Garden Site Evaluation - Presentation #1

The Grow City Garden on July 25, 2019

Welcome to the Grow City Garden Education blog!

The purpose of the blog is to provide presentations, tutorials and other information to Grow City workshop participants, easily accessible to all.

Background of Grow City:

Grow City was created in 2019 through the Education Committee of the Knox County (Indiana) Soil and Water Conservation District, as part of its mission to provide education in the importance of soil health in urban situations. Partners include the Knox County Public Library, Purdue Extension Service, and Vincennes University. 

The Grow City Teaching Garden was established in 2019 in the back yard of the McGrady-Brockman Historical Collection building, part of the Knox County Public Library campus, at 7th and Hart Streets in Vincennes, Indiana. The library has generously donated garden/work space, storage space, and access to water for this project, and also helps with workshops in various ways.

The Grow City Program consists of both indoor and outdoor workshops that teach area residents (primarily for urban situations) how to grow their own food within their own unique situations. The garden serves as a teaching tool.

Teens from the Knox County Public Library planting seeds for fall crops in their own raised bed

October 25, 2019

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Garden Site Evaluation

Spring Series Presentation #1 for March 17, 2020

Background:

Three monthly indoor Grow City workshops had been planned for the Spring Series, 2020. The aim of the series was to provide participants with the "tools" they would need to plan a garden for their own unique situation. Each time, they would add to their plans, using what was learned in the latest workshop. By the last one in April, they would have a complete, original plan they could use to get their gardens set up and planted.

The February 18 workshop proceeded successfully, in the Sun Room of the Knox County Public Library, and participants got started on their plans. The main idea of this workshop was to inspire participants with possibilities, give them a basic background in soil health, and teach them how to do a basic evaluation on their intended garden site. With this, they would get started on their plans, using what they observed. They also would set up times for SWCD staff member Jeff Coats to visit their site and collect soil samples for testing.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions put in place to try to prevent the spread of the virus, the library was closed and activities of all partner organizations greatly curtailed. The intended "pop-up workshops" in the garden were also suspended, to prevent gathering.

All Grow City activities became virtual. Work continues in the garden, and is communicated via updates and tutorials on the Grow City Teaching Garden Facebook page and an email list. 

This is the first virtual presentation for the indoor workshops of the Spring Series, back-tracking to the first subject missed, which would have been presented on March 17, 2020. In this first virtual presentation, we review Garden Site Evaluation by looking at how we observed and analyzed the Grow City Teaching Garden site, and how we decided to use it based on those observations and considerations. 

Okay - let's get started!!

Considerations of the site for planning the Grow City Teaching Garden:

- Soil test/conditions/quality

- Sunlight and shade

- Water source and location

- Activities planned for the space

- The alley/nearby activity

- Neighbors/neighborhood

- Animals - wild, domestic, stray

First:

Soil!

We needed to get this garden started! But, the most important aspect in analyzing a prospective garden site is finding out the quality of your soil by having a soil test done. 

In most situations, it is also important, through that, to know how the site was used before, and to have it tested for the presence of heavy metals. That alone will determine how you will use the site. Vincennes is a very old city (established in 1732!), and so all sorts of activities, materials, and substances could have occurred on sites within the city. The McGrady-Brockman Building was built as a residence in 1859 and was converted to use as a funeral home in 1937. It remained a funeral home until it came under the auspices of the public library in 2000. The backyard had a garage on it long ago (we do come across small bits of concrete or brick), but for many years has just been a grassy yard.

March 2019

Some neighbors were parking cars on the back part of the site, off the alley. This was put to a stop, but it's also a consideration for site use, as far as factors such as possible soil compaction.

March 2019

Jeff Coats took soil samples and turned them in for testing. Also, SWCD staff member Will Drews investigated web sites to find out if there were any toxic sites near enough to affect this site. 

