Best container gardening books according to redditors
We found 94 Reddit comments discussing the best container gardening books. We ranked the 17 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 94 Reddit comments discussing the best container gardening books. We ranked the 17 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...
(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)
Medical:
Where there is no doctor
Where there is no dentist
Emergency War Surgery
The survival medicine handbook
Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine
Special Operations Medical Handbook
Food Production
Mini Farming
encyclopedia of country living
square foot gardening
Seed Saving
Storey’s Raising Rabbits
Meat Rabbits
Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step
Storey’s Chicken Book
Storey Dairy Goat
Storey Meat Goat
Storey Ducks
Storey’s Bees
Beekeepers Bible
bio-integrated farm
soil and water engineering
Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation
Food Preservation and Cooking
Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing
Steve Rinella’s Small Game
Ball Home Preservation
Charcuterie
Root Cellaring
Art of Natural Cheesemaking
Mastering Artesian Cheese Making
American Farmstead Cheesemaking
Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse
Wild Fermentation
Art of Fermentation
Nose to Tail
Artisan Sourdough
Designing Great Beers
The Joy of Home Distilling
Foraging
Southeast Foraging
Boletes
Mushrooms of Carolinas
Mushrooms of Southeastern United States
Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast
Tech
farm and workshop Welding
ultimate guide: plumbing
ultimate guide: wiring
ultimate guide: home repair
off grid solar
Woodworking
Timberframe Construction
Basic Lathework
How to Run A Lathe
Backyard Foundry
Sand Casting
Practical Casting
The Complete Metalsmith
Gears and Cutting Gears
Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment
Machinery’s Handbook
How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic
Electronics For Inventors
Basic Science
Chemistry
Organic Chem
Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving
Ham Radio
AARL Antenna Book
General Class Manual
Tech Class Manual
MISC
Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft
Contact!
Nuclear War Survival Skills
The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm
Great work!
I put in several similar beds last spring as well. I've been gardening for nearly a decade now, but this is my first year doing raised beds using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot method. I plan to dabble in some permaculture techniques eventually.
I can't say enough about the Square foot gardening if you want to maximize the yield in smaller spaces. I grew 8 tomatoes using the described method--1 plant per square foot--and several others using my previous method of "let 'em bush out like mad".
For larger indeterminate tomatoes, I'll never go back to the bush growing ways. The bush method works best for determinate and small tomatoes like cherries or grapes. For the square foot method the idea is to build an 8ft tall trellis and train them vertically. Pinch all suckers off once or twice weekly, which results in a single vertical stem/vine per plant rather than a giant tomato bush.
You'll get less yield per plant, but considerably higher yield per square foot of space. Tomatoes grown this way ripen quickly, and entire sets of fruit ripen together. The fruit is more uniform and less likely to be damaged by pests, and it's dramatically easier to harvest. It takes a bit more management to keep them pruned and trained, but it's well worth it come harvest time. I can't suggest it enough.
The square foot method isn't as great for some other veggies, however. Brassicae (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc) need way more than 1 sq foot per plant. Want to grow squash or melon? Better dedicate an entire bed to it. I was shocked at how well it works for tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, salad greens, herbs, etc though.
All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yZ8LBbKQCG5AP
its gorgeous!
Best book i ever read on that sort of thing
The after-dinner gardening book by Richard W Langer
That's him. And I've been informed it's 10 years since I set this garden up using his book.
www.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536030570&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=all+new+square+foot+gardening+2nd+edition&dpPl=1&dpID=61WJIemI
Ooh! Ooh! This sounds fun. I put some time into this when I should have been working, so I hope it helps.
1) Pruners - $20.49
This will be your most used tool. Eventually, you can upgrade into Felcos or Bahcos, but right now just get these Coronas. They're honestly a better size for hobby gardeners (fit right in your pocket), and the're very high quality for the price.
2) Your First Gardening Book - $17.06
Gardening Without Work by Ruth Stout. It's simple and gives you a general plan that really does work very well. It's a must for beginning gardeners, imho. You can find just about any other information you need on the internet (for now). Very little maintenance required, including fertilizing, weeding, applying pesticides, etc. (In a nutshell, the main step involves putting down an 8" layer of mulch...).
