Spacing Crops | Urban Farming Day 3

Grow Gardens. Not Lawns

Last post I shared what we learned about DTM - and how we're using it to guide our crop selection.

However, DTM is only one of five criteria (and we might be adding another) in our crop selection. The next is the amount of Space Required to Grow.

We want to harvest as much produce per square foot as possible. This is a lot easier if we can squeeze crops close together.

Using Leafy Greens to Illustrate

First, I want to share some researched numbers based on intensive farming principles

• Bed size: 2.5 feet (30 inches) by 20 feet (240 inches).
• Seeds/Row, Spinach: 67 potential crops/row
• Rows/Bed, Spinach: 5 potential rows
• Seeds/Row, Lettuce: 120 potential crops/row
• Rows/Bed, Lettuce: 9 potential rows

First we're going to sketch our bed.

thanks @nikkij for making these sketches

Now, imagine that we want to plant the top half lettuce and the bottom half spinach. Here is how we sketch it out.

Finally, to drive home the point, let's put a pen mark where we actually would be planting each crop.

The Results

Doing some quick math we get the following.

• Total Spinach Crops: 335
• Total Lettuce Crops: 1080

You can literally plant 3x as many lettuce crops as spinach. It surprises me every time I see it.

We're going to add these numbers into our preliminary spreadsheet we began last week.

still super preliminary worksheet

Conclusion

This is only the second criteria we are using to select which crops to plant.

Every day feels so much closer. We're excited.

The community here has been great. I've picked up a lot of tips and ideas, everything from worm fertilizer to stacking potatoes. If you haven't seen it already, you should check out the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter!

Special thanks to everyone who has supported so far. You can catch up on the series here.

Selecting Our Crops! | Urban Farming Day 1
Understanding DTM! | Urban Farming Day 2

Lastly, all proceeds go to farm.

I'm documenting for a few reasons.

First, as tribute to the amazing content producers before me. You've given me confidence to start this project, and I hope others will be inspired in the same way.

Second, for Steemit. Although new here, I hope to contribute meaningful, valuable articles.

Lastly, every upvote breaths life into our garden.

We're self-funding, and we're inviting you to help. Currently we're on our way to saving for an Earthway Seeder. New, it's $112.99, but we think we can get one used for $70 off eBay.

Your Support so Far! $0.72

Thank you so much!
Stephan