Since we needed to get things started, but did not yet have results of the soil test, we decided to approach the garden, initially, in ways that would be adaptable to any outcome. We did this in two ways.

1. Raised beds

A cattle panel trellis was added between the two raised beds, which were constructed and filled during the first on-site workshop. We also built an identical raised bed nearby for the Teens. Each is 4' x 4'.

If you are unsure of the safety of your existing soil, you can include a barrier at the bottom of the raised bed. This, in essence, creates a container garden. You can also avoid planting root crops that will tap farther into the soil with the part of the plant you would intend to consume (carrots, beets, etc.)

We took a chance and opted to not use a barrier so that if the soil was safe micro- and macro-organisms could work between the existing soil and the soil added to the bed.

2. Making different crop choices for an in-ground bed.

We planned to start with one in-ground bed, which  would be planted as a Three Sisters Garden (corn/beans/squash, but also sunflowers). 

This 4/ x 8' in-ground bed was prepared by solarizing - black plastic concentrates the heat of sunlight to kill off grass and weeds, thus eliminating the need to turn and disturb soil and its structure and organisms.

But, since we did not yet know about the safety of the soil, we chose crop varieties that double as ornamental so that there would still be a use for them if they couldn't be consumed: Glass Gem Corn, Scarlet Runner Beans, and Jack-Be-Little Pumpkins (as well as the Sunflower mix).

Glass Gem Corn grown in the Grow City Teaching Garden in 2019 - it can be used as ground corn, popcorn, or as decoration.

Fortunately, when the soil test results came, it showed that our soil was safe from heavy metals! Yay!! Also, Will's investigation showed that there were no toxic sites close enough to affect our site. 

This meant we could proceed as normal with in-ground gardens, and that leaving out a barrier from the raised beds wouldn't matter. 

During our first observations of the site, we dug soil in various spots to check its content and quality.

It's a sandy soil, but with enough organic matter to make it viable. Really, there had been little disturbance for years. Sandy meant it would be easier to work than clay/silty soil, but also that it would dry up faster.

The soil clumped together fairly well when squeezed in the hand into a ball, but was a little crumbly.

Some dark spots in this sample

We can see some tiny remnants of red brick in this sample

Second:

Another very important consideration is the amount of sunlight on the prospective site - at different times of the day. Where does shade fall throughout the day, and for how long? Are there areas of dappled light or partial shade? What areas receive a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight in a day?

In watching the Grow City site, we observed that shade is cast by the back of the McGrady-Brockman building.

Shade is also cast by a large evergreen tree in the east/southeast corner of the lot. In the morning the tree's shade extends well down the yard, though not all the way. 

We discovered, though, that the shading only happens during the morning. Most of the day the lot is in full sun, which opened up many possibilities for us. We knew that any part of the lot could be planted, as far as amount of light, but that in the east/southeast segment we should plant crops that don't need a full day of sun. Crops such as greens, root crops, and some herbs would be fine there.

These observations also affected the way that we would orient the garden beds. We needed to consider getting enough sun to anything that would be growing in them. We oriented all of the beds to benefit from both the morning and late afternoon/early evening sun.

This chart was done later in 2019 when we were adding another garden bed, plus the compost bin.

The sun rises around the upper left, above the large pine, and sets to the lower right, beyond the McGrady-Brockman parking lot.

Marking locations of the three raised beds and first in-ground bed early in 2019

This orientation also considered the shade that would be cast by plants growing on trellises, particularly the large cattle-panel trellis that would be put between two of the raised beds, and the amount of sunlight those plants would receive.

Summer 2019: cucumbers on the left side of the cattle panel trellis, pole beans on the right - all received adequate sunlight to produce well and did not shade plants in adjoining raised beds.

