Making Portland the "Ruby Chard City": Eight Tips for Beginning Gardeners

by Paul Conrad / taken from Reflections, Spring 1996

If Ole and Maitri Ersson had their way, Portland might one day change its nickname from "The Rose City" to "The Ruby Chard City." Not that this Southeast Portland couple has anything against flowers. Their postage stamp-sized front yard bursts with color from the 15 or so varieties of flowers Maitri plants every spring. But every other available square inch of space on their 40-by-100-foot lot is devoted to growing food.

Aside from staples such as grains and potatoes, Ole and Maitri are able to produce most of their food for their vegetarian family of five. Along with growing vegetables in the backyard, the Erssons harvest raspberries from the cane hedge bordering their property and have strawberry plants growing in their driveway. They have even grown pumpkins on the roof of their house in five-gallon pails.

Ole and Maitri like to imagine what it would be like if every household in Portland produced at least a portion of its own vegetables. They envision a city where everyone on a block works together to grow food, sharing labor, know-how, equipment and harvests. They'd like to see neighborhood organics depots where leaves, wood chips and other valuable organic material could be stored and distributed to local gardeners for composting and mulching. They wish that the city's network of community gardens could be expanded to provide more gardening opportunities to apartment dwellers and others without their own land.

Of course, not every household can turn its yard into the sort of fecund vegetable factory the Erssons have created--at least not at first. Forty-one-year old Ole has been an avid gardener since he was nine, and he applies all of that experience to growing as much food as possible in a very small space. But he points out that everyone has to start somewhere, and the best place to start from is right where you are. With that in mind, he and Maitri offer the following tips for beginning vegetable gardeners:

• Start small. Bedazzled by visions of garden-fresh veggies, it's easy for first-time gardeners to become overly ambitious. Avoid the temptation to rent a rototiller and tear up the entire yard. Remember that every square foot of land you turn over in March will have to be tended throughout the season. Better to start with a small patch the first year. (Even a 10-by-10-foot garden patch can grow a surprising quantity and variety of vegetables.) As the years pass, you can let the size of your garden grow along with your expertise and love of gardening.
• Plan ahead. Successful gardeners do some of their most important work long before the first seed goes in the ground. They spend time planning out their garden, figuring out what gets planted where and when. For the novice gardener, a few hours of study and forethought can help ensure a successful and enjoyable gardening experience.
• There are a number of books offering high productivity, low maintenance gardening techniques for the urban food gardener. The Erssons use John Jeavons' How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine (Ten Speed Press) as their one and only gardening manual. Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening (Rodale Press) is another good resource. Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon (Sasquatch Books) is an excellent introduction to the challenges and rewards of growing vegetables in the Maritime Northwest.
• Ask questions. You've read a book or three and still have a dozen questions. Luckily, gardeners tend to be talkative and helpful folk, happy to share their green thumb know-how with greenhorns. If there are other vegetable gardeners in the neighborhood, don't be shy about approaching them. You'll probably get answers to your questions and to questions you didn't even know you needed to ask.
• You can also pick up the phone and call a Master Gardener. The Extension Service office in each county has a Master Gardener Hotline staffed by volunteers who have completed an extensive horticultural training program. They're available to answer your gardening questions, free of charge. Check the County section of the Government Pages in your Phone book for the number of your Extension Service office.
• Invest in good tools. Ole and Maitri do all their digging and weeding by hand. They find that working the soil with spade, hoe, and garden rake is much more satisfying than attacking it with a rototiller, especially when one is using carefully chosen, high quality implements. Look for tools with high quality forges steel heads and sturdy handles that will stand up to heavy use.
• Close the loop--Compost! As far as the Erssons are concerned, no home garden is complete without a compost pile. Vegetable gardens require regular inputs of organic material to maintain fertility and build good soil structure. Making your own compost is the most efficient and inexpensive way to keep your plants and your soil well fed.
• Mulch your garden. Covering your garden with layer of wood chips, straw or other organic material will save work and help ensure a successful harvest. Mulching reduces the need for weeding, helps the soil retain moisture during dry summer months, and prevents soil compaction.
• Consider containers. No yard? If you have a deck, porch or patio that gets at least six hours of sun per day, you can grow vegetables, herbs, even fruit trees in containers. Your local garden center will have a good assortment of growing containers made of wood, plastic or clay. (The Erssons use plastic five-gallon pails they buy for pennies at their local recycling center.) Fill your containers with a commercial potting mix or 50/50 blend of sand and compost and you're ready to plant. Be advised, however, that containers tend to dry out more rapidly than garden soil. In summer months, you'll probably need to water your container plants daily. Gardener's Supply Company, a Vermont-based gardening catalog company, offers a six-page bulletin entitled "Growing Edibles in Containers." You can get a copy by sending $1 to Gardener's Supply Company, 128 Intervale Road, Burlington, VT 05401.
• Keep at it. Think of gardening as a form of intimate relationship with nature. Like all good relationships, you've got to invest ongoing time, care and attention if you want to keep it alive and growing. Plan on spending a few minutes several times a week weeding, checking for insect damage and other problems, and just enjoying the sense of peace and contentment that being in your garden can bring. (Metro offers a very thorough and helpful booklet on garden pest control entitled "A Guide to Alternatives to Pesticides." It's yours free by calling 503-234-3000.)

A final piece of gardening advice borrows yet again from an advertising slogan you're probably sick of: "Just Do It." There's no other way to experience the unique pleasure and satisfaction of harvesting and eating a garden-fresh tomato, carrot, head of lettuce, or ear of corn you have grown with your own love, attention, and labor. What are you waiting for?

8 Tips for Beginning Gardeners /  Feedback welcome  / Revised May 3, 1997