Apartment Therapy Re-Nest | GardenWatch: It Begins

GardenWatch: It Begins

Behold our glorious garden. Well, it's not so glorious yet, but with a bit of help from our readers and some hard work on our behalf, we're pretty sure we can turn it around. The main problem right now, aside from a lack of water, is that we have more confidence than experience. In fact, we are total gardening novices. We need help.

Here are the key facts:

We are inclined towards a productive garden, but it is a bit late in the year.

We're in Berkeley, California, so we think we can still get a crop of plum tomatoes, beans, and zucchini if we act fast, and we're going to throw in some chili peppers just to see what happens.

South is to the right. The area of grass that looks totally fried gets sun pretty much all day.

There is a drought in California right now, so we'll be doing some research into drip irrigation. We're also thinking of volunteering to put in a couple of less expensive dual flush toilets in order to spend our conservation on water for the garden. Any ideas for edible plants that don´t require tremendous amounts of water? How would you make this patch of ground beautiful, productive, and green?

Comments (7)

I'm in New York, so I'm not sure about California, but we use the water from our dehumidifier in the basement to water our plants and garden. In the summer we empty it every day if not twice a day, so it produces a ton of water.

posted by bubbernutter on June 13th 2008 at 11:04am
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Looks like you have a downspout at the corner of the house (right near the fence) - you should consider installing a rain barrel. It'd be so close to your plants, and allow you to water without potable water. Also, be sure to water smart - really soak your plants when you do water to encourage deep root growth.

posted by meginaustin on June 13th 2008 at 11:26am
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I would suggest Native plants and there was a great site that was posted the other day that is located in San Francisco, http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/the-mission/bay-natives-nursery-052413. Being native they will be able to tolerate the climate/soil etc. They also had some native strawberries, and huckleberries that can add to your edible garden as well.

posted by madtrait on June 13th 2008 at 12:50pm
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I'm trying to think of edible things that grow in a desert and I keep coming up with cactus. As a boy living in the West Indies ( the Caribbean to the history challenged Americans ), my grandmother would pick prickly pear cactus fruit for us to eat. Delicious.

Also try Okra.

Have a look at:
http://www.desertusa.com/magoct97/oct_pa/du_prkpear.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cactus fruit&btnG=Google Search

posted by Khurt Williams on June 14th 2008 at 4:38am
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I would definitely try the "no dig" method of gardening, either with lasagna layers or building a raised bed and filling it with a combination of soil and compost. Here's an article from L A Times: http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-nodig12-2008jun12,0,55177.story

Or check out the book "Lasagna Gardening"

posted by angelfunk on June 14th 2008 at 11:05am
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I think the raised bed idea is good, they are supposed to be less water-intensive and easier to grow stuff in because they are less dependent on the quality of your existing soil. And it's less lawn to water!

Also would you consider some trellises on the fence? There are all sorts of attractive vining beans out there now that would look great on your fence.

posted by Anne (in Reno) on June 15th 2008 at 7:49am
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for water retention around plants (therefore watering less!) and to keep your roots from burnin' up in the heat use MULCH. lots to select from: look for something natural.

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-724/426-724.html

posted by foog on June 16th 2008 at 9:40am
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