If you want to go with a more traditional raised bed setup, you should buy Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. It's a fantastic back yard gardening book, as well, but the methods are kind of pricey and less sustainable. Still, it's a great system for growing a lot of food in limited space and it was the first book I used.
3) Indestructible Garden Trowel - $15.99
This will be your second most used tool. This particular model is about as indestructible as it gets short of this bad boy. You'll use it for digging holes for transplanting, mostly. Don't buy a cheap one or it will bend or break or both.
4) Fertilizer - $7.83 + $11.06 = $24.26
I chose cottonseed meal because that's what Ruth Stout recommends using (the rest of the nutrients in her system come from the giant mounds of mulch). Apply as she indicates.
I also added some Fish Emulsion Liquid Fertilizer because I love the stuff. It's a great way to add some extra nitrogen (and just a little P & K) mid season to your veggies or even to your compost pile when it gets carbon heavy. The stuff I have right now stinks, but the plants love it and it's easy to apply if you have a watering can.
Make sure you tailor your fertilizer to whatever system you're using, though. Don't fertilize like Ruth if you're not using her mulch based system. If you're using Square Foot Gardening, you won't be fertilizing at all, but you will be using lots of peat, vermiculite, and (different kinds of) compost. Etc, etc, etc.
5) Work Gloves - $10.97
These are specifically for women, but there's a button to switch to men's if that's you. You won't wear them all the time, but you'll be happy you have them when you need them. Notice that this comes with 6 pairs of gloves. I misplace gloves all the time, so having several is handy (hehe).
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Total: $88.77
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Notes:
The other reason there are no seeds on my list is because I don't recommend buying them on Amazon. I've had bad experiences every time I've tried it. If you need seeds, go with a good seed dealer, like Johnny's Selected Seeds, Burpee, etc, or find a good nursery in your area.
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TL;DR: Pruners, a book to get you started, a durable trowel, fertilizer that is specific to your growing plan, and some gloves. Enjoy!
Ah I see. Well here are some things on my list, I think it's different from gardener to gardener.
seed starter with heat
Kevlar sleeves for prickly plants and tomatoes that make me itch
seed stamp for planting
square foot gardening book
knee pads
garden clogs
gloves I go through gloves like crazy!
plant markers
gardening set just some basic tools
bucket organizer
of course there are lots of other things that you might want like seeds, tomato cages, kits for building your own raised beds they are all available from amazon, so it really depends on what you like and want to grow. I don't know if this helps you any? Maybe plan out your garden and what you want to grow then you'll know what you need?
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
For those just getting started, Square Foot Gardening is great, it's a good starting point for getting in the habit of maintaining a garden, for making good use of small spaces, and for learning about gardening.
How to Grow More Vegetables is a fantastic book. It is a great reference book on sustainable gardening, and self-sufficiency gardening. It is used by several programs as a textbook to teach sustinence gardening in third-world countries.
Carrots Love Tomatoes is a great book for learning about companion planting.
I just ordered Gardening When it Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times. I haven't read it yet, so I can't give a review, but it is reviewed very favorably. My understanding is that it presents a more old-fashioned, traditional method of gardening that requires less water, less fertilization, etc.
Good luck, and let us know what you think of any books you try!
Square Foot Gardening.
Whoa! One or the other. One of the biggest reasons people drop out of gardening as a hobby is that they start with too much - too big a plot, too ambitious a plan. Start small.
https://www.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
Hi, I ran a garden consulting business for several years and worked with a number of preppers.
The one book you want is called The Square Foot Garden, it allows you to maximize the space you have available. One 4'x4'x6" is capable of pulling out hundreds of pounds of produce if you follow the instructions.
All of this is worthless information unless you start learning gardening in your free time.
There's definitely some community gardens in your area. Either ran by a community college, church group, or gardening group. You need to start volunteering there, or be willing to start your own garden. You can start a high potential Square Foot Garden for about $150.
Everyone's first garden is going to have a lot of failures. It takes a few years of growing to really get the hang of it.
You wouldn't go out and buy an airplane for SHTF without taking some time to learn how to fly it. It would be a disaster if you never started the engine and now you're flipping through a manual trying to learn how to fly. The same is true with gardening. Only practical experience is useful.
https://extension.umd.edu/hgic
Consider signing up for gardening classes, lectures, and seminars. Try your local extension service, garden clubs, botanical gardens, and plant nurseries. Youtube has a wealth of information, but it may not apply to where you are. There's a regional aspect to growing.
