I have been growing an experimental garden in my backyard in a place that is not an ideal location for a garden. It was in a spot that a bunch of pine stumps had just been ground out. This article will discuss the problems I faced in creating the simple garden using minimal labor in a less than ideal location.

In the northeast corner of the property, I had removed several Monterey pines the previous winter to make way for a lovely cedar fence. The sun bounced off the cedar warming the whole plot. This area I was about to use was planed through the middle of the bed to make way for a driveway that would connect to a proposed building. The only parts that would not be affected by the construction would be the very top and bottom of the plot. However, since this construction was not going to occur for at least a year (maybe never), I decided to make use of the spot for my garden.

To prepare the bed I needed to remove as much of the freshly ground pine stump as I could. The sawdust would rob nitrogen from the soil. I removed a couple wheel barrows of sawdust to another part of the property for mulch to keep weeds down. I forked the area once, then added as much compost as I could. The soil was really loose so I roped my girlfriend, Sarah, and my little sisters to help me fork in the compost throughly without disturbing the soil column too much. We put down about a 5 gallon bucket full of rich, black, lightly sifted compost per 3 square feet. I probably should have used more, but I only had a small amount of compost made from yard clippings that I had spent all winter turning religiously.

With the plot dug and leveled I watered the surface till it stayed wet for one second. I planted a plum tree at the bottom of the plot. This was below where the driveway would go, so it would be safe even if the building is built. I added a bit of fish emulsion and other organic fertilizers; I hoped to encourage the plum to grow strong despite the large amount of uncomposted sawdust in the soil.

The saw dust was the reason I decided to plant mostly beans, as these would not need the soil nitrogen that was being consumed by microbes trying to eat the carbon in the sawdust. The beans would fix nitrogen through a symbiosis between the legume and a bacterium. I scattered garbanzo, adzuki, soy and Jacobs Cattle hard beans, along with quinoa, millet and a single fava bean I had found the depths of my truck while cleaning it out. I also threw in a random assortments of food crop seeds, just to see what happened.

The chickens decimated my crop. They loved the beans and small seeds and scratched out the sprouts before they could form a mature root system. I also did not water them very much, as I was traveling around getting The New Shire Institute running. I would spend less then an hour a week on it weeding and watering when I was around.

Somehow though, even with the chickens and lack of watering, I got a crop! A few Jacobs Cattle grew, as did some garbanzo, adzuki and soy beans. I had not expected the single purple fava bean to sprout, but it was the first crop I saw. The Jacobs Cattle did the best and produced the most beans.

Overall, I got a big enough harvest for one meal and plenty of beans for planting next year. My experiment at creating a garden in a less than ideal location with minimal labor and expense (beans are cheap) was a success.