My First Urban Sustainable Living Garden

I thought this would be the perfect demonstration farm, as it is about the same size as the average “three decker’s” back yard at 20’x 50’. The garden has 12—4x8 raised beds and 3—4x4 raised beds. I’ve also included an arbor and seating are so that I can enjoy the garden with others. . I believe that all gardens need seating area’s designed into them, that way the garden truly becomes an inviting outdoor experience. The more time spent in the garden the better it is for you and the garden, you will find yourself spontaneously tending and nurturing it.

I added concrete pavers which add to the urban industrial look. They are functional and I am a big believer of trying to get construction materials that are as cost effective as possible. When you are undergoing any renovation project, there are always unexpected costs that are beyond your control. The material costs are however completely under control. Keeping that in mind you don’t want to necessarily use the cheapest materials i.e. having to use 3 or more coats of paint due to the poor quality of paint can cost you more in the end.

The garden thrives behind its Japanese, Rashoman inspired gates. In the winter the garden beds act as compost bins. I always think of Joni Mitchell’s song “Parking Lot” when I look at it now. To go from cars to offices, school and garden, that’s my humble bit of urban renewal. The garden takes its design inspiration from the medieval and the monastic gardens of Europe and North Africa, with some good old fashioned New England Cottage gardening thrown in for good measure.

The organic gardening system I use is a bio-intensive, permaculture stacking design. Every thing is built modularly, so the animal cages, trellises and hoop house all fit standard in each raised bed. Here I can grow tons of garden vegetables for my family and friends with plenty left over to sell to the neighbors. The shed I have in the back is a 10x12 shed from JamaicaCottages.com. Domenic the owner gave us a great deal on all the sheds on the property. He does such great work using good looking materials.

Indoor Gardening

I began by taking over a small section of my house, the sun porch, and dedicating it to the indoor garden project for apartment dwellers as well as for the seedling factory for all my outdoor garden beds. This part of my house is south facing and gets pretty good natural light. I wanted to capitalize on the natural light so all the shelves in this area are up off the floor about fourteen inches so that as many shelves as possible can get the direct sunlight. I use the extra space for storage. I use graph paper for most of the planning. It’s great because you can easily create a scale and then a floor plan. I measure the room and the space and then I draw out my ideas. At this stage it is easy to change my mind; I can simply erase it and start over. By creating a design on paper I am able to go to catalogues and websites and make sure anything I need will fit and work in the space.

My sun porch is south facing so I know that I want to use the free energy from the sun as much as possible, and I design my indoor garden space accordingly. Because I plan on buying everything off the rack it is important the drawings are accurate to at least the inch. This area is 13’ by 6’, which gives me plenty of space for my seedlings. I have to say, I went a bit crazy and started over 1200 seedlings in this space and help plant not only my own garden, but a bunch of my neighbor’s gardens as well.

Raised Beds in the City

Using raised beds in the city is essential for Urban Sustainable Living. The use of raised beds in my system allows you to maximize your growing space. It also modularizes the garden and brings the garden to you, taking the back breaking work out of gardening.

Raised beds are great for people with disabilities allowing them to get outside, be physical without having to go beyond what they are physically capable. Raised beds are essential because in my system they house the chickens that fertilize and ‘til the soil. Raised beds also allow you to extend your growing season by easily creating micro climates using hoop houses or high tunnels.

Building a Raised Bed

Building a Raised Bed is the first step towards living an Urban Sustainable Lifestyle. There are many different ways and materials you can choose to build your raised bed. Personally I use regular old dimensional lumber. There are advantages and disadvantages to this material. The advantages are that it is relatively inexpensive, easy to cut and screw together. The disadvantages are that because the lumber is in contact with the soil, will eventually rot away. If I get seven years out of a bed then I am happy. I extend the life of my beds by painting them with milk paint after they have been outside for one year. I have also treated some lumber with linseed oil with pretty decent results.

Never use pressure treated wood. It has been chemically treated and those chemicals can leach out into your soil and poison you slowly. I am dying to try recycled plastic lumber for my beds at some point, recycled plastic lumber, although more expensive it can last virtually forever.

The tools you will need are a Screw gun and a saw. I personally get the people at the home supply store to precut my lumber for me, it is easier to transport that way and saves me lots of time. The raised beds I build are based on four foot beds and eight foot beds; this is also the general standard for lumber. Lumber comes in 8, 10, and 12' + lengths, so this allows less cutting, which means less waste. I use 2x10x8' lumber for the construction of my raised beds. To build one 4x4 raised bed I buy four pieces of 8' lumber and have the store cut them into 8-4’ pieces. They’re now lighter and you’ll be able to transport them home easily in your car. Don’t forget to buy 4”galvanized screws to assemble the raised beds. If you’ll be rotating and housing chickens or rabbits in them, make sure you fasten galvanized wire to the bottom with screws and washers so your chickens will be safe from predators.