Start gardening where you are right now. Skip trying to start things from seeds (it's July), and just see if you can keep some herbs alive in pots for now, like basil or mint. Learn to cook from scratch and how to can/preserve/ferment your food. Reddit, youtube, and the internet in general is full of countless resources on this and other related topics, everything from r/gifrecipes to r/cooking to /r/EatCheapAndHealthy/ to r/baking to r/homebrewing - and of course there's tons of garden-related subreddits.
Buying your actual piece of land is step #4209 of homesteading, not #1. Without experience, you'll have no way of evaluating whether the land actually fits what you want to do or not.
Here's two books to consider, to help you learn how to garden where you are currently -
https://www.amazon.com/Grow-Great-Grub-Organic-Food-from-Small-Spaces/dp/0307452018/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8
https://www.amazon.com/The-Urban-Homestead-Expanded-Revised-Edition-Your-Guide-to-Self-Sufficient-Living-in-the-Heart-of-the-City-Process-Self-reliance-Series/dp/1934170100/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8
I have to also recommend the Square Foot Gardening book, mostly for all it has to offer someone who is kind of starting with the basics. Once I read that I then branched off to various web sites, including reddit. MIGardener, while in Michigan and not at all your climate or mine, has tons of videos on youtube that are great for the beginner. If you follow him on Facebook you'll get a notification when he puts up a new video on youtube (though he has enough now you could lose a whole weekend watching them). He also just started selling seeds for $0.99, so if you're looking for an online seller, there you go.
My first garden, a 4' x 4' raised bed, was done strictly according to the Square Foot Gardening (SFG) method. I learned so much that first season about timing, soil, watering, etc., and even had some very successful veggies! My second season didn't go so well but that had nothing to do with what I had or hadn't learned. This is my third season and I've started several plants inside, ready to put them into my garden in a month or so. I will still be using all that I learned from my SFG book though I have a better idea of what plants I can crowd more than he recommends. Regardless, the book is still vital reference material for me. I even consulted it Saturday night for some seedling information.
For the existing plants, you might want to google them specifically (ie, 'pruning rosemary' or 'caring for my rosemary bush'). I got a ruled notebook and made one page per veggie/fruit that I was interested in and noted the information I found that was specifically important to me. The other stuff just kind of lays dormant in your brain until you get more involved in gardening and then it just pops out when needed! Good luck and enjoy! (I too plant tomatoes though I don't care for them much, unless in pico de gallo. I started 8 different types this season because it's so fun to watch them grow!!)
https://smile.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486443200&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening
My wife bought square foot gardening and has been getting decent results playing around the last couple years. We’ve had tomatoes, kale, spinach, cucumbers, squash, eggplant...bunch of herbs, micro greens, etc. built 2 3X9 beds from materials purchased at Home Depot and pretty much followed that guys advice.
Edit: She says we are like 7A/6B so should be similar. The only thing that failed was corn because we didn’t have enough space to plant enough to make it work.
"All New Square Foot Gardening" book by Mel Bartholomew.
I own a business doing gardening consulting, training, and installs. The Square Foot Garden technique is simply the best and easiest and the methodology behind it brain-dead-simple. Any time I'm at a prepper fair I'm the guy hanging out with the old ladies in the "grow your own food!" booth, have a gay old time chatting it up about azaleas and squash.
If you want simple and results for cheap there is not another technique out there and this one book covers everything. I have not yet come across a use-case where the SFG was not the best for a gardening beginner. There are advanced techniques to gardening not covered in this book, but this book is the golden ticket.
Note: the old ladies also recommend this book.
Hi! Honestly I think that what you're doing is the way to do it. Start small, take time to learn what each plant wants, and then slowly build things up. The biggest thing to learn is how to watch the plant. What does it look like when it's thirsty? When it wants more light? Less light? When it's overwatered? What does the soil feel like when it needs to be watered?
When I get a new kind of plant, I sometimes kill it before I figure out what to do. It sometimes takes me a few tries until I get it right. Don't beat yourself up if it's not all going perfectly. Just keep staying conscious, growing and learning.
