Growing food in 1,000 square-feet of space can net you a lot of produce.
“We’ve lived here 13 years and have been gardening here for 10,” says Jeremy Gedert. “The garden just grew and grew and grew. What we don’t eat, we can, ferment, or pickle, and also share with friends and family.”
Jeremy, nor his wife Kellie, grew up gardening, but they both enjoy the work and the results that tending one gets you.
“Since I work in the food service, I like having fresh stuff around,” says Jeremy. “We wanted to have safe, healthy food. What we grow accounts for most of the food our family of four eats during the summer and into the fall.”
“I love sending our kids out to pick a few things and have them understand where our food comes from,” says Kellie. She also finds working barefoot in the garden to be therapeutic, while Jeremy enjoys the scientific side of it.
“Ever year is a different experiment,” he says.
Low tunnel hoops form a mini-greenhouse that allows them to get an earlier start with their seeds.
Rain barrels, which were found on Craigslist and can catch up to 700 gallons of water, were new additions for this year. The garden is laced with soaker hoses to make watering easy.
To control weeds, they utilize straw mulch and coffee bags. Wood shavings are used as additional mulch throughout the garden, as bedding material for the chickens, and as material for the couple’s worm composting business One20 Farm.
Rue and Stripey, a pair of Rhode Island Reds, have a protected run and a shed was converted to add space for their coop. They are also allowed free reign throughout the garden.
The garden in the front of the home was put in after a waterline had broken. “We didn’t want to put in grass,” says Jeremy. Adding the garden has given them a chance to meet many of their neighbors, who often stop by for advice.
Jeremy’s number one tip?
“Don’t over think stuff,” he says. “Make little adjustments and be patient.”
What’s in their garden? Sweet potatoes, 4 varieties of beans, garlic, celery, tomatillos, 3-4 varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, rutabaga, potatoes, broccoli, melons, squash, asparagus, strawberries, blackberries, black currants, goji berries, sunchokes, carrots, cabbage, concord grapes, ground cherries, fennel, mint, and lavender.
Non-Ohio items include tamarind, passion fruit, guava, and a sapote tree. They are also growing a hardy variety of kiwi that they hope will produce next year.
They’d love to eventually add more fruit trees, such as peach, pawpaw, fig, and Asian pear, and put in a bee hive.
[For more information about One20 Farm, read about it on TheMetropreneur.com.]
Do you have a garden you’d like to share? Please send an email to me at [email protected].