An extra note: Another important consideration when analyzing a prospective garden site is to notice where there are consistently wet and dry spots, and where water pools or runs during wet times. At the Grow City site, the lot is very even and flat. We have not found any inconsistent spots, as far as moisture. If we had, this would have determined what we could grow in those spots, as some plants tolerate wetness or dry conditions better than others. Or, we would have used those spots for other purposes than planting. You might find spots that would be good for rain gardens, water features, resting/gathering places, or play areas.

Third:

Water source. It's very important to have an accessible source of water for watering the garden, washing, etc. Preferably, it should be near the gardens so that it's easy to use. At the Grow City site, the water spigot is very conveniently located at the back of the building. We were able to reach all the gardens with the hose we initially bought (and the handy attachment with various stream selections). This year we bought a longer hose so that we could more easily reach the further beds that we added as well as the compost bins, which need to be watered during dry spells to keep them working well. 

We also were happy to have a convenient water source for the workshops we would have.

Some workshops involve harvesting and using crops from the garden. During this summertime 2019 workshop, a participant washes vegetables for the salads we made and shared. 

Fourth:

Another aspect of site planning is consideration of how people will be using the space (as well as how they are already using it, especially for home sites). Where will activities take place? What structures will be needed, permanently or temporarily? How will people need to move about?

For Grow City, we need plenty of space for groups (possibly somewhat large ones, at times) to gather for instruction and programs, and to do the work of the garden. Sometimes we would need to set up tables with instructional and work materials, or refreshments. Sometimes we would need to set up a tent or two, especially during hot weather. 

Tom Held, Natural Resources Conservation Service, teaches about using cover crops in the garden.

We would need to be sure people could gather around a garden bed and still see and hear what was being demonstrated or explained.

Jennifer Nettles, Horticulture professor at Vincennes University, talks to attendees about cucumber plants.

Using a "pocket space" inside the ramp area for a the container garden portion of a workshop

We also needed to consider that visiting groups would sometimes come to the garden.

Visitors sampling cherry tomatoes

Fifth:

The alley. This falls under considering the surroundings of your prospective garden site and how the physical aspects of them and activities associated with them may affect your future garden. 

This block of the alley behind the McGrady-Brockman backyard is a cut-through between Hart Street (a very busy, main artery road) and Shelby Street. We were surprised at how busy it is, especially just after 5:00 pm. It is also the way the residents across the alley get to their parking spots. Those buildings are a row of old houses facing 6th Street, divided into apartments. 

The library had a black fence around the whole back part of the McGrady-Brockman property and the parking lot (remnants can be seen in some of the photos in this blog), but the stretch of fence between the back yard and the alley was gone. 

The back of the yard, the alley, and apartment parking

This was because it was damaged from cars running into it (the end of a remnant near the parking lot  still bears damage). There were ruts and tire marks into the back of the yard. After being at the site often enough, we could observe how people drove up and down the alley. Why were people driving off the alley at this part of it? There were some pot holes in the alley, between the yard and apartment parking spaces. Sometimes people could avoid them and still drive only on the alley road. But, we observed that when apartment-dwellers' cars were parked near the holes, people had to swerve toward the McGrady-Brockman yard to avoid both the parked cars and the holes - there was no way to avoid this, and it had caused people to run into the fence when it was there. 

We couldn't really fix this problem for them, but we could adapt to it. There are plans for a new fence around the backyard (slowed now by the pandemic). In doing our measuring and planning for a fence, we allowed more space between the alley and where the fence would be. 

Note: The fence is needed for a number of reasons that will be soon addressed here. There have not been other structures or activities elsewhere around the site that have strongly affected the garden.

Sixth:

Neighbors and neighborhood.

This is, of course, closely related to considering the surroundings. We are in the middle of a busy, urban area. We have residential neighbors behind us along the alley. As those are apartments, people move in and out, and some stay a long time. Also, next door there is a medical establishment in a nice old renovated house. Their parking lot is behind their building, adjacent to the northeast/east end of the Grow City yard. 

