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The 100% organic garden by M. Spalding is truly stunning, featuring four small raised beds and a small greenhouse. The gardener used the companion planting feature for the first time and claimed they had almost no pests! Coincidence? See the raised garden plan and a virtual garden tour.
Spalding’s Garden Story
This garden is for my family and me. My partner built the greenhouse where tomatoes thrive all summer, and where I get an early start on seedlings. He also built the cedar-raised beds that were all planted using the Garden Planner.
I printed out each segment of the season from early spring to late summer. I focused on organic gardening. I did not use fertilizer other than home-brewed compost tea. I also tried companion planting for the first time, which I learned about from the Garden Planner, and I love the option in the Garden Planner to see companion options for every vegetable! I had almost no pests to deal with all season. I let the spiders stay, and they help, too. I’ve learned to work around them and let them do their job.
I will not plant broccoli again because the yield doesn’t warrant the space required since we have only four boxes. The one plant did not produce much but took up a lot of space. I added two potato boxes that are not shown in the plan. I had a great crop of red potatoes! Two years ago, I learned that carrot seedlings cannot be moved. So, last season, I planted them in place and had an amazing yield. The few I needed to move were sort of deformed, but they still tasted good. I can’t seem to grow happy kale, but I will keep trying. The lettuce was prolific, as were the mini cukes. We had lots of healthy bush beans all summer; those were planted next to the zucchini. I planted nasturtium, dill, and borage in with the asparagus, and that produced really well. I had tons of parsley in the same box that I ended up dehydrating and jarring and we have been using all winter.
This is the best garden I have had so far, and the Garden Planner definitely gets some credit for that.
Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
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