try to plant things in a way that I can easily turn into a future rotation strategy.

Making use of a companion planting guide I’ve found on the Internet (thank you Cass County, ND), I have created a few groups of compatible plants for rotation purposes.

There are currently five distinct large plant beds, all roughly 20 to 25m2, and a few smaller places where it’s possible to put a few plants. I will make a sixth bed in 2008. Here are the rough plans for the greenhouse and each of the six beds.

Greenhouse: Tomatoes

Bed 1: Currently planted with garlic and the artichokes. There is a little space around the edges, perhaps also between some rows, and I will use this for some plants that go well with garlic like tomatillos, ground cherries, peppers, swiss chard, beets, carrots, celeriac and good king henry, as space allows and perhaps with a late planting close to or after the garlic harvest. After this year, this bed will be used for asparagus, other perennials, and biennials I am saving seeds from.

Bed 2: Also currently planted with garlic and to be used for planting some of the same plants as bed 1 as space allows. After this year, this bed will be used for other crops in a rotation scheme yet to be determined. Perhaps I will plant winter rye as a cover crop.

Bed 3: This bed is empty, but will be used for a variety of Andean and other tubers. These tubers include jerusalem artichoke, mashua (añu), jacón, oca and ulluco. This bed also is partly shaded, a problem likely to be made worse with the jerusalem artichoke and perhaps some of the other tubers, so I will try to put some things like lettuce and strawberries in the shadier spots. I also want to use some of the space here to grow asparagus crowns from seed for planting in the perennial bed in 2009. If there is any extra space, I will try planting some beans to fix some nitrogen. This bed will be used for future crop rotation, to be determined. The jerusalem artichoke will probably naturalize and remain. In the fall I will probably plant fava beans and white clover here, and use the bed for garlic in 2009.

Bed 4: This bed is empty now, but will be used for OP variety of sweet corn, Double Standard, from the Real Seed Catalogue in the UK. Between the rows of corn, I will try to plant some things like amaranth, quinoa, peas, beans, squash, cucumbers and melon, as space allows. After the first frost, this bed will be cleared and planted with garlic.

Bed 5: This bed may have some shading problems from the fruit trees, I’m not completely sure about this yet. Anyway, I will use this for brassicas (cole plants) and potatoes. I hope to use this for garlic in 2009.

Bed 6: (doesn’t exist yet): I will create at least one new bed this summer, by combining a few of the smaller planting spaces, together with removing the patio and some paths. I’ll also need to remove or move the red current bush. This will be planted with garlic in the fall.

In the future one or two more beds can be created if I remove more paths, the cold frames and the large plum tree in the middle of the garden. I haven’t made a decision about these yet.

One of the intentions for 2008 is to simply plant a lot of different things, and see what grows in the garden without worrying if they all do well. I also expect to collect some plants through trades.

I have already learned birds are a problem, and I will have to put up some netting. I hope to find out what other animal pests and diseases are a problem, and understand the local ecosystem better.

Long Term Goals and Plans

If in 2008 I discover a number of plants that seem to grow well, I may do some expanded plantings of different varieties of these plants in 2009 and beyond.

Of course the long term goal is to establish a system of rotation that works well with the plants I want to grow and the local ecosystem. For those of you who have read the book One Straw Revolution, Ruth Stout or any number of other natural/organic/no-till gardening philosophies, I hope it will be along those lines. In particular, I will be trying to look at how the entire garden works together, and not just addressing one problem at a time as they come up.

As much as possible, I will be pursuing permaculture principles, and carefully managing inputs and outputs.

At the same time, the area is not a very natural environment, being reclaimed land with plastic and sand piled on top and next to a city, and it may be hard to establish a working ecosystem in my garden. I have to be a little realistic about this, if there are compromises or interim measures that have to be made. For example, I have a lot of compost remaining from my previous garden I’m bringing to the new one in order to get a good start. There are other things some people may find not natural I do while I try to get things started.

There are also many reasons I may choose to move on to another gardening space. The city may relocate the gardening complex, I may just not like my neighbors, or perhaps I will find a more convenient location. I also know that I am planting too much garlic to fit into a long term rotation scheme, so after three or four years I may need to either stop growing garlic or move to another garden. I can’t afford to become too committed to this particular garden, and I may cut some corners for example in rotation practices or other ways as long as it doesn’t leave problems behind for the next gardener, knowing I won’t stay so it won’t matter.

I might also stay a long time, and I plan to do some things like make an asparagus bed and plant some more fruit trees that I can enjoy if I do end up staying a while.

In the end the goal is to enjoy myself, and grow as much of my own food as I can reasonably manage. I also hope to do a lot of my own plant breeding.