We need to consider our neighbors for a number of reasons. For one thing, we want to be good neighbors. One way to do that is to keep things nice-looking. This is true for any neighborhood, of course, and some are fussier about this than others. When we wanted to start a compost bin, for example, we made sure it would be a nice looking bin (one reason not to use an open pile). 

The first compost bin, built by Ray Chattin during a compost workshop in 2019 (seen here is SWCD CEO Charlie Ring)

Since the bin is near the fence and a parking lot, a lid was attached so that passing people couldn't toss things into it that don't belong there.

In early 2020 we needed to transfer compost to another bin to keep it working, and to get to the "good stuff" at the bottom of the wooden bin. This fence panel bin serves the purpose, is not bad looking, and shows people an easy, cheap way to have a quick compost bin.

In late 2019 we had a "Lasagna Layering" workshop, during which we started a new bed using sheet mulching - layering various kinds of materials that could break down into usable garden soil. We needed to keep it covered (more on that later) until planting time in spring 2020. We covered it with sheets of cardboard and put old pallets and bricks on top for weight. 

Just after construction, late 2019

It didn't look pretty, but it did look purposeful, as if something was going to be happening.

Early 2020

In spring 2020, when we uncovered the bed, we re-covered it with row cover fabric, weighted with some bricks along the edges. In retrospect, we could have done this last fall and it would have been a nicer view for the neighbors. But, this year they'll enjoy seeing the plantings in the bed, too.

Well, this is not so much about planning the whole site, but it's part of trying to think ahead.

Besides vehicle traffic, a number of people walk up and down the alley - neighbors as well as people walking through. Some have seemed curious about the garden, some don't seem to notice at all, and some stop and talk, even ask questions. We are thinking of them, too, when we make plans for the gardens. We want them to be able to see what is going on.

We put the sign up early on. It faces the alley and is a little turned toward the McGrady-Brockman parking lot. Even before the gardens really got started, the sign let neighbors, passers-by and others know what was going on there.

Another concern, unfortunately, is the possibility of theft and vandalism, especially in the middle of a town or city. There's no way to completely avoid those things, but we keep an eye on it and try to think of things we can do if it looks like we're having problems. The permanent fence will help prevent some of that, though it's not the only reason for the fence.

Seventh:

Animals - wild, domestic, and stray. 

In an urban situation, you don't have as much trouble with wild animals, though raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, moles, and opossums can turn up, and deer and coyotes are well known to wander cities and neighborhoods. Some like to eat your garden delicacies, usually just when they become ripe. Some might make burrows or tunnels. Others might walk through things (deer are good at that). Wild birds, though most are welcome, can be a problem, especially those that like to find your newly-planted seeds or seedling plants. A neighbor said that crows gather in the big pine tree, though we haven't seen any in the garden.

There has been a problem with domestic dogs - or, rather, their owners, who either take them on "walks" in the yard or let them run. We've had to clean up after them plenty. There are also a few neighborhood cats. Cats can see garden beds, especially freshly made ones, as nice big litter boxes.

Any of these, of course, could be stray animals, too.

The permanent fence, when it goes in, should help keep most dogs (and dog "walkers") out of the yard and garden. Hopefully there are none small enough to get through it, and that none would be able to climb it. We'll see if cats can get through or climb it, depending on the fence style that is settled on. 

When we first built the raised beds and filled them with soil, we covered them with row cover fabric. This was mainly to keep out the cats and birds. After planting seeds and seedlings, we left the covers on for awhile for the same reason, but removed them when plants were large and sturdy enough, and also so that pollinators could get to any flowers.

The materials in the "lasagna-layered" bed, made in late 2019, would break down much better if left open. But, we covered it to keep out the dogs and cats. We thought loose dogs would especially be interested in digging around in it.

