In Food for this unit, our project was to design our own garden plot based on companion planting and the amounts of nutrients in our soil. I am proud of my garden design because I think it is easy to read and neat and shows the garden in great detail.
Gardening is very important all over the world. Many people rely on it to survive. While it may seem simple to grow plants, it actually takes a lot of preparation and planning to have a successful garden. You need to make sure that the plants work well together, that they have enough space and nutrients, and that they will have a good chance of survival in the climate.
I decided to plant my garden in my backyard. I live on the North Side of Chicago. My garden bed in my backyard is 15 feet by 7.13 feet, with a total area of 107 feet squared. This will give me plenty of space for many plants. Next, I decided to use some mini garden beds and large buckets for individual beds (shown in black in the diagram). I had two buckets that were 7 feet by 3 feet, one garden bed that was 4 feet by 7 feet, and the smallest bucket was 2 feet by 7 feet. The soil in my garden is relatively healthy by itself, but it needed some help. The pH levels for the soil is at a 6.7, which is very healthy and neutral level, and can be used to grow all of the plants that I chose. The levels of nitrogen in the soil are pretty moderate at 20 parts per million, or P2, so I decided to add the nitrogen-rich fish meal to get a good amount. For fish meal to help the soil, you are supposed to add 7 pounds of meal per every 100 square feet. To figure out the total volume of soil, I multiplied the area, 107, by the total height, about 6 inches. This gave me a total soil volume of 642 feet squared. Because I needed to add 7 pounds per 100 square feet, I divided 642 by 100 to get the pounds per 1 square foot (.642), and multiplied it by 7 to get 4.9, or about 5 pounds. Next, my levels of phosphorus are lower than desired (200 PPM, or KI), so I decided to add soft rock phosphate. I added 2 lbs per 100 feet. This means I multiplied .642 times 2 to get a total of 1.28 pounds of soft rock phosphate added to my garden. Next comes the levels of potassium, which, in my soil, were perfect, so I did not have to add any.
The most important plants, in my opinion, to add to a garden are nitrogen fixers. These include any legumes, such as beans or peas. This way, you do not have to constantly add nitrogen to the soil, the plants can convert in from the air by themselves. That is why I added either beans or peas, or both to each garden bed. Another very important part of gardening is to plant comapnion plants near each other. These are plants that can help each other, such as yarrow and corn. Yarrow’s taste and smell keeps out animals and insects that could be harmful to the corn. Plants that can keep away pests are comfrey, which is mainly used to get rid of moths and beetles, rosemary, which keeps out animals and rodents, wormwood, which can get rid of harmful beetles and other insects and yarrow, which, as previously mentioned, gets rid of both insects and animals. I planted all of these around the edges of the garden, because it will cause the pests to stop before entering the garden. Other plants that work well together are peas, beans and corn. They all grow tall and, if planted near each other, they can support each other by growing around the other and staying upright.
Gardening is a delicate and relatively exact science that can easily be broken by just one or two mistakes. That is why I did so many calculations and research. I believe that this garden will last a long time and provide my family and I will have delicious plants, vegetables and fruits.
MDS. My Garden Plan. (2016)
Gardening is very important all over the world. Many people rely on it to survive. While it may seem simple to grow plants, it actually takes a lot of preparation and planning to have a successful garden. You need to make sure that the plants work well together, that they have enough space and nutrients, and that they will have a good chance of survival in the climate.
I decided to plant my garden in my backyard. I live on the North Side of Chicago. My garden bed in my backyard is 15 feet by 7.13 feet, with a total area of 107 feet squared. This will give me plenty of space for many plants. Next, I decided to use some mini garden beds and large buckets for individual beds (shown in black in the diagram). I had two buckets that were 7 feet by 3 feet, one garden bed that was 4 feet by 7 feet, and the smallest bucket was 2 feet by 7 feet. The soil in my garden is relatively healthy by itself, but it needed some help. The pH levels for the soil is at a 6.7, which is very healthy and neutral level, and can be used to grow all of the plants that I chose. The levels of nitrogen in the soil are pretty moderate at 20 parts per million, or P2, so I decided to add the nitrogen-rich fish meal to get a good amount. For fish meal to help the soil, you are supposed to add 7 pounds of meal per every 100 square feet. To figure out the total volume of soil, I multiplied the area, 107, by the total height, about 6 inches. This gave me a total soil volume of 642 feet squared. Because I needed to add 7 pounds per 100 square feet, I divided 642 by 100 to get the pounds per 1 square foot (.642), and multiplied it by 7 to get 4.9, or about 5 pounds. Next, my levels of phosphorus are lower than desired (200 PPM, or KI), so I decided to add soft rock phosphate. I added 2 lbs per 100 feet. This means I multiplied .642 times 2 to get a total of 1.28 pounds of soft rock phosphate added to my garden. Next comes the levels of potassium, which, in my soil, were perfect, so I did not have to add any.
The most important plants, in my opinion, to add to a garden are nitrogen fixers. These include any legumes, such as beans or peas. This way, you do not have to constantly add nitrogen to the soil, the plants can convert in from the air by themselves. That is why I added either beans or peas, or both to each garden bed. Another very important part of gardening is to plant comapnion plants near each other. These are plants that can help each other, such as yarrow and corn. Yarrow’s taste and smell keeps out animals and insects that could be harmful to the corn. Plants that can keep away pests are comfrey, which is mainly used to get rid of moths and beetles, rosemary, which keeps out animals and rodents, wormwood, which can get rid of harmful beetles and other insects and yarrow, which, as previously mentioned, gets rid of both insects and animals. I planted all of these around the edges of the garden, because it will cause the pests to stop before entering the garden. Other plants that work well together are peas, beans and corn. They all grow tall and, if planted near each other, they can support each other by growing around the other and staying upright.
Gardening is a delicate and relatively exact science that can easily be broken by just one or two mistakes. That is why I did so many calculations and research. I believe that this garden will last a long time and provide my family and I will have delicious plants, vegetables and fruits.
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