Low or no input garden ideas

[OM617YOTA]

Help me figure out the ultimate lazy-man's garden. Particularly looking at perennials that we can plant once and harvest for years. Asparagus and artichokes are on the list.

Last year we skipped a garden entirely due to health issues, this year we want to grow some stuff but it will have to need as little effort as possible. Garden boxes are already built and they have watering systems on a timer, and we'll be using black plastic to control weeds. Obviously some effort to get it set up will be fine, but daily tending won't be happening, and there might be weeks where weekly tending won't be an option either.

What else can we plant once and harvest for years, with minimal input?

 

[farmer steve]

Not many perennial vegetables. Never grew artichokes. My asparagus patch is over 20 years old. If you grow it stick with the all male hybrids. Takes a good 2 years to get established. No picking the first year and only 2 weeks the second. After that you pick for about 6-8 weeks. Other perennial stuff would be raspberries and blackberries. Strawberries are good for 3 maybe 4 years. Rhubarb is a perennial but some people don't care for it. Makes great pies. Most of the things I mentioned do require some input over the growing season but not lots. Good luck.

 

[GenXer]

Rock garden. Water with rid-x.

 

[Lionsfan]

My wife has had mixed results growing some of her herbs as perennials. Sage, Rosemary, Parsley and thyme have all made it through some mild Northern Michigan winters but have been destroyed during harsh ones.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Our basil dies every year, everything else survives. Our climate is much more gentle than Michigan.

 

[GenXer]

What about getting one of those Amazon LED herb racks?

 

[Lightning Performance]

Grow stuff directly on compost piles. Needs little to no water.

 

[Jed1124]

Good thread.
I've often wondered if I could just get a couple loads of composted cow manure, throw in a variety of seeds, and see what grows.
Weeds would probably take over, but I wonder if it's worth a shot.
A good garden is a lot of work.

 

[Seachaser]

Around here if you plant it, you better weed it at least once a week.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Here too. We'll be using black plastic covering the boxes, with a hole poked for the stuff we want to keep.

Most years it's been fine, run the weed hoe or whatever it's called over it once a week was good enough. One year the mulch we got hadn't been processed hot enough or something, it was FULL of weed seeds. Anywhere you left a tablespoon of that mulch was a foot high in weeds in a week.

Anyone use wood chips?

 

[pdqdl]

Fruit & nut trees.
Unfortunately, planting involves a long wait before you get any fruit. Probably a 5 year wait or more for most trees.

And... no good whatsoever in planting boxes. That is also true of blackberry & raspberry plants. They work great if you have some open areas that go neglected otherwise.

Blackberries can double as a security fence that no one will breach. Let the fence be the trellis, and the blackberries will be the security. This makes a big mess of thorny vegetation, but that's just how blackberries are. They grow wild in our area, but the absence of rows makes the patch impenetrable.

 

[JD Guy]

If you have critters (rabbits, raccoons, possums , deer) expect to put up fencing with small enough wire openings that the ground dwellers can’t get under or through it and tall enough that the deer can’t get over it(likely 7 ft). Ask me how I know:-(

 

[sean donato]

Here too. We'll be using black plastic covering the boxes, with a hole poked for the stuff we want to keep.

Most years it's been fine, run the weed hoe or whatever it's called over it once a week was good enough. One year the mulch we got hadn't been processed hot enough or something, it was FULL of weed seeds. Anywhere you left a tablespoon of that mulch was a foot high in weeds in a week.

Anyone use wood chips?

Fresh wood chips suck the nitrogen out if the ground till the chips are nearly completely broken down. Made that mistake a few years ago.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Fresh wood chips suck the nitrogen out if the ground till the chips are nearly completely broken down. Made that mistake a few years ago.

That part I know about. I think the idea is that there starts being a layer of continuously decaying woodchips at the bottom, adding nutrients to the ground.

This past year we grew clover as a cover crop and green manure, also because it fixes nitrogen. I might try wood chips in one box and see how it does.

Edit:

This is what made me think of it.

 

[sean donato]

That part I know about. I think the idea is that there starts being a layer of continuously decaying woodchips at the bottom, adding nutrients to the ground.

This past year we grew clover as a cover crop and green manure, also because it fixes nitrogen. I might try wood chips in one box and see how it does.

Edit:

This is what made me think of it.

it works ok, so long as you don't have a veggie thats a heavy nitrogen user. Think tomatoes, they arnt as dependant on having lots of nitrogen available like corn would be. Once it's broken down its great. Really adds to the organic content of the soil and there's lots of available nutrients. Just doesn't work so hot when they are fresh/partially broken down. We did straight up wood chips for a few years, then switched to this "mushroom" mulch. Still has quite a bit of woody material in it, but it's like 3/4 composted already. Cost is close to the same, the landfill has it for $14.00 scoop vs the wood chips at $20.00 yard from the lanscape place. Depending on who is loading makes a difference too, the one guy really heaps up his buckets at the landfill, the guys at the landscape place doesn't really heap up the bucket. I'd expect a 2 year loss of good production from just the wood chips till they start breaking down fully. The mushroom multch seems to do much better.

 

[OM617YOTA]

Thank you! That's good to know.

There's a tree company near here that will give you all the wood chips you're willing to shovel in the truck for free. Local mulch place has good stuff, but you're really rolling the dice on weed seed content with that one, it's been disastrous in the past.