Growing Your Own Food In Deck Gardens
Along with the organic food craze and the increase for gluten-free food, growing your own food is becoming ideal for more and more Americans. Unfortunately, many People do not have a large backyard to be able to grow food. However, If you have a deck, than you really do not need a huge backyard, because a deck garden is all you need. Some people believe that if deck gardens are all they have to work with, they’re unable to succeed. On the contrary, a small deck garden can produce a great variety of vegetables and even some fruits (such as strawberries). Here are three tips to maximize your deck gardens food production.
1. Plan seasonal crops.
In most areas of the US, you can grow plants nearly year-round. What this means is that yes, you can grow tomatoes in the summer, but in the same pot you may also be able to grow peas and lettuce earlier in the spring and kale in the fall. Protective coverings can help crops survive later into the winter as well. This kind of year-round gardening can multiply your deck gardens productivity. Keep and eye on the sunlight, It will travel to different parts of the deck throughout the day, and your plants may need to follow it.Use suggested planting times and days to maturity (often found on seed packets or plant labels) to plan- And don’t forget to water!
2. Combine plantings.
Many vegetable plants can get along together quite well as long as they have sufficient root space. Consider the shapes of the plants when combining. For example, upright plants like peppers may take up the center of a pot, while beans crawl up a trellis extending upwards behind the pot and spinach plants act as ground cover.
3. Use trellises whenever possible.
Both the peas and the beans from earlier examples grow on trellises, but you’ll be surprised how many other types of plants can also grow this way. Melons, squashes, cucumbers, gourds, tomatoes, and more can also successfully use a trellis, maximizing space by using the vertical dimension of your garden. Make sure your trellis is sturdy enough to support whatever’s growing on it, though. Some winter squashes can grow to truly giant proportions.
With these three tips, you can create truly productive deck gardens that can both lessen your grocery bill and enrich your vegetable-eating experience. If you need more deck ideas, feel free to contact us at any time.
