I want a garden to grow food, but I can’t dig outside!

I want a garden to grow food, but I can’t dig outside!

By: Master Gardener Deborah Bigelow

Maybe you don’t even have an “outside” - or physical limitations, or lack of sturdy and willing helpers have kept you from considering growing your own food.  Two solutions: 

 

Containers - many foods can be successfully grown in large nursery pots, or in buckets.  Herbs, lettuce, baby carrots, and many varieties of tomatoes do nicely in pots - if you have an outside doorstep that is in the sun, or a balcony or deck with sun exposure, place your containers in a suitable spot, then fill with soil.  A good friend of mine grows all her vegetables in buckets lining the edge of her driveway, because that’s the only part of her yard that gets sun! Follow planting and fertilizing directions to assure a harvest.  There is a wealth of information online and at your library on how to grow food in containers, and more and more seed companies are offering varieties specifically bred for containers.  You don’t need fancy or expensive pots, either - ask your neighbors for their discards!
 
Lasagna gardening - This method of making garden beds requires no strenuous digging at all - it utilizes the natural action of microbes to form productive soil where there previously was none. The principal is to allow Nature to make and keep soil in the condition it’s normally found:  undisturbed and covered with a layer of decomposed organic material.  If you have a patch of lawn that you would like to turn into a garden, or perhaps a persistently weedy section of your property that takes ‘way too much time to maintain, this is the method for you.  By not rototilling or digging in the ground, weed seeds are left undisturbed so they are not brought up to the surface to germinate.  Place layers of scrap cardboard or clean newsprint on the mowed ground (clippings left where they are), cover with a thick layer of organic mulch - wood chips, decomposed leaves, grass clippings, unfinished compost, or my favorite, animal manure mixed with bedding.  (If you have a neighbor with livestock or chickens, start cultivating that friendship!) Don’t layer grass clippings thickly - mix with chopped leaves, rotted straw, manure etc. to add loft to the mix so it doesn’t compact. Leave the mulch in place to decompose, ideally over a complete season, but depending on what mulch you use, you may be able to plant in just a few weeks (I have used a couple bags of purchased soil mix over the mulch layer, letting the plants find the rich nutrients below while they grow).  A substrate of rich compost will form over time, the bottom layer suppressing grass and weeds. Thus this method also overcomes the limitations of poor or clay soil. With minimal maintenance you will have a planting area needing only an annual cover of mulch to restore.  After the first year, avoid deep soil disturbance and use organic materials as mulch for your plants to keep weeds from germinating.  Much more on this method is available online.

Ask your Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners for help!  Call (585) 268-7644 ext. 23 and leave a detailed message.  We will research and reply!