Vertical Techniques Urban Gardener

Hello and welcome to the Vertical Techniques Urban Gardener blog!  This blog has high hopes.  You can like me on Facebook (@Vertical Techniques).  I am an arborist from Milwaukee, WI and have a blog about my adventures in arboriculture @ verticaltechniques.blogspot.com.  The goal of this blog is to highlight the link between trees and shrubs and the material that they produce and the food that can be grown using organic urban agricultural techniques.  These techniques relate to both indoor and outdoor gardening.  Topics of conversation will include: arboriculture,permaculture, vermiculture, composting, vertical gardens, container gardening, organic agriculture, aquaculture, aquaculture systems, raising chickens in urban areas.  Additionally, I may include some recipes using food that we grew.  

I am excited today that I have found a plot in which to garden.  I will have one raised bed and up to a dozen containers.  The containers will be 5-gallon buckets.  There are many good reasons to use the buckets, not the least of which is the cost.  They also are best when they are being reused.  My plan is to grow lettuce, spinach, arugala, kale, carrots, turnips, radishes and beets in the raised bed.  I will grow tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, green beans and pea-pods in the containers.  I will also attempt to start some hops in a container for transplant in a year or two.

The layout of the plot is like this:  I have a space for one 3' x 6' x 1' raised bed.  I have areas where I can give my container grown plants ample sunlight due to their south facing aspect.  I have a south facing wall upon which I can grow vines.  I also have a few small trees that I am nursing along that have volunteered in the space.  I have two american chestnuts (Castenea dentata), a yellow-bud hickory (Carya cordiformis), and a couple of white ash (Fraxinus americana).  
 

The chicken-wire structure is protecting an American Chestnut

The chicken-wire structure is protecting another American Chestnut.  The raised bed will go in to its left. The other small trees will planted near to this one and will be moved in  a couple of years when they have grown and are ready for transplant.

The date is March third, 2012.  The snow cover is perfect to illustrate how the winter weather leaves the landscape almost inaccessible.  However, with a little planning, we will have a nice productive urban gardening space right here. 

A large concrete pad that gets full sun will be utilized for the container garden.

The trellis is a possible location for the Hops (Humulus spp).

Nice big south-facing wall to upon which vines can grow.

More space in the area that will be improved to facilitate enjoyment of the hammock that will be put up between the trees.

Future location of the raised garden bed.

This is the foundation of the project.  It is in its raw and unimproved form.  I feel quite fortunate to have such a nice site upon which to garden.  Like I said, I have high hopes for this plot!