Plants often need to be repotted when you get them - look underneath the pot and see if you can see roots sticking out. If they're sticking out it wants a slightly bigger home. Rule of thumb I've always heard is to go with a pot 2" larger than the one it's in. I personally like terra cotta pots (the simplest) but other people will have other opinions.
People have lots of different ways of caring for plants so I'm sure people will chime in with other (and possibly conflicting) ideas.
A few resources that might help you out:
ASPCA has a great website for looking up what's poisonous to cats
When I'm googling each plant for care instructions I try to stick to websites ending in .edu. These are often ag extensions with amazing information that I can trust.
IF you prefer books to webpages, I've found these to be helpful:
They're both quite old, but the info is solid.
Northeast U.S. I am fortunate to have access to land that my family owns on the outskirts of a city. Don't let your situation hold you back though, you can get experience growing things at any scale. I recommend checking out container gardening, helping someone in their garden, finding a community garden you could rent some space in, or volunteering at a farm.
Experiment, fail, learn, and have fun.
I am asthmatic so bad air days can be really bad for me. I have a special filter on my furnace which, was recommended by my allergist. And houseplants, lots of house plants. I have a variety of plants from philodendron, airplane plants to ficus and even an avocado tree. There are plants in most of the rooms in my home and it does make a difference.
You can add plants to your house by doing kitchen gardening. By that I mean you can plant seeds from avocados, oranges, lemons all kind of plants. This book is a great guide to growing plants for you house from the foods you eat: https://www.amazon.com/After-Dinner-Gardening-Book-Richard-Langer/dp/0898154502
I have had this book for years. I think I got it in 1974 and it is fun to read and give great guidance for growing plants.
All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0BXJAbCB1CWG0
We did raised beds when we lived in town. Check out the book All New Square Foot Gardening. Lots of good info in there.
Since you say that you live in a rural area do you live in a house with a yard? One really good way of saving money on food is to start a garden. Gardening is a skill that is fun and can be learned. It is also a fun hobby. If you use the raised bed method then there is almost no maintenance work needed once you have it all set up. Another popular method is Square Foot Gardening. If you use permaculture methods then there is no need to constantly buy fertilizer.
From September to November we will be spending $0 on buying fruit. The apple and pear trees from the community garden provides all the fruit we need for this period. All you can eat pears and apples does get a bit boring after a while though. We have enough winter squash to last us into next year.
Our community garden patch is 30x30 feet. We don't grow food on all of it. It supplies most of our vegetables during the fall.
We kind of overdid it on the Swiss Chard this year. Been eating way to much of that stuff. The beets were nice this year as well. (Don't forget that you can eat beet greens.) Still eating the potatoes from the fall harvest. Hopefully they will last till Christmas but I'm not sure. The New Zealand spinach was nice as well. The yellow zucchini was really nice. The tomatoes were wonderful.
Baker Creek Herloom seeds has a very useful website. Under all of their plants they have reviews. Also if you go to their Facebook page they have a guy named Matt that teaches a lot about gardening on their live feeds. Also a good starter book that I enjoyed just staring out was [square foot gardening ](All New Square Foot Gardening II: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xoHRybVDJT2Y6)
And The [Vegetable Gardener's Bible ](The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, 2nd Edition: Discover Ed's High-Yield W-O-R-D System for All North American Gardening Regions: Wide Rows, Organic Methods, Raised Beds, Deep Soil https://www.amazon.com/dp/160342475X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fpHRybBXSA45A) if you have any gardening questions you can PM if you would like and I would love to help.
Also I'll compile a list of my favorite resources for gardening.
Planted Junk - redesign trash as planters https://www.amazon.com/Planted-Junk-Approach-Container-Gardening/dp/184172159X
Consider adapting used toys for students with different abilities. (how can we make a scooter work for someone who has limited use of their legs)
You can always build bridges out of index cards, popsicles, etc. and design a method for testing their strength.
How can we redesign the physical spaces in our classroom/playground/office to support positive interactions among students, staff, and community?