Each four foot bed requires about 32 cubic feet of soil. Today you can buy highly enriched organic soil at your garden center, but I prefer to make my own with my livestock and other compostable materials that would normally be hauled away. Check out the video for more information, and get on building that raised bed.

Lawns to Edible Landscapes

Composting and Vermiculture

The compost bin I use in my video is the easiest and inexpensive type to make. Just purchase galvanized metal 4 feet tall by 5 feet long. I’m using a ½ inch mesh 19mm galvanized wire. I make a cylinder with it and attach the ends with the wire that is used and comes with the roll. It’s light weight so I can place it any where I need it on my lawn. I start filling the compost bin with all of the leaves that are around it on my lawn. What a great workout! I want to make sure that I include only leaves, pine needles, and small twigs. Large branches won’t compost as fast as the leaves and weeds may contain seeds that are not wanted in my compost... Kitchen scraps may attract unwanted pests. As the winter goes by the leaves will begin to decompose and turn into compost. As that happens I can continue adding more leaves. In a few months I can pop off the wire and spread out the compost on my lawn. It’s the perfect addition to kick start my lawn or garden in early spring. There are different types of compost bins you can make. Check out 2 other types I have around my house.

The problems I encountered when I first started out in gardening, in retrospect, can all be traced back to my lack of understanding of the soil and the biological processes going on inside. Rodale said it best in the 1930’s, healthy soil=health plants=healthy people. Controlling and understanding these processes which happen at a microscopic level doesn’t require a degree in bio chemistry. The process are totally natural and to some degree spontaneous. What it requires is lots of organic material, leaves, manure, anything.

The easiest thing to do is to create you own home compost system. There are many ways to compost organic material, and here is one of them based on the 4’ x 4’ construction model. This particular system is designed to also act as my main vermiculture factory, where hopefully I can breed thousands of composting worms. The idea is to get the bin to serve the garden it too useful ways. One, make compost so that I can fertilize and enhance the soil throughout the farm. The other is to create worms as supplementary feed for my poultry and aquaculture projects.

Worms are the true engine of my farm. I use “red wiggler” worms that I get from the Cape Cod Worm farm and Maggie Pipkin(www.capecodewormfarm.com). The worms rapidly break down the organic matter and turn it into nutrients for the plants that are readily acceptable to the plants as they grow.

The R2D2 factory I have built here are my standard small size garden beds stacked on top of each other. I installed simple 2” x 3” supports in the corners. I have left a gap between the boards so the compost has access to oxygen. I placed a second hand skylight on top so that I can regulate the heat and humidity easily.

At the bottom of the bin I installed hinges and latches so that when the compost is ready I can flip up the bottom and rake out the compost. Hopefully “compost crank” will send me a crank so that I can stir it up frequently (hint...hint).

Blueberries

Blueberries are a very versatile plant. Some blueberry varieties can easily be grown in containers on a patio, balcony, fire escape, or sunny porch. Other blueberry varieties grow to be over 10 feet tall and make a great hedge row. Blueberries need acidic soil, sunlight, and well drained water. Use pine needles as mulch to keep the soil acidic and make sure you weed. Blueberries are high in anti oxidants and a great plant to grow when you have kids. Blueberries ripen in July and can start bearing fruit for you in the first year.

Vertical Gardening

Vertical gardening is a must in order to maximize your growing space when growing vining plants. Cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, and grapes all can be grown in small spaces by planting them along a fence, an arbor, or building a support yourself like the one featured in my video. My in-laws in New Hampshire grew watermelons a few years back and they were some of the best watermelons I ever tasted. From then on I was determined to grow watermelon in the city. The best types are sugar baby or any small ice box (refrigerator) size watermelon variety. Cucumbers, watermelon and pumpkins are all susceptible to wilt which can kill the plant before fully fruiting. There are a few things you can do to try to prevent your plants from dying, but none of them fool proof. Another neat idea is to transform a chain link fence you have. I’ve incorporated chain link in my garden with great results.
So many of us in the city have chain link fences. What better way to make them beautiful and useful than to grow juicy grapes. I lived in Los Feliz, CA for 6 months and the back chain link fence had a beautiful and prolific collection of grapevines. Grapes don’t fruit in the first year, but you can use the grape leaves for a wonderful Greek inspired meal. Greek neighbors of mine bring their parents to pick grape leaves and make fresh authentic Mediterranean dishes. Watch my videos on vertical gardening and let me know what you think.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are delicious right out of the garden. I find that it is a vegetable that a large number of people can agree on. I’ve planted many types of heirloom cucumbers, all distinctive in flavor and color.

Try a few different types for yourself. I’ve found that Medium sized varieties that begin bearing fruit around 55 days work best in an urban garden. Don’t forget to save seeds for next year. I love using cucumbers when they are in season daily. Cucumbers add a hydrating crunchiness to my salads.