{"id":1873,"date":"2019-09-28T23:28:31","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T23:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2019-09-28T23:28:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T23:28:32","slug":"row-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/28\/row-gardening\/","title":{"rendered":"Row gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Advantages of row gardens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row gardens were the normal way to grow vegetables for generations of American gardeners, but have fallen out of favor in recent years, to be replaced with intensive beds. The reason for this has nothing to do with the inferiority of row gardening, but is linked to the way people now live. They tend to have smaller gardens and a few raised beds fits in better than a large row garden. Also most modern vegetable gardeners aren\u2019t trying to grow a lot of their own food, they are simply supplementing shop bought food, with some superior home grown treats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row gardens were developed\nby people who lived on farms, or on large lots in the country  They require\nless work, water and other inputs than more intensive ways of growing and work\nbetter if the soil isn\u2019t very fertile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A row garden has a path\nbetween each row of plants, which would appear to make it less efficient in\nterms of space used (bed gardeners claim this is the case). However the space\ntaken up by paths isn\u2019t really wasted, as the crop plant roots will go into\nthem to find water and nutrients. This means each plant has a greater volume of\nsoil to obtain water and nutrients from and there is much less competition from\nneighbors. There may be some compaction from walking between the rows, but it will\nbe spread out and generally light. The greater amount of space and less\ncompetition, means that the plants generally need less looking after. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To grow row crops you need\na bigger area than you would for an intensive garden, because the plants are\nspaced further apart. There will also be more weeds because there is a greater\narea of soil, but an optimist will look upon this as more edible weeds. I have\nheard the argument that row gardens are easier to weed because there is more\nroom, but a larger area of disturbed soil pretty much guarantees plenty of\nweeds.!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large row garden is the\neasiest way to grow enough food to live on. If you are aiming to feed your\nwhole family or community, or to grow food to sell, this is usually the way to\ngo. You will need quite a bit of space though, because not only does each plant\nrequire more space, but you will be growing things in greater quantity, almost\nlike a small farm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row gardening was first\nused as a way for farmers to easily grow large areas of crops and lends itself\nto mechanization. Even at the home garden level you can benefit from this\naspect, by using a wheel hoe and a seed planter (and perhaps a tiller). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nkind of garden is more gopher resistant than a row of unprotected intensive\nbeds, because the plants are further apart. This means gophers have further to\ngo between each plant, which gives you more time to catch them (this is good\nbecause it is much harder to put gopher wire under the rows).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting in widely spaced\nrows allows for good air circulation, which can reduce problems with disease.\nThis can be significant in humid areas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row gardening allows you\nto use a low tech flood irrigation system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row gardens lend\nthemselves to seed saving because the plants are further apart and it\u2019s easier\nto prevent cross pollination, than it is in a closely packed intensive garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row cropping can often involve less expense that using raised\nbeds, because you tend to make use of what already exists. You don\u2019t buy wood\nto make beds. You don\u2019t import as many amendments and fertilizers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crops\nbest suited to growing in rows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row cropping works well\nwith any crop that needs a lot of room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Row cropping works best for tall vigorous crops, such as\namaranth, corn, dry beans, quinoa and potatoes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also works for vining crops such as pole beans, peas and\ncucumbers as you can build a trellis for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also good for crops that benefit from earthing up such as\npotato, sweet potato and Jerusalem artichoke. It\u2019s much easier to earth up\nplants in rows, as you can pull soil up over them from both sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large sprawling plants such squash,\nmelons and bush cucumbers also work well when grown in rows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting a row garden<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally\na row garden is started afresh every year, which in this country usually means\nlaying down a layer of compost or other organic matter and then incorporating\nit into the soil. This is most often done with a rototiller or tractor, simply\nbecause of the size of the area to be cultivated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are starting a new\ngarden on an area that is covered with grass or other thick vegetation, you\nwill need to till in several passes to thoroughly incorporate all of the\nsurface vegetation and amendments (don\u2019t do this if any pernicious weeds are\npresent, as you will simply propagate them.) Wait at least two weeks for the\nburied plants to decompose (any less and it may start to grow again) and then\ntill again to bury anything that survived on the surface. In some cases you may\nhave to do a third tilling two weeks later. The idea is to bury and kill all of\nthe weeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t want to use a\ntiller, you could dig a row garden by hand. In other parts of the world\ngardeners commonly dig large areas of the soil manually every year (they also\ntalk about the necessity of getting in shape to be physically able to do it.)