While I don't have experience with this Lowe's version, the concept is pretty standard and is one that my wife and I used in the past. The concept is called "Square foot gardening" and the idea is to plant a different crop in each square. Now considering that this raised bed is 48" squared and the number of squares are 6 in one direction and 5 in the other (as opposed to 4 in both directions), what you plant is going to be a bit more cramped.
Personally, I didn't like the idea and we just use raised beds that I built myself. You have to be very calculating regarding how you plant things. This is obviously a good thing. I just didn't like the super duper planning that it called for. My garden is currently 16'x24' and I have a good number of raised beds, so I don't need to be so perfect when it comes to the amount of space I use.
When buying something like this, realize that you could probably make this yourself for $20 or less. If you're being sold solid materials and it's less than $30 bucks, I'd say go for it and buy it. If the markup is high, forget it! Remember, 2 2x8 ($5 each) and some nails or screws (which you probably have already) are all you need. You can use anything to mark those squares. If you don't want to spend any more money, you can simply drill screws along the frame at 1' intervals and string yarn or anything of the like across.
edit: clarity
Here is a good starter book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1591865484
You can use this method for small containers that you put on your balcony.
And a good reference book http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603424768
Good luck!
I loved The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible.
Awesome work! Gardening is fun, and a lot of work!
I was just given This Book it has helped me tremendously with my garden this year. Definitely worth the read and something to take into consideration for next year :) Lots of great advice on how to make your garden more manageable, easier to maintain, more fruitful, and less expensive.
Can you be more specific?
Plants depend on the climate, season, soil depth, companion planting, sun and shadow availability. Planting in a rooftop doesn't affect that. I'm in Mexico City, so I can plant most plants during most of the year.
You can use this map to find your hardiness zone (if it's Vienna, which I'm guessing from your history, it's zone 6). And use a hardiness zone planting guide:
http://veggieharvest.com/calendars/zone-6.html
http://www.almanac.com/plants/hardiness-zone/6
As for cultivation techniques, with limited space you should be looking at intensive gardening techniques:
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/intensive.html
I'd go for square foot gardening, it's nice and simple.
Please let me know if any of this is unclear, or if you were looking for something else.
Just start small and you will learn a little more each season. I started last year in pretty much the same place, with a square foot garden. Ordered some seeds from a seed library local to my region. I was shocked that anything at all came up from those seeds! I grew a huge crop of the most beautiful and wonderful simple vegetables in two 4x4 boxes. (cucumbers, tomatos, lettuce, carrots). Some sort of beatle attacked all of my green beans. And the lettuce grew quick in the early spring but most of it rotted in the ground because who can eat that much lettuce! Now I try to share the excess.. I ended up giving away bags and bags of cucumbers on craigs list and made my very first batch of homeade tomato sauce at the end of summer! This year we added a compost bin and a third box. We are flush with radishes right now - which come up super quick :) http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464224162&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+garden
Well, four that I can think of off the top of my head would have to be:
Also, here's a channel on YouTube that has an ENDLESS amount of organic gardening information. GrowingYourGreens
You absolutely must get this book: The Bountiful Container. It's said to be the bible for vegetable container gardening, full of info, and it's written so delightfully that you want to run out and plant all the things.
>growing my own food
You say that like it's a bad thing! Growing our own food is one of the most powerful things regular people can do to help break the vile corporate stranglehold we find ourselves locked into. You'd be surprised how much food you can grow in a relatively small space, with relatively little effort. This book and its associated Wikipedia entry outline a good method.
Second the "Square Foot Gardening" book. Also check out "Earthly Delights", "Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces", and "Vertical Gardening".
The Square Foot Gardening book really helped me out. It's easy to read, has a whole section dedicated to the different types of garden bed layouts, and a glossary in the back for different plants that goes over when to plant/harvest and what sunlight conditions they do best in. You don't have to have a square foot garden to benefit from this book.
*Edit You should also research the zone you are in to get a better understanding of frost dates. These will tell you when the best times to plant or transplant are as well as how long your growing season is. Also, determine how the sun crosses your property. Doing so will help you determine the best location to start your garden.
Get some self watering pots from Walmart. That's what I started with. They have a reservoir at the bottom that holds water and gets wicked up by the soil to the roots during the day.
You should be able to get these books from your library:
The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible
and
McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: Create Container Gardens of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
These are two of the first books I found on the subject and they came in handy.
