Size VS Time

[akyramoto]

I know this is gonna be kinda hard to answer, but I was wondering if there was a 'ball park' figure out there.

How many hours does is required to upkeep a certain # of square feet.


so lets say your garden is 600 sq ft. how many hours a week would be needed to properly keep that up - if it's a BASIC veggie garden.

There really might not be any answers for this. I find that every year I til my soil & my friends get all excited & come over & plant a bunch of stuff -along with whatever I had in mind. I appreciate their kindness, but I find after the initial planting I'm stuck with more than I can handle.

I imagine if my garden was smaller I could grow things more successfully.

 

[patandchickens]

Sorry but I think you are right, there is massively too much variation (as well as too many variables) to be able to toss out any meaningful ballpark figure. "Between 1 minute and 2 hrs per week, per 10x10 plot" is just not a very useful concept

Too much difference in how peoples' soil is prepared, what they plant, how intensively, whether/how they water/weed/fertilize, and what their tolerances are for suboptimal plant growth.

But I'd say that if you always end up with more garden than you can maintain to a level you're happy with, it is definitely time to downsize (either the garden, or the labor-intensiveness of the management style, or your expectations). What's the point in a garden that just bugs you all the time

JMO,

Pat

 

[Tutter]

You're right, it does depend. For me, on what stage the garden is in. There's a crazy time at first, then, for me anyway, a really laid back maintenence period, then a time of getting produce quickly which needs to have something done with it, then starting fall seeds.

But, there are ball parks. For one thing, what type of watering system are you using? Turning on a faucet to some soaker hose is less time consuming than, say, watering by hand.

I hate to see anyone grow less, if it can be avoided. I would think, rather, that growing plants which practically grow themselves, and maybe take more room, would be better. I know it's late now, but I'm thinking of things like winter squash....hubbard blues, not little ones, pumpkins, corn, and so forth.

Unless something goes wrong, once they are in there, and it seems like you have helpers, and they get established, it's just watering, a feeding now and then, and keeping an eye on them. There's no constant picking etc., just a harvest at the end of their season.

Or, if a person didn't mind harvest, but still wanted low care plants, things like tomatillos are good.

I'd say the best way to make the garden low maintenence, is to give it all it needs from the beginning. Lots of compost, a good source of water which is easy to get to them, and planting plants which don't need much attention.

Also planning can reduce weeds. For example, you can plant close together, and have fewer weeds to pull. You can solarize the soil ahead of time next time, for the same reason, and you can use mulch to keep things moist, and reduce weeds.

So your bed is 6' X 10'? I can't see spending less than an hour a day with this and that. You could, but that tends to be a mistake. If you do all that needs doing each day, it won't pile up on you. Now weeding is different. I do tend to pull what I see while there, but you can set aside time just for weeding on a weekend or some such.

I don't really know how close to me you are, but our weather sounds similar. If so, you'll need the most time for watering; do you have a system? Could you use any of that hard, black, rubber piping which kind of "sweats" out water? If you are close enough, you are welcome to a roll of it that I have.

I remember now, people call it, "leaky pipe."

 

[akyramoto]

Ya I figured that would be the response. Had to ask though!! lol

 

[Beekissed]

I have found that a lot of the stress associated with gardening is weeding. That seems to be the thing that gets folks down and makes them "give up" on the garden.

I have a very large garden, which I usually have, but this year I mulched from the get go. I mulched on the empty, tilled beds until I could get the seeds or the plants into them, I mulched permanent pathways, I mulched enough that there was no bare earth. I have the occasional weed where the mulch has moved or been absorbed, but this is easy to keep up with. I also planted things closer together this year to control potential weed growth and keep the soil shaded and cool.

After all the mulching and planting, building trellis(took all of 1/2 hour for 35 ft. bed), and such, there has been very little work involved. The mulch keeps one from having to water as frequently, and in my area, I haven't had to water at all.

I think, as with anything, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A well prepared, fertile garden that has plenty of mulch isn't much work until harvest time.

If you have planted too much, put a sign up on Saturdays and have a community U-pick day. Sell it. Or give it to the local food pantry or Senior Center. I say, if you have the space, grow it! If you can't keep up with some items, compost them.