Tips & Techniques
Tips and Techniques
Edible gardens are a world unto themselves in the landscape. There are many strategies unique to vegetable gardens that extend growing times, keep the garden healthy, and maximize crop yields. Here's a cheat sheet of common edible garden lingo and strategies.
Succession garden
Think of a succession garden as a master plan for the garden from season to season. For instance, in June, you can plan to clear some spring vegetables and plant summer crops. Or you can sow and transplant alongside waning spring vegetables with a view to next season's produce.
Succession planting
The primary purpose of succession planting is to provide continuous crop output within the season by sowing seed of a given crop at 1 to 2 week intervals. For instance, you can stagger corn production by making a subsequent planting when the first is 1 to 2 inches tall. Beans, turnips, seasonal lettuce, and beets are well-suited to this practice.
Companion planting
Companion plants like aromatic herbs or flowers are purported to repel pests in the vegetable garden. Although there is a lack of science behind companion planting, growing a wide variety of pollinator-friendly herbs alongside edible crops does help attract beneficial insects and natural enemies.
Intercropping
This involves planting early maturing crops between rows of late maturing crops to increase production in a small area. For example, beans, radishes, green onions, or seasonal leaf lettuce may be planted between rows of tomatoes, peppers or corn. The quicker-maturing plants will be harvested before the others become large.
Crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of changing the location of edible crops from year to year. Rotating crops in the garden enhances soil fertility and lowers risk of pests and diseases. Backyard gardeners with limited space should at least avoid planting exactly the same crop or crops from the same plant family year after year in the same part of the garden. For example, do not follow melons with cucumbers or squash, and do not plant peppers, eggplant, or potatoes where tomatoes grew the year before.
Cold frames
Like mini-greenhouses, cold frames are structures that create a stable environment for frost-tender seedlings by protecting them from big temperature swings. Keeping delicate seedlings in cold frames helps them thrive until winter temperatures stabilize. Cold frames also work to protect seedlings from pests, including birds, cutworms, earwigs, slugs, and snails. Cold frames are easy to assemble and can be made from inexpensive or recycled materials. Because they are better acclimated from the outset, plants that start life in cold frames often do not experience the transplant shock that many plants face. Among the most transplant-vulnerable seedlings are basil, beans, cabbage-family plants, lettuce and peas.
To make a standalone cold frame:
• Place an old window pane or a rigid sheet of plastic on top of a four-sided box filled with soil.
• Be sure that the box receives plenty of sunlight.
• The box can be made out of any material that holds the soil in place, including wood, straw bales, metal, cinder block, or brick.
• If you want to reuse your cold frame every winter, consider adding a hinge to one side so you can easily open and close it.
Floating row covers
Floating row cover is a white, lightweight, synthetic fabric with a gauze-like appearance. Air, sunlight, and water can penetrate the material. Vegetable gardeners drape it over and enclose individual plants or groups of plants and secure it to the ground with pins, bricks, rocks, soil, etc. The cover “floats” directly on top of the growing crop. Some gardeners install simple frames to support floating row covers, creating a dome effect. Row covers are often used in the winter to protect plants from frost, and in summer to provide some shade.
Floating row covers provide many benefits:
• Provides frost protection in early spring and late fall/early winter
• Encourages faster plant growth due to increased temperature and humidity under the cover
• Prevents insects, deer, birds, and other pests from eating your plants
• Inexpensive
• Reusable: can be re-used for two to three years
BACK TO EDIBLES
> What Edible Gardens Need
> Best Choices for Marin
> How to Prepare
> How to Plant
> Edibles in Containers
> Planting Calendar
> Grow & Care Sheets for Vegetables, Herbs & Fruits
> Tips & Techniques
> How to Maintain
> Fruit Trees
> Top 20 Edible Garden Problems
> Cover Crops & Soil Enhancements in the Off-season
> Conserving Water
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News from the Edible Demo Garden
Seasonal Advice and Happenings at our Edible Demonstration Garden
Every month, the team at the Edible Demonstration Garden chronicles what's happening in the garden - planting, harvesting, problems and more. Check out our stories!