\nThis is perfectly doable if you are reasonably fit and take it gradually. Do a\nlittle bit each day (this can increase as you get stronger) and it is\nsurprising how quickly it gets done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alternative to annual digging,\nis to create permanent \u201cbeds\u201d and use heavy mulch to suppress weeds and add\norganic matter (more on this in a moment). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to plant everything in rows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people argue about the relative merits and drawbacks of rows versus\nbeds and everyone seems to have their favorite. However there is no rule that\nsays your garden must be either one or the other (if there was I would ignore\nit.) There are a number of options that fall in between the two, but are worth\nconsidering (and have been used very successfully). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the one end of the\nspectrum we have single rows of plants, which vary in width according to the\nsize of the plant being grown. The area between the rows provides access for\nplanting, weeding and harvesting. You don\u2019t have to use all of these spaces for\npaths though. If you use some for paths and avoid walking on the others, you\ncan reduce compaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next we have wide rows 12\u201d – 18\u201d wide and 4\u201d – 6\u201d tall, each\nseparated by a path you can walk down, to plant, weed and harvest. These work\nbest for small crops, such as carrot, radish and salad mix. You can use compost\nor aged manure to gain the extra height, along with a little extra soil from\nthe paths if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narrow, slightly raised beds about 18 – 24\u201d wide and 6\u201d high can\nbe used for planting double staggered rows of bigger plants such as tomatoes.\nThey also work well for trellised beans or peas and for broadcasting small seed\nsuch as salad mix, beets, lettuce or spinach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wider beds 48\u201d- 60\u201d across can be used for large crops such as\ncorn or quinoa. These are also very well suited to growing grains. Of course\nyou could simply broadcast a large area of grains, but using beds gives better\naccess to the plants. Some commercial market gardeners create beds with\na tractor and then plant in rows on the beds. You could garden in this way too.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally at the other end of the spectrum we have permanently established wide raised beds, as I have described in\nthe previous chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one other option and that is planting in hills. These are\nactually small mounds, spaced several feet apart in each direction. They are\nquick to make and are the easiest way to grow space hungry sprawling vines such\nas winter squash and melons. Be sure to keep them far enough away from your\nother crops, otherwise they may invade your rows. See Direct sowing<\/strong> for information on planting in hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mix them up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you till \/ dig the soil\nannually, you don\u2019t have to pick just one layout and stick with it. You can use\na mix of different layouts, simply making the right sized beds for whatever you\nwish to grow. One garden could have a number of carefully prepared and double\ndug garden beds, as well as single rows for potatoes, double rows for tomatoes,\nwide rows for carrots, hills for squash and very wide rows for grains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to have\npermanent raised beds, then having different sizes doesn\u2019t work so well, as it\nmakes it harder to rotate crops. In this case you should probably choose an\nintermediate size, such as 18\u201d – 24\u201d (though 48\u201d might work too) and make them all\nthe same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting is pretty much the\nsame whether you are growing in rows or beds of course and I have covered this\nelsewhere. When planting rows it is advisable to use a string line to keep the\nrows straight and evenly spaced.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large garden area can grow\na lot of weeds, so mulching can be a big help (it also feeds the soil of\ncourse). You will need a lot of mulch\nthough, because it is a big area to cover. You may want to spend a little time\nlocating and stockpiling plenty of mulch, so it is available in sufficient\nquantity when you need it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a good idea to lay down\nnewspaper (5 layers) or cardboard on the paths underneath the mulch to maximize\nits weed suppressing ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t have a thick\nmulch covering the entire garden, you are going to have to do some (or a lot\nof) weeding. A wheel hoe can be a big help, as it is designed for this specific\npurpose. See Weeds<\/strong> for more on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover crop<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the growing\nseason the garden should be planted to a cover crop (ideally a mix of grasses\nand nitrogen fixers). This will protect the soil over the winter, prevent\nleaching of nutrients and add organic matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spring the cover crop\nis usually incorporated into the soil while preparing the garden for spring\nplanting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intensive\/row hybrid garden<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think some form of hybrid\nbed \/ row \/ mulch \/ no dig garden is the way to get the highest productivity\nwith the least labor and inputs.  It is\nalso probably the best approach to growing large gardens for self sufficiency.\nI have just begun to explore the possibilities of this, but it may well be the\nsubject of my next book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advantages of row gardens Row gardens were the normal way to grow vegetables for generations of American gardeners, but have fallen out of favor in recent years, to be replaced … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening-techniques","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Row-gardening.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1875,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions\/1875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}