Garden uses raised beds and sustainable methods
We’re excited to share a very successful southern vegetable garden. Mrs. Johnnie Speser started out as a complete beginner gardener and took on the task of creating a sustainable garden with all the vegetables that her family eats. See her wonderful raised bed garden using metal beds!
Johnnie’s Garden Story
I have always enjoyed growing flowers in a flower bed with the standard herbs. The pandemic happening is what really got me thinking about how to be more self-sustaining and also teach my three children (17,14 & 2) to be resourceful.
I knew I didn’t have much knowledge, so I went to the main source that I knew growing up, which was The Old Farmer’s Almanac. I didn’t know how to use the book, so I got online and subscribed to the daily newsletters, as well as going on rabbit trails that brought me all through the website from one link to the next, and so on.
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I also watched every video that Ben on GrowVeg ever made, trying to learn as much as possible, but then I saw his video about the Garden Planner. I felt like the heavens opened, and if I could just use this planner, I couldn’t go wrong.
I only started researching for three months before we built the birdie beds and filled them up with the soil and amendments I had learned from Mel with the square-foot gardening approach. I set up my garden in the planner, and I was off. I decided I would try to throw canning into the mix of learning if I had enough from what I was trying to grow to can it. I made a list of the vegetables that we love to eat as a family, bought my seeds, and put them into my planner and the planner then allowed me to add the companion plants for those vegetables with no worries at all. It was amazing how someone who is as unlearned as myself could grow this amazing garden.
One by one, seed by seed, they grew! And they grew amazingly! I even tried adding some vertical gardening to the mix. I even grew things we didn’t like, but family and friends did so I could bless them with some fresh produce. I felt overwhelmed at first, but the garden planner took all that anxiety away and even helped me with succession planting. Right along beside me was my 2-year-old helping me put in the seeds. I love that the planner can use square-foot gardening or the regular line way. As things grew, my hubby was so proud (and I think a little surprised) of what had transpired from the garden. He even enjoyed going and harvesting with me…especially the peas & nibbling on the pea leaves too.
Here in northwest Florida, we have a long growing season, and I was going to use every bit of it to get the most out of my garden and newfound passion. I’ve always been creative and loved working with my hands, but I felt so full of life and energy when I was in the garden. My passion for so long has been all things glass (stained glass, mosaic & fused glass). But now I was torn because I just wanted to be in my garden. As summer started to come on full force, so did the afternoon storms. My tomatoes looked so good
-until the blight came. It was so wet for so long, they just didn’t make it. We had sooo many cucumbers, both pickling and otherwise, that I was giving pounds of them to my family and pickling them, and I still had so many I was taking them to my doctor appointments for the docs and their staff. The number of cucumbers we had was insane, but sadly, there were no tomatoes to can. The garden planner helped me know what to grow with the corn to help give them nutrients as well as stability. The only thing the planner didn’t tell me about was the raccoons that like to eat corn! We were heartbroken, but this year, we are ready for those rascals!
I honestly couldn’t have grown all I did and be as healthy as we were without the guidance of the
Garden Planner and The Old Farmer’s Almanac. I knew it was game time, and I needed to go straight to the only reliable source I knew of. So I followed it to the letter. Learning all of the diseases and
pests and how to treat them organically is an ongoing learning process. We have 10 of the birdie
I started with 8-in-1 metal beds equal to about 311 cubic feet. This year, we are
adding some of the no-dig bedding to plant some sugar cane a neighbor gave me. I sure hope
my planner has something in it for sugar cane, oh, and homegrown peanuts! Can’t wait until
spring.
People think I’ve been doing this gardening stuff for years, but I tell them this was my first year, and I couldn’t have done it without my Old Farmer’s Almanac and videos and newsletters! They are the source of my power!
The Speser Garden Plan
(Milton, Florida)
The Results! Beautiful Garden Photos
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Catherine Boeckmann
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I would love to know how to keep my corn stalks from falling over after a good rain? I’ve felt with this year after year. I have had to go out and reinforce each stalk of corn, sometimes twice, only to have squirrels decimate the corn right before harvest.
Does anyone else have this problem? How does one prevent any of it? Thanks in advance!
Corn stalks blowing over after a storm or high winds can be a problem sometimes. Depending on the severity of the damage, the plant may recover on its own, or it may need some help, such as staking. In severe cases, the plant may not be recoverable. Damage is usually less if it happens before the ears develop. Yet, it is especially important to try to help the plant back to its upright position if it has started to tassel, as this will help pollination (which is caused by wind).
To prevent this problem (called “lodging”), sometimes it helps to mound soil around the base, to help secure the base of the plant during winds. Some gardeners have found it useful to place a stake at either side of a corn row and then tie four or so strings from one stake to the other. Place two strings at about 1 foot off the ground and 3 feet or so off the ground to run along one side of the row, and then do the same along the other side of the row. This can help to brace the corn plant when it gets heavy from rain or when winds are high.
If you live in a high wind area, you also might want to grow shorter varieties, which are usually not as susceptible to lodging. Encouraging good root growth (such as providing consistent moisture) can also help the plant to stand securely upright. Also keep an eye out for diseases and pests, such as the European corn borer, which can weaken the corn stalks.
As to squirrels, if you don’t have a lot of corn plants, perhaps try barriers, such as bird netting, bags, or row covers, wrapped around the developing ears (after pollination stage).
