Getting the Layouts of My Vegetable Gardens

Posted on Apr 24 2009 - 8:28pm by Mike Lieberman
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Took the day off from work today to spend the day with my gram and to negotiate the land space with her. Before I headed out to her, I measured out the space of my fire escape garden. Not too bad about 36″x”12″. That should be enough for about three buckets without getting in the way. Just need to figure out how many soda bottle planters we can fit.

Then I hopped on the L train and headed into Canarsie. During the train ride, I continued to read the Self Watering Container book. After some b’sn and catching up, we headed outside to scope out the land. I knew her backyard was big, but it is f’n huge.

Here's a shot of some of the backyard. Couldn't get the whole thing in the shot. She's been living there for over 60 years.

Here is the first plot that I was able to negotiate along the fence. The space is about 14' x 2'. Those milk crates are about 80 years old.


I also have this entire plot of concrete which is 9' x 6' and on the cinder blocks.


The good news is that I got a lot of land to work with and the bad news is that I got a lot of land to work with. Not sure if the bucket in bucket will work, especially for the double bins. Those are going to be at least $15 each. Need to look into other possible solutions and still fit my criteria of being affordable and as environmentally sound as possible.

This also got me thinking that I want to expand out further. Gotta call the ‘rents this weekend to see what I can work out with them.

6 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Fiona March 17, 2011 at 2:30 pm -

    Why not plant in the ground?

  2. Mike Lieberman March 17, 2011 at 5:40 pm -

    You want to discuss that with my 91 year old Grandmother? 😉 Plus this was easier maintenance.

  3. Fiona March 18, 2011 at 5:18 pm -

    I would never argue with a 91-year old. I know you don’t get to be 91 without having a whole lot of spunk!

    But it seems counterintuitive that containers are less maintenance that the ground because of watering and soil quality, etc.. I’m sure you’ve explained this somewhere–but I’d love to see you blog about it and explain it more. After all, how many dead/dying/neglected containers do I see every day?

  4. Mike Lieberman March 18, 2011 at 7:55 pm -

    If I were to grow in her soil, I’d have to dig a lot of it up and heavily amend it. I’ve seen the stuff that she’s put in it over the years.

    For me it was easier because I didn’t have to be there to water them everyday. Plus I could control what went into the soil.

    Make sense?

  5. Heidij May 9, 2011 at 9:27 pm -

    bucket in bucket self watering system – how did you do it? Thanks! Heidi

  6. Mike Lieberman May 9, 2011 at 11:36 pm -

    Here’s more info on the self-watering containers https://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/self-watering-containers/

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