Backyard Layout and History

The Layout
The house is at the center of the plot. The garden is
on the southwestern side of the house in the backyard. This area has the most sun except for the northeast part of the front yard where the trees do not provide cover. At the backyard, the land has a 3-5 degrees incline away from the house. Water from the roof drains into garden area and can stay waterlogged for a week. The garden is circled in pink in the picture.

As stated before in a previous post, trees are growing all around the plot. These trees are nearly 100 ft and block the sunlight. Total time of sunlight is roughly 5 hrs per day. Reduced sunlight means reduced plant growth. Reduced sunlight means reduced evaporation increasing mold, root rot, and lanky plant growth. In addition, trees block wind so again reducing evaporation increasing mold and increasing moisture buildup on leaves which reduces photosynthesis.

Soil has 6-8 inches topsoil and the rest is orange dirtfill with clay and rock (my definition of dirtfill is dirt used to even out a landscape for placing a house). Other areas have deeper topsoil that support the trees.

We have witnessed the following wildlife in the area:

1. deer
2. chipmunks
3. squirrels
4. rabbits
5. fox
6. raccoon
7. possum
8. hawks
9. owls
10. birds
11. snakes
12. bats
13. turtles
14. salamanders
15. frogs

Using this information, we decided the following:

1. With the topsoil depth and water logging, tilling the soil is not an option.
2. With rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks in the area, raised beds are not a good option. Chipmunks and rabbits will burrow into the raised beds. Planters are a better choice, but I still saw a chipmunk hop into the planters.
3. Whatever grow methods we use, we must pick a way that reduces the chance of water saturation or provide instant drainage. Regular planters are not a good choice because they still retain water in certain conditions or become saturated with water when it rains. This is why we chose Earthbox planters. Earthbox planters are a good choice because they have a water reservoir that has a set level and drains out excess when the limit is reached. Also Earthbox containers have a plastic cover that prevents rain from saturating the soil which also has the added benefit of not needing weeding.
4. Limited growing area means being inventive and have good planning to take advantage of the limited resource area. 

That means using vertical growing methods whenever possible.

1. Stagger plants by height to fully utilize growing area.
2. The stackable tires are my daughter's decision and are a good idea so they stay. In theory, if growing a tubor root crop like sweet potatoes, when the plant roots start spreading, keep stacking more tires on top and cover with soil to create a mound. As the tubor grows vertically from the stacked tires, more tubor roots will grow creating a large harvest in a small area. The leaves also provide large ground cover blocking rain from over saturating the tire planters. Plus, the planters have a large hole in the bottom which has excellent drainage.
3. Vines using trellises or vertical string to grow beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
4. Vertical hydroponic methods to grow leafy greens like lettuce, collards, kale, etc.

Diversity will be the key in growing in the garden, the below image is the plan with the available area and the resources we have on-hand. Empty boxes are future resources that we plan on purchasing.

History

The first year, the family ran the garden while I was busy trying aquaponics (to be described in a later post). Sorry, no pics for either. They were using the Earthboxes, tires, basket, and planters. Unfortunately, we did not realize we were making a buffet for the deer. Much of the crop was raided. Also, the area remained moist for the remainder of the spring and summer from the previously mentioned reasons. They elevated the planters on discarded wood and plastic pallets to ventilate the moisture away. It reduced downy mildew and mold, but did not stop pests like slugs and snails. Insects like cabbage whites made mincemeat out of our greens.

The second year (2014), I fenced the area with 5 ft stakes and wire fence. No more deer here. this can be seen in the photo from my first post. I also started experimenting with using Zipgrow towers. The towers are located uphill near the power outlet. We still experienced mold and downy mildew. I also was regularly picking Mexican beetles (look like orange lady bugs or brown caterpillars) and stem boring worms from the cucumbers. Slugs, snails, and ants were a problem.

At the end of the year 2014, I laid plastic down on top of the ground as cover. I could not afford to put gravel or crushed shale so went with plastic and it has really worked well for 2015. The plastic killed many of the plants that was retaining moisture in the ground. It allowed water to drain away quickly. It reduced insects because they do not have a place to hide. It also reduced mud.

In 2015, the deer attacked the little grow house to get wild strawberries that were growing inside. I repaired it and decided to use the grow house for my hydroponics and start growing in the winter. I added aquarium lights and am in the process of growing collards, swiss chard, and cauliflower. The greenhouse has reduced some pests, but I must go out and pic snails and slugs off on a regular basis.