Mariel Claxton asked for suggestions for her winter vegetable garden a few weeks ago. The San Rafael resident and her husband both love vegetables and lettuces, but needed a good supply to fit into their small garden trough.
Cal Bewicke, also of San Rafael, came up with a helpful suggestion for the couple and perhaps other residents with small gardens.
“Winter gardening, if starting now, is a challenge in Marin because with the cold nights many things don’t grow well from seed at this time,” he says.
However, one of the best bangs for the buck is arugula, he says. “It germinates quickly and easily, grows fast, is very space-efficient and is a cut-and-come-again crop. A handful of garden arugula can make any salad ‘one’s own.'”
He also recommends planting standard arugula, which he says is better than wild arugula, which has a more pronounced pepperiness.
When summer comes, he advises that the Claxtons plant their tomatoes in pots if they have the space, as the tomatoes will take up a lot of room in their 3-by-4-foot bed.
That’s the word from author and farmer Acadia Tucker. Tucker started a four-season organic market garden in Washington before ultimately landing in New Hampshire, where she grows hops for the local craft beer and raises perennials in her backyard.
Tucker, who has penned several gardening books, including “Lawns Into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape,” “Growing Good Food” and “Growing Perennial Foods” may have just the book for the Claxtons and other vegetable gardeners with small spaces.
In her latest book, “Tiny Victory Gardens: Growing Good Food Without a Yard” (Stone Pier Press, $19.95), which will be published in February, Tucker draws upon her farming experience to help readers plan and grow their own tiny garden farms using pots and raised beds to get a year-round harvest.
Illustrated by artist Emily Castle, the book includes 22 profiles on herbs and vegetables — such as basil, cilantro, mint tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers — that are easy to grow in containers, along with fruits such as berries, avocados and citrus.
She suggests several fun garden themes — a super salad mix garden, griller’s choice garden and beans, bees and butterflies garden — to get gardeners started.
She also provides information that will set up gardeners for success, including indoor or outdoor gardens, composting, fertilizing, learning how to team together plants and plan harvests to get the most out of the plantings, building healthy soil and seasonal chores.
When you have limited horizontal space, growing up, or planting vertically, can make a big difference in how much you can harvest each season.
The GreenStalk Vertical Garden offers several versions of its tiered planting system; $89 for a three-tier, to $129 for a five-tier to $149 for a seven-tier).
Each tier consists of six 7- or 10-inch deep planting “pockets” that can support seeds or seedlings, flowers, herbs, vegetables or strawberries.
A reservoir on top is filled with water and drips water evenly to each tier so you won’t have to hand-water.
Gardeners can leave some pockets open for successive planting so there’s something to harvest throughout the season.
It’s made in the United States of food-safe plastic that is free of BPA, BPS and PVC. It comes in different sizes and colors, can be used indoors if there’s enough light and there’s a drip tray, and it comes with a five-year warranty. An optional rolling plant caddy is available to help move the system when necessary.
Go to greenstalkgarden.com.
For reaching out to Marin readers with her thoughtful question, Claxton will receive a copy of “Tiny Victory Gardens,” compliments of Stone Pier Press, to inspire her future plantings.
Bewicke, who kindly provided her with an equally thoughtful response, will receive a copy of a beautiful, just-released coffee table book on stylish gardens that will be the subject of an upcoming column.
Thank you both, and congratulations!
Since so many of the popular home and garden tours are off the calendar this year, consider this your invitation to share with fellow readers the images and description of your Marin garden or newly designed home. Designers are welcome to participate, too.
Please send an email describing either one, what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday and also on her blog at DesignSwirl.co. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.
