Stuff

Here are some pictures of my garden layout. These were done using the garden master cd. I told the program what I wanted to grow and how much. The program did the rest. I am only doing part of my garden in a grow box. The rest will be in grow beds.

I have decided to do my tomatoes in a 30’ long grow box. The grow box would have 2 rows running its length. I am going to put a trellis down the middle of the grow box so that I can grow the tomatoes vertically. I am using indeterminate tomatoes that continue to grow throughout the season. I have decided to grow Amish paste tomatoes for half of the row. I have yet to decide what type of tomato to grow for the other half of the row.

Here is the definition that the garden master cd has for grow boxes.

Grow boxes use artificial soil (for example, 1 part washed sand to 3 parts sawdust) and are usually 36 to 48 inches wide, running from10 to 50 feet in length. (For your convenience, Garden Wizard uses 48-inch widths and 30-feet lengths, although you can change either dimension to meet your particular needs.) A grow box is the equivalent of two grow beds within a box made of wood (except cedar), cement, or bricks. Since a grow box bed is really two sets of grow beds in a single grow box, and each bed can have one or two rows of plants (depending on the type of plant), there may be up to 4 rows in a grow box. There is a walkway ranging from 3 to 3.5 feet between each box, and space around the edges of the boxes for easy access. Water and fertilizer are applied directly down the middle of each of the two beds (i.e., between each pair of rows). Grow bed gardening is more expensive than grow box gardening because you need special soil, lumber for the sides, and so forth.
However, grow box gardening can be more successful because you are starting with 'clean' soil which has preferred drainage characteristics and so forth.

In order to have as much success as possible, your garden area should:
- Be at least 36 inches wide
- Have rows running from North to South
- Be levelable (even if you need to use terraces)
- Have an adequate water supply
- Have easy access to boxes

In addition, since you live near Tooele, Utah, your garden should be exposed to a FULL afternoon sun.

Most of your garden will be planted after the last spring freeze, around 5/4/2004.

The next part of the program takes you to the garden plan section. You have the choice of choosing between grow beds, grow boxes or traditional single rows.

Since my funds are limited I have decide to do most of my garden in grow beds. I will do one 30’ long section as a grow box. Here is the definition of a grow bed copied from the program.

Grow beds use your natural soil and are usually 16 to 22 inches wide, running from10 to 50 feet in length. (For your convenience, Garden Wizard uses 18-inch widths and 30 feet lengths, although you can change either dimension to meet your particular needs.) There is a walkway ranging from 3 to 3.5 feet between each bed, and similar space around the edges of the garden for easy access. Each bed can have one or two rows, depending on the type of plant. For example, lettuce is grown in 2 rows per bed while tomatoes are grown in only 1 row per bed. Water and fertilizer are applied directly down the middle of the bed (between the two rows). Grow bed gardening is less expensive than grow box gardening because you do not need special soil, lumber for the sides, and so forth.

In order to have as much success as possible, your garden area should:
- Be at least 18 inches wide
- Have rows running from North to South
- Be levelable (even if you need to use terraces)
- Have an adequate water supply
- Have easy access to the rows and edges

In addition, since you live near Tooele, Utah, your garden should be exposed to a FULL afternoon sun.

Most of your garden will be planted after the last spring freeze, around 5/4/2004.

Here is a screen shot of that section.

I have received the Garden Master cd. I had no problems installing it on my computer.

According to the program the area I live in will experience it’s last spring freeze on 5/4 and it’s first fall frost on 10/13. That gives me a 162 day growing season. I will post more tomorrow when I get more involved with the program.

Since I have decided to use the Mittleider method in my gardening I needed to learn how to do it. I went to the site www.foodforeveryone.org. I used a program called web reaper to download the site to my computer so that I could look at in my leisure. I read the ‘gardening techniques’ that is posted there. It is quite informative.

I have also decided to purchase the Garden Master Pro cd from them. This has a couple of the books in soft copy and a program that goes step by step to help you grow your garden.