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June 2025: Patio Gardening
This past month EDG volunteers created a small “patio” in the garden to demonstrate how edibles can be successfully grown in limited space. Too often gardeners are discouraged from growing edibles, believing that it takes a large back yard with room for long rows of plants. However, with the imaginative use of containers even a small deck, patio, or balcony can be converted into flourishing garden.
What are the basic requirements for growing edibles in small spaces?
Sun – Edibles need 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. Regardless of the size of the growing area, sun exposure is essential. Leafy crops such as lettuce and chard require at least 4 hours of sun per day and fruiting crops like tomatoes, melons, and beans need at least 6 hours of sunlight daily. It’s important to choose the sunniest spot on a deck or patio for an edible garden area.
Water – Container plants need water more often than those grown in the ground. The need to transport water to growing plants with buckets or watering cans can diminish the pleasure in growing edibles. While drip irrigation is ideal, a hose attached to a water source will suffice.
Containers – The possibilities for garden containers are numerous and range from commercial pots, planters, troughs, and bags to the creative repurposing of old pans and buckets, wooden crates, wheelbarrows, and, of course, wine barrels. A used filing cabinet with the drawers removed can make a great container for edibles. In the Demo Garden, a straw bale provides a patio container for yellow fin squash. Regardless of the type of container, good drainage is important so it may be necessary to drill holes to allow water to flow through easily.
Containers need to be deep enough to provide sufficient space for root growth. Depth requirements vary with the type of crop. Salad greens and some herbs can grow in 6- to 10-inch-deep containers while peas, eggplant, and peppers need at least 14 to 16 inches to develop a strong root system. Tomatoes in containers require a minimum soil depth of 18 inches.
Soil – The potting mix used in containers should be porous and fast draining, yet moisture retentive. A high-quality mix that contains compost and other organic matter is best. Garden soil is too heavy, difficult to keep evenly moist, and can harbor disease. Organic fertilizers should be added in frequent but light amounts as the watering that container plants require leaches nutrients from the soil.
Additional tips for small space edible gardening
Credit: PickPik
Take advantage of vertical space – Trellises and stakes help tall and vining plants to grow upward. Use walls or fences as additional planting space by adding shelves, racks, or hanging baskets. A recycled step ladder is an inexpensive vertical gardening option.
Avoid damage to structures – Use blocks or bricks under containers to prevent rotting wooden decks or stairs. Consider the weight of the soil and container when planting on a balcony.
Protect against animals and pests – Plants in containers are susceptible to the same pests as in-ground plants. Cages or netting might be necessary to protect against birds, squirrels, and other critters.
Don’t forget the pollinators – Adding a few flowering plants to a container garden can help to attract pollinators to the edibles and increase veggie and fruit production.
Click here for more information on growing edibles in containers.
December 2024: Giving the Garden a Rest
Planting cover crops
There are many advantages to planting cover crops. Cover crops, sometimes referred to as “green manure”, are an excellent way to protect and improve soil. They increase organic matter, suppress weeds, prevent damage from wind and water erosion, and support beneficial insects and earthworms. Plus, they can look attractive while nurturing the garden.
Two different cover crops were chosen for the Edible Demo Garden. Fava beans were planted in several of the garden beds and in the straw bales used for the summer crops. The latter is an experiment to determine if there is sufficient residual fertility in the straw bales to support another crop. In order to aid in germination and enhance their nitrogen fixing effects, the fava bean seeds were soaked in an inoculant containing rhizobacteria prior to planting. As an alternative cover crop, a green manure mix of bell beans, field peas, and purple/hairy vetch was planted in some of the raised beds. Past experience with crows eating the sprouting seeds necessitated the use of compost, straw, and protective netting to give the cover crop seedlings a fighting chance. The effectiveness of the different cover crops will be tested in spring when it is time to plant again.
Allowing beds to remain fallow
Click here for more information on cover crops and soil enhancement in the off-season.
