Garden Gram #22: Pro Tips for Designing A Big Vegetable Garden
While I'm working out a plan for us, I've got some thoughts for you.
Here we go: Year three of developing the farmette and the big market garden. In case you are just joining us, we are slow farming. Since I still have a day job – and we had to carve a large garden out of a sandy field and turn it into something plantable – we have taken one chunk at a time, working on a five-year plan to get up and running. (The goal is a modest market farming business for me, selling both flowers and vegetables, and a great home garden for us as well.)
In 2023, we built the hoop house – from whence all seedlings come! We also tilled and tarped the area where the garden would go. In 2024 we began enhancing the soil with lime and loads of cow manure. And the big 2024 project was building the fence. The (future) garden is located in the middle of a deer highway, so we invested in a strong and high fence – and a sturdy double-door gate that can, if necessary, open wide enough to get a small tractor or truck in.
This spring we are planting a cover crop to further improve our soil. But we’re far enough along that I felt it was time to get a design for the garden beds down on paper. Very little of it will probably get implemented this year, but we’ll begin marking off areas that we know will not need to be improved (work areas and paths). With large gardens, infrastructure is the first thing you have to think about. It can be tedious, but careful planning saves you a lot of heartaches.
While sketching, it occurred to me that I should pass some tips along to you about what to locate where and why. I realize you’re not going to build a garden as big as this one, which is 48’ x 72’, but maybe you’re thinking of something a little more substantial than a few boxes. I think many of these tips can be applied to a solid home garden.