URBAN HOMESTEADERS WITH SMALL SPACES

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URBAN HOMEMAKER'S WITH SMALL SPACES

Mary's Homestead has always wanted to help the urban homesteaders. There is an increasing number of people that want to do gardening because of the high grocery prices. We have decided to help the urban homesteders. You can garden in small spaces such as patios, rooftops,and window boxes. People are now digging up there front lawns to grow a garden because of the economy.

Jerrie and John have a big garden but we also, grow about 40-50 plants in containers and we bring them in the house for the winter. We use a halogen and grow lights in the winter for the containers and we have some fresh produce and herbs all winter. We have experience to help you and we will be glad to do that.

THE BOUNTIFUL CONTAINER
BY ROSE MARIE NICHOLS MCGEE & MAGGIE STUCKEY

Create container gardens of vegetables, herbs, fruits & edible flowers.

This is the bible for small-space gardeners who want to grow what they eat.

Discover a world far beyond the expected cherry tomatoes in a flowerpot. A world with no weeds, no soilborn diseases, and no overplanting, where you can fine-tune sun and shade and bring perennials indoors for the winter.

With few exceptions, everything edible that's grown in the traditional garden can be successfully raised in a container. Which means that even if you have just one pot on the balcony or patio, delicious fresh produce can be yours for the harvesting.

This book will give you what vegetables, fruits and herbs you can grow in a container.

This book gives you 21 varieties of beans, many ways with herbs, and even has many ways to grow fruits, and edible flowers. 432 pp. paperback

CHART FOR SMALL SPACE GARDENERS

For those who must grow their vegetables in small spaces this chart gives the approximate number of plants a square foot of container space will accommodate. Containers should be at least 8 inches deep for medium sized and small vegetables but a foot to 18 inches deep for vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplants or corn. In the case of corn a 4-foot-square space is desirable to provide good cross pollination.

Measurements do not have to be exact and circular containers work as well as square or rectangular ones.

VEGETABLE NO./PLANTS/PER-SQ.FOOT

BEANS 3-4

BEETS 25

BROCCOLI 3

CABBAGE                   2

CHARD, SWISS          9

CORN                           2

CUCUMBER               1

EGGPLANT                 1

LEEKS                          64

LETTUCE(LEAF)       4

MUSKMELON            1

ONIONS                        16(COOKING ONIONS)

ONIONS                         100(GREEN BUNCHING)

PARSLEY                       16

PEAS                                25

PEPPERS                         4

POTAOES                        1

SWEET POTATOES       1

RADISHES                       144

SPINACH                          4

SUMMER SQUASH        1 (BUSH)

WINTER SQUASH           1 (BUSH)

TOMATOES                     1 (REGULAR)

TOMATOES                      2 (DWARF)

TOMATOES 2 (HUSK)ground-cherry

FRESH FOOD FROM SMALL SPACES

BY R. J. RUPPENTHAL

THE SQUARE INCH GARDENER'S GUIDE TO YEAR-ROUND GROWING, FERMENTING, AND SPROUTING

CITY APARTMENT? SUBURBAN TOWNHOUSE?

YOU CAN GROW YOUR OWN FOOD !

FRESH FOOD FROM SMALL SPACES is a practical, comprehensive, and downright fun guide to growing food in small space wtihout relying on complicated and energy intensive systems like indoor lighting and hydroponics. Readers will learn how to transform their balconies and windowsills into productive vegetables gardens, their countertops into sprout and muchroom farms, and their pations into a haven for honeybees and chickens. Amazingly, almost no space is too small or too dark to raise food.

R. J. Tuppenthal, an attorney and professor at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose, California, worked on an organic vegetable farm in his youth, but his expertise in urban and indoor gardening has been hard-won through years of trial-and-error experience. In the small city homes where he has lived, Ruppenthal and his family have been able to eat homegrown food 365 days per year.

MARY'S HOMESTEAD IS NOW OFFERING THE 2010 SEEDS COLLECTIONS. WE ONLY OFFER OPEN-POLLINATED SEEDS, PURE, NATURAL & NON-GMO.

WE NOW HAVE THE SMALL SPACE SEED KIT ON THE HEIRLOOM SEED PAGE.

PLEASE CLICK ON: http://www.maryshomestead.com/id53.html

FOR OPEN POLLINATED, NATURAL & NON-GMO VEGETABLE/HERB SEEDS !!!

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO

PLANT CONTAINERS.

BUSH BEANS

Bush beans do well in containers. The dirt should be at least 12 inches deep & 6 inches between the plants.

POLE BEANS

Pole beans also do well in containers. Plant at least 1/2 inch deep, 1-2 gal soil for a plant, & 4--6 inches between plants. They grow 6 to 8 inches tall and they have lots of leaves and they they need to be planted where they will not shade other vegetables. Pole beans take 5 to 6 days for germination.

CUCUMBERS

Cucumbers do well in containers and they are excellent for urban homesteaders. Plant 3 bush cucumber plants in a container 1/2 of a whiskey barrel. You will need at least 3 gal soil per plant, at least 1 foot deep, & plant the plants at least 6 inches apart and plant 1 foot deep. You can also plant them near a wall of the house and put a trellise so the vines will grow up the trellise. Cucumbers need lots of water. They like lots of sunshine and warm weather.

LETTUCE

For containers, plant one plant in a 8 inch pot or 4 in a 12 inch pot. Their shallow roots can be grown only 6-8 inch deep.

We have always grown lettuce in the house in the winter. Bring the pots in the fall and put them by a cool window. They will last 1 to 2 months and then plant chard. Chard is the vegetable that sometimes we have had very good success in the house in the winter. Beets are of the same family and we always have the beet leaves growing inside and they are delicious. To grow swiss chard in a pot plant 1-2 seeds per inch, 1/2 inch deep. Later you will have to thin some of the chard and eat the thinnings! Swiss Chard and Beet Greeens are grown and you cook them the same way.

EGGPLANT

Plant one plant in each 12-inch pot & you will need 3 gal soil. The container dirt should be at least a foot deep. If you want to put more than one plant in a container leave 18 inches between them. We have planted eggplant on a patio and it does very well. Then in the fall we brought it in the house and put it under the grow lights. You can grow lots of eggplant in the house because eggplant is a self-pollinating and does not need insects to help it grow the fruit.

PEPPERS IN CONTAINERS

To grow in a container, put 1 pepper plant in each 12-inch pot , and if you want to grow in a larger container or even a large box , space 18 inches apart, soil at least 1 foot deep, 3 gal soil per plant.

HOT PEPPER PLANTS

You can grow at least one of a small pepper plant in a 8-inch pot if you add at least 1/2 gal soil, 8 inches deep. In a larger container, space plants 6 to 8 inches apart.

CONTAINER GROWING FOR TOMATOES

Tomatoes are great container plants and they will do well on a window sill or in a hanging basket. Cherry tomatoes are good for small containers. Plant them when the seedlings ar 2 inches tall. Plant 1 tomato plant in a container the size of half of a whiskey barrel. You will need 3 to 5 gal of soil per tomato plant and plant it 12 inches deep.

In a larger containers space plants at least 18-24 inches apart. Plant small plants at least 12 inches apart.