Another tactic was to install a "temporary" chicken wire fence around the area of the garden beds. This has effectively kept out animals and, to some extent, people who aren't involved in the garden. It was built around the three raised beds and the 4' x 8' bed that would be the Three Sisters garden in 2019. It now needs to be expanded to go around the layered bed as well as a possible straw bale garden. Originally we thought of this fence as temporary, but have seen that we may still need it even when permanent fence (and gate) enclose the lot. We shall see.

In a nutshell, when evaluating a prospective garden site, consider whether you will need any kind of fence or barriers, and be sure you work that space into your plans. Also consider the shade that some kinds may cast.

In the Future for Grow City:

Based on our original site observations, as well as what we've observed and experienced throughout our first Grow City year, here are some things we would like to do in the near future. You, too, will adjust and add to your plans in the future!

1. Install a Bee/Butterfly native plant garden. This spot will soon be marked off (5' x 5') and will be covered with black plastic to solarize the spot (as we did when preparing the Three Sisters bed). Plans are to plant it in late May. The plants will come from the Knox County Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (part of Knox County SWCD), which raises and sells plants native to Knox County. This year they are also offering bundles of plants for planting particular types of gardens. The Grow City Bee-and-Butterfly garden will also be used for a virtual demonstration of preparing and planting a native plants garden. The plot will be near the side fence, between the compost area and the back of the lot, closer to the compost.

* Do you have a sunny spot for a pollinator garden? Or, you can make sure to include native plants among other plantings.

2. We are thinking of doing a perennial herb garden that can be used for cooking, craft and herbal medicine workshops. The location is not decided yet.

* Do you have a spot where you can plant a few herbs, in the ground or in pots? Most herbs are easy to grow, and many are perennial. Historically, people grew them near doorsteps, especially just outside the kitchen, so they could step outside to pinch off a few herbs for cooking.

3. When the permanent fence is installed, we are thinking of putting an attractive "go-ahead-and-pick-some" kind of garden along the outside of it, facing the alley. This will be one of our "good neighbor" actions, and also will hopefully get more people interested in the Grow City garden, gardening in general, and eating fresh food.

* Do you have a place to grow a few extra things to share with neighbors? 

4. We are considering the idea of growing some climbing plants on a fence, whether they be edible or ornamental. As part of that, we toy with the idea of learning to do an espaliered fruit tree.

* Do you already have a spot where you can grow climbing plants? A fence, an existing trellis, a porch, a deck? This makes it easy to tuck in more crops like peas, pole beans, vining squashes, cucumbers, etc., or ornamental climbers, especially some that attract birds and pollinators.

5. New for 2020, we plan to grow a flower-cutting garden, and have a workshop in flower arranging, too. This garden will be against the ramp, facing the parking lot. It will be very visible to those arriving, or even just using the parking lot, brightening up a plain spot. 

Imagine this plain spot filled with flowers!

This same area was used for a container garden workshop in 2019.

Even across the McGrady-Brockman parking lot, people could see the tall sunflowers and the trellised plants of the Grow City garden, in 2019. They could even be seen from the parking lot of the main library building, especially when the sunflowers were in bloom. Now imagine flowers, some of them tall, growing in front of that slanted place (the ramp) at the far end of this parking lot.

* Do you have a tucked-away spot, or "pocket" kind of place, or a dull spot that could use some interest? Is there a spot you often see outside a window or door that you'd like to brighten up?

Early June 2019

July 2019

What a difference a month makes!!

We all learn as we go, and make adjustments along the way during this adventure we call Gardening.

Please share your garden plans as you go along!! Tell us what you are doing. Ask questions. Comment on others. 

You can share on the Grow City Teaching Garden facebook page.

If you'd rather share through email, just send an email, and any photos or documents you'd like to share, to leapingfrog55@yahoo.com  and it will then be shared with the Grow City email list.

Let's keep the conversation and the sharing going! :)

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Next Grow City workshop presentation blog entry: 

** Garden Methods **

Learn about different methods you can adapt to your unique situation!

(This would have been presented during the March 17 workshop)

Watch for it!