Thanks! Its a great project that can teach alot and just keeps giving. Its an 80/20 thing. How to get 80% of a full size garden in 20% of the space with minimum effort. The guy who wrote the book on it, Mel Barthlolmew was an engineer who specialized in efficiency...So he does a pretty good job, though the book reads goofy AF.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1591865484/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525897028&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=square+foot+gardening+book+by+mel+bartholomew
Square Foot Gardening can be a good way to get started with raised beds. It has suggestions for plants, spacing and what to fill your beds with. There's also a helpful book.
Over all, just keep in mind that you want to start with what you can handle, what you like to eat, and maybe 1 or 2 things to experiment with. :)
For herbs, make sure you understand which ones come back every year and which ones (like mint!) tend to spread so you don't end up with a mess a couple years down the road.
Oh, and for filling for your raised bed, if you have a garden store or nursery near you they will sell and deliver dirt/compost/etc to fill your bed with. Hardware stores also often provide the same services.
I will be planting cilantro and lettuce from seed shortly. I'm in Michigan zone 6a.
*****
Get the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. Now read it and try to understand some basic concepts, like when to plant certain plants, how much to fertilize, when to water, etc.
Basic concepts.
Stuff that's easy to grow.
DO NOT GROW THESE. They spread terribly.
We were using reclaimed barn wood for most of them until the wood fell apart. I think it was mostly 2x8s and 2x6s. There were a couple of 2x12s that we were lucky enough to find and grow some carrots in last year. With raised beds, I love to recommend starting with square foot gardening if you've never done it before because it teaches you so much about soil preparation and maximizing space... Plus the book is a fun read: https://smile.amazon.com/All-Square-Foot-Gardening-Revolutionary/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525783437&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening+book+by+mel+bartholomew
Here is 9.99 Kindle book on my wishlist. Thanks for the contest!
And because Imgur won't let me edit anything in my post via mobile, I will add more info here! I spent about two months researching container growing fruit trees/edible tree/bush before deciding to start with a blood orange and my favorite, lemonade. I'm hoping this helps someone else who might think they can't have a fruit tree due to space.
Although I bought trees on dwarfing rootstock (often called flying dragon rootstock, as that's the plant used to give it stunted growth), you do not need a tree marketed as dwarf. Using a container will naturally impede the process of growth, in addition to pruning.
This is very important because each type of rootstock will give different qualities to the root health. Pick the rootstock that works best for your growing conditions. The book Grow a Little Fruit Tree was invaluable for its information on rootstock alone, although it's geared towards deciduous trees and not evergreens like citrus.
Another helpful book for container gardening that helped me jumpstart my information search was The Bountiful Container. It's American oriented, not Aussie, but lots of helpful principles and ideas all the same.
Another great read, and useful, is this write-up on Daley's Fruit Tree Nursery about using bags (containers) to restrict tree growth in order to net better fruit production. Size restriction can help to produce more per hectare than just letting a tree go (which would be suicide to a home orchard anyways).
Second what u/GrandmaGos says. Companion planting is mostly folklore. I do a little of it myself but I always plant my rosemary with carrots, lavender next to onions, and basil with tomatoes. But it also attracts pollinators which is important.
My mom had a community garden for a large group of kids in a local summer day camp program. Our favorites were strawberries and carrots. Most kids hated veggies and growing their own and seeing how sweet home-grown carrots were made a huge impression on a lot of kids.
For reading, I recommend Raised Bed Revolution, I got some really great plans from that book that look very nice. I also like Square Foot Gardening if you haven't read that already.
Since its a library you're at, is there anyway for the summer you could have little garden craft classes for the kids? That could be fun and keep them interested / invested. Have crafts like painting stones with the names of all the plants for plant markers. Learn about local wildflowers to attract pollinators?
Same book on Amazon UK
>Really, I want mini donkeys more than anything but fear we don't have quite enough space.
If you were only getting the donkeys, and were willing to devote the whole property to them, I'd say you had enough space, but with everything else you want to do, I think you would end up having to confine the donkey to a smaller area than would be good for them. Goats don't need as much space, but they are going to be hard to contain.
