Gardening for Geeks

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Christy Wilhelmi. Gardening for Geeks

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For Mom and Dad

I must draw particular attention to the garden geeks who have inspired my gardening exploits throughout the years (in no particular order): John Jeavons, the late Mel Bartholomew, the late Geoff Hamilton, Rosalind Creasy, Michael Pollan, David King, Jere Gettle, Louise Riotte, Barbara Kingsolver, and everyone at Ocean View Farms organic community garden. To those who helped clarify the material for this book, I appreciate the access you afforded me: Victoria Boudman of the Square Foot Gardening Foundation, Eben Fodor of SunWorks, Master Preserver Rose Lawrence of Red Bread Bakery, irrigation wunderkind Russell Ackerman, and, again, John Jeavons of Ecology Action.

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Now, for the cool part—literally. This plant-placement method can also be used to strategize in hot weather to protect plants that can’t handle extreme temperatures in the summer months. For example, lettuces bolt to seed quickly in hot weather, making them bitter and inedible. You can strategically grow cucumbers on a trellis in the middle of the raised bed, in the medium row, and then plant lettuces to the north or behind the cucumbers in the shadows of the plants. Ta-daa! A cucumber sun umbrella. The lettuces will stay cooler during hotter weather and resist the urge to peter out so quickly.

Planting short or trailing crops to the south also has a benefit. When it comes to trailing crops like pumpkins and watermelons, they can take over your entire garden without much effort. Usually, these trailing crops tend to grow toward the sun, so by planting them toward the south end of the raised bed, the vines will gravitate southward, into your pathways, instead of consuming precious space in your raised bed. This will leave room for other crops without sacrificing an entire bed. Vigorous plants will still attempt to sprawl all over the place, but you can easily move the vines out of the way because they only attach to the ground at the roots. Note: Pumpkins can produce roots along the vine, but if you are diligent in redirecting vines before they anchor new roots, it won’t be a problem.

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