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Post by papaof2 on Oct 6, 2019 13:33:53 GMT -6
morningchores.com/vegetable-garden-size/About as much ad space as useful content, but the calculator for how many of each plant, based on the number of people, might be useful. Also suggestions about starting small (10' x 10' space and/or raised beds and/or square foot gardening and multiple gardens if you go bigger - spring salad garden, etc. Raised beds work better for me (it's a little harder getting down to ground level after age 70 ;-) Not mentioned in the article but maybe collect rainwater for irrigation? Based on our 30 year rainfall averages, a 1000 gallon tank fed by one downspout could provide 275 gallons/month 8 months out of the year or 1/2" of rain on 1/8 acre garden (54' x 100') the first year. The tank would be at 90% of capacity to start the nest year so you could use somewhat more water - you need to know the average monthly rainfall (check noaa.gov or your local extension service for the 30 year averages). That same amount of water would be 1"/month on a plot half that size (50' x 50') and this is separate from any actual rainfall you get (you need a rain gauge or a weather station that collects rainfall data). If the garden is small (10' x 10' or 2% of that 1/8 acre) a 250 gallon tank might be big enough here. If you can mount the collection barrels/tanks higher than the plantings, you could use gravity-flow drip irrigation (check that the drip emitters are the low pressure emitters that will work on very low pressure) or use a DC pump powered by a solar-charged battery (you'll need to know the maximum daily water needs of your garden to design that, plus knowing that 450 gallons is about 1 inch of rain on 5400 square feet [~1/8 acre]). Remember that drip irrigation is more efficient than rain because it's slow enough to not have runoff, which means less total water is needed.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 6, 2019 18:04:09 GMT -6
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 12, 2023 23:13:32 GMT -6
I've updated that spreadsheet and added a perhaps useful bit. The original gave you how many total feet of rows you needed. This version lets you enter the row length in your garden and it tells you how many rows of that length are needed. Maybe a little easier than just having "You need 332 row feet". www.jecarter.us/files/how-much-garden-to-plant.xls
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