Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Sean Kelly on April 26, 2007, 07:10:20 am
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Anyone have any success with wide row planting? I've been doing reading on the subject and wondered how well it works in the real world. I'm getting ready to break some ground since it's getting time to plant. I'm thinkin I might give this a try this season.
Sean Kelly
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explain what it is
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I normaly plant things on 6' center because my tractor tires are already set up for it and it works good for me.
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I'm build my vegetable garden with 2 foot wide & 8 foot long raised beds. I have the berry patch already in with 20 foot rows. Next spring I'll have a hedge of strawberries 2 feet wide. They're ever bearing so I'll have strawberries all summer.
The reason I use the 2 X 8 raised beds is that I can grow more casting the seeds in than I can by planting 30 foot rows. I'm going for 6 rows of 3 raised beds. I figure I can feed an army with that much garden. That size of patch planted to onions looks like hair on a dog. I put the rows 30 inches apart so I can get the wheelchair down between them. With them 2 feet wide I can 1/2 the row from one side and the onther 1/2 from the other side.
Raised beds also makes weeding easier. If you want to study up on it look for materials on square foot gardening. Google it.
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Can you give a better explanation of what your planning?
If you are suggesting planting beds, where a row might consist of 2 or more plants wide, and then your same old row spacing, then it really depends on what you're planning to grow. Large canopy plants, such as tomatoes, will not do well. light will not fully penetrate the row, harvest will be difficult because of the tight dense branches. Plants will compete for resources, and yields will be reduced. Garlic on the other hand, may be managed quite well with this system, but I wouldn't be planting any garlic right now :) Let us know what you're scheming.
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You plant the beds like a farmer plants a field. Imagine a crop of corn 2 feet wide spaced 3-4 inches apart. Its like a hedge of corn. You can grow more in just about any kind vegetable that way. Raddishes, plant wall to wall and thin as they grow, same with other root vegetables. The garden is much easier to maintain and produces more food.
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Yeah, Brian is right. More space covered by what you want and less weeding. Plants that grow in wide row don't produce as much per seed, but because you're able to plant a whole lot more in less space you'll have a bigger yield in the end.
I just tilled my garden today with some help from the neighbor. I think I'm taking on a bigger project than I can handle. We tilled a LOT of land. Wide row might just be the ticket. I've read about it, but never tried it before. I'm still not sure of what I'll be planting this year. Corn and peas for sure, but the rest is still up in the air. I guess I need to make up my mind soon though. Starting to run out of time.
Sean
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Sean, figure out what vegies your family likes to eat, there are many of them to choose from, you know that. I would suggest that you plant lots of corn. Plant some of the squash varieties (if you have just too much room and don't know that to do with it), the bees love the flowers of all squash and pumpkins.
Plant:
beans
broccoli
radishes
lettuce
collard greens
squashes
corn
beets
carrots
Okra (I haven't tried, but I am planting this this year)
Tomatoes (buy ones already started)
These are the common vegies that I plant and use them all. Are you guys down there afflicted with the late season tomato blight? We have that issue here and pretty much cannot grow tomatoes unless they have protection from the last summer cool, dewy nights. Inevitable the blight comes. Have a wonderful day, enjoy the garden, best of health. Cindi
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I get the blight here, Cindi, but usually late in the season, so I still get plenty of tomatoes.
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Ann, I have tried to grow tomatoes for years on the front of my house under an overhang, on the south front. They do wonderfully there and we do eat some, but if they have not ripened by September 5, say, we must pick them and ripen them indoors. So, now it is main tomato crop under 6 ml plastic, it lasts for years, UV resistant I think. Yes, it is the late season blight, our nights by the end of August are dewy and very cool, perfect black blight!!!! Have a beautiful day, great life, great health. Cindi
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Ah, yes, under poly there would be no splashing, which is what spreads the blight around here. Good thought! I do wish I had room for more gardens, room to experiment like that.
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I put my tomatoes in a double row. rows are 1 ft apart and the plants are stagard 18 in apart. They are easy to rack up if they are climbing type. Half of mine this year are Homestead. so they will not require as much racking.
I plant snap beans about 1 ft apart all the way around. not so wide of a bed that you can't reach the middle from either side to weed.
Most things do quite well spaced just so their foliage covers all over. Keeps weeds down.
If you have a lot of extra space and want to put in a cover crop, Buck wheat is good. bees love and it produces a lot of honey. It's draught resistance and you can use the straw for your bee smoker.
doak