To build our gardening knowledge and to potentially increase production, we need to recognize the importance of record keeping when it comes to growing our own food. I discussed this subject in an article I wrote last fall, in addition to explaining some relatively simple structures those of us growing in residential areas can use to create a trellis, or extend our growing season.
In this article, I share what I call the garden matrix that results from record keeping efforts and suggest some things to simplify the matrix building process. Finally, once we know what we can grow and when we can grow it, the next step is learning how to calculate how much to grow to achieve a desired level of resilience for our family. With the permission of Lynn Gillespie and thelivingfarm.org, I am going to share a look into the method she uses to answer that question that is very helpful.
The way events are unfolding this is moving from a nice option to something requiring serious attention.
Why a matrix?
The simple answer is that if we are concerned about building our resilience, then we need a plan. We need to know how long it takes what we plant to grow, how long the harvest period will be, and how we are going to follow one crop with another to reach our garden’s full potential. Building a matrix requires us to think hard about our goals, what is possible, and what we need to do and when we need to do it if the goals are to be achieved. We build and accumulate knowledge doing this and the resulting matrix becomes our blueprint; it brings wonderful order and simplicity to our gardening efforts. We make much better use of our garden space, our growing climate and seasonal extension possibilities.
The matrix for my garden divides each month into thirds, essentially 10-day intervals, so 36 of them for the entire year. If, for example, I wish to know what I will be doing in the middle 10 days of September, then I can look at the matrix itself or the task printout I created from the matrix for every period and see the following:
- Lettuce-8 transplant out
- Plant direct Spinach-5
- Plant direct Arugula-6-GH
- Plant direct Claytonia-GH
- Plant direct Collards-2-GH
- Plant direct Cress-GH
- Plant direct Oriental Greens-GH
- Pull Onions-2 Bulb and set out to dry
- Harvest last Summer Squash and pull
- Harvest last Winter Squash and set in sun and pull
- Harvest last Pumpkins and set in sun and pull
- Harvest Dry Beans and pull
- Pull Cabbage-3
Each of the 36 periods in the year has a list, longer or shorter than this, and these lists provide the details of my plan.
by grandefille