And don't try to do too much at once. I started with bees, and I'm really glad I didn't try to do chickens at the same time. It would have been too much to manage. I've now had the chickens for over a year, and I finally have a good system down, so I think I will be able to add something new next year.
Get a copy of Gaia's Garden and Square Foot Gardening. That will be enough to get you started.
http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Edition/dp/1591865484
If you're looking for a vegetable gardening book, my favorite one is Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It's got everything you need to know about successfully starting and growing a basic vegetable garden from scratch.
I think the best part about this book is that the methods explained in it are pretty much a fool-proof way of growing great plants the very first time. As you gain more first-hand experience, you can start to add, remove or tweak things that make will improve your garden even more.
Square foot gardening is a game changer. Your local library will have a copy, and it's a quick read. A very small square foot garden plot (which you have space for) fed 2 of us all season.
You're supposed to wait until May for a good reason: weather fluctuations. One night of frost will kill seedlings and young plants. Are you starting with seed? Or buying transplants? Transplants are so much easier, but limited on variety. Peppers and tomatoes are great for containers--they love warm soil, which is easier to obtain in a container, and lots of sunshine. Try mini or dwarf versions of each. Mulch around them to protect them from water loss and chilly (but not freezing) nights.
I started gardening in containers, too. This has been my bible: http://www.amazon.com/McGee-Stuckeys-Bountiful-Container-Vegetables/dp/0761116230
There are a surprisingly many things you can grow in pots: herbs, lettuce, green onions, even peaches and apples. The author even suggests specific varieties that are compatible with growing in containers. Good luck.
I read the book Lasagna Gardening for Small Spaces, and it has some really handy tables for what size containers are best suited for your vegetables. Check to see if your local library has it. Or, head to B&N and just skim the tables in the book.
I cannot recommend the Square Foot Gardening book more. All that is required to start is a 4' x 4' raised bed, some soil, a small garden shovel and some seeds and/or plant starts. Its method uses intensive companion planting to naturally reduce the likelihood of pests, and increase yields in a limited amount of space.
There are lots of videos on Youtube to get started, too.
It looks great, but I have criticism:
This looks like a rooftop terrace. Lightweight planters filled with dwarf conifers surrounded by annuals, perennials and grasses would look very nice.
Lightweight planters:https://www.amazon.de/Scheurich-Coneo-Pflanzgef%C3%A4%C3%9F-Sand-40/dp/B01MCV4U29/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1492360251&sr=8-4&keywords=lightweight+planters
A guide to container gardening would probably be helpful too:
https://www.amazon.de/Ultimate-Container-Garden-David-Joyce/dp/0711210098/ref=sr_1_15?s=books-intl-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1492360711&sr=1-15&keywords=container+garden#reviewBucketHeader
or this:https://www.amazon.de/Container-Expert-D-G-Hessayon/dp/0903505436/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NV6PFNNJMSNTXM2VSHYN
a good way to get into vegetable gardening is to try square foot gardening. you do not have to use a fancy raised bed, it can be made with cinderblocks but the methods are great for a beginner since it is all outlined in this book. Mel Bartholomew has a proven method that is easy to follow and does not require much in the way of supplies other than soil and seeds.
I enjoyed The Bountiful Container by Mrs. Stuckey and Nichols McGee. Mrs Nichols McGee runs a nursery not too far from me and I've had the pleasure of emailing with her a few times and she is delightful.
This is an amazing book for learning what can fit where. Remember that it is more for advanced gardeners so start small. Use it as a guide on long term plans.
This is a great guide to low-cost or free soil creation/amendment It also has a great guide to growing almost every veggie/herb. It works amazingly as a substitution for the very expensive recommended soil in This great guide to planting closer together to avoid weeds
Some ideas for reducing water usage:
Sub-Irrigation (there are a great many ways to do this, this is just one)
Hugelkultur Looks like shit but creates an amazing wood "sponge" under your gardens. After 2 years you pretty much don't need to water again (if done correctly). You also get a constant stream of nutrients from the wood breaking down. It is possible to "contain" hugelkultur beds to create more of a "I mean to do this!" order so people don't think you are just piling shit up everywhere.
He's pulling those proportions and ingredients directly from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Square-Foot-Gardening-Second-Edition/dp/1591865484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374074184&sr=8-1&keywords=square+foot+gardening