Scaling Up Food Production in the Suburbs: What to Do, Year by Year

Now that we are growing more of our own food, "for real," in our suburban backyard, I've learned the hard way how NOT to scale up the system. Here is a detailed plan, laying out how I WISH that I had scaled up my garden over time--including how to build the space out, gradually, without screwing up your overall rotation plan.

[@JoshuaBeneda]

Recently found your channel and I have really appreciated your content. I'm a new gardener on a very small footprint with Earthboxes in 9a. Things never go perfectly, but most channels pretend they do. Describing in detail your plans, intent, and changes you would make is better than any seeding video. You're sharing wisdom that would take me years to learn. Thank you for sharing your thought process through these videos, and your teaching style with the graphics. Perhaps consider putting together a book or planning journal in the future.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

I’m so glad this is helpful, and thank you for the kind words. I learn a lot more from the mistakes-I’ve got this “parallel universe garden” going off on the side where Past Me benefits from the screw-ups of Now Me. If I ever have free time, I may try to capture it all in one place/book 👍

[@stephenseaborn3844]

You are a wise intelligent woman who learns from her mistakes! Like some others I am an experienced gardener, however there are always new things to learn and new things to try. This is my second video of yours I’ve watched and I learned new things. Subscribed!

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Thank you! It’s funny but I’m just now working on the garden plan for next year, and it’s amazing how many things I’m adjusting; seven years in and still learning every season.

[@SteveSerrano65]

This is some Great information! I have just recently found your channel. Being an experienced gardener, I sure have learned a few things. I hope you channel grows quickly! People need to see the valuable information and hard work that you have presented. Great job and hello from your Southern neighbor (Indiana). Subscribed 👍

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Thanks-shout out for the Midwest! ❤️

[@eulerizeit]

HEY, I have all those problems doing the same thing you did.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Guessing you also convinced yourself that you would DEFINITELY get it all done? :)

[@eulerizeit]

@@WellGroundedGardens 100%

[@lisaherren8958]

I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL! I so appreciate your how you start with the end in mind. As another person who loves to jump in because of passion, I love how you posted the "why" behind the "what!" Thank you so much for sharing!

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Wow-thank you! And for sure “the why” is always my main driver…in gardening and in life. ❤️

[@anneg8319]

Awww, sweetie. I hope you didn't have a MS flare-up. To be honest, I was wondering how you were going to do it all...I thought perhaps you would hire help? But...I totally understand how you feel. It has happened this year to me, too. Basically, I am at the gardening-immobilized stage and don't know what to do next. It's ridiculous but I am so unhappy with my previous hard work because my bed design looks UGLY. It has stopped me because I don't know if I have it in me to tear it down but, then again, I don't want to leave it this way either cause it will have to be permanent if I don't change it now. But, can my budget, body (I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), psyche and HUSBAND handle it? I am stupidly stubborn and enjoy the manual labor. We will see. At least the harvest tastes good. Oh, may I suggest lining your future beds with rabbit wire to protect against underground invaders? Perhaps you already have. Hang in there. Thanks for sharing your new, balanced plan.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

Thank you! So far this whole situation hasn’t triggered a flare up. I find that my morning “garden quiet time” (e.g., wandering around, pinching suckers, and harvesting things) is more restorative than stressful. We’ll see if that holds. For what it’s worth, I found that making things non-ugly helped a LOT with my emotional state while in the garden. Maybe one bed at a time?

[@ashleyamelia08]

Just discovred your content!! I'm so happy. Have you tried 'chip drop' for your wood shortage? I heard you mentioned using an arborist

[@WellGroundedGardens]

We have! I love them. And have a standing request, basically. 😂 We happened to have a dead tree to remove and got to know the arborist, so I call on him, too. Plus I discovered that our Township gives away wood chips for free (though we have to load them up ourselves)

[@tomrockovich7330]

Hi, Rachel. When did you discover you had a piece of yard debris on your right arm in the initial part of your video, before or after editing?

[@WellGroundedGardens]

During filming. It was removed “digitally” 🤚

[@tomrockovich7330]

Well played, Rachel! 😅

[@penumbraman99]

You don’t need to raise rabbits. You already have them.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

So VERY true. But eating those feels like revenge killings 😂😂😂

[@compticny3138]

Growing up we ended up with a 1/2 acre garden. We always put in 7 beds as dad insisted that the rows not be used every 7 years. We would add kitchen scraps to the fallow rows and then cover the garden with grass clippings and shredded leaves. Prior to planting we/I would rack off the remaining material that had not gone into the soil and start a new compost pile. The old compost pile was added to the beds which were to be used planting.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

I’ll bet your soil was amazing! I’m doing a ten year rotation with the beds fallow once every ten, and that’s probably not enough…but I also over index on using cover crops whenever I can.

[@eulerizeit]

I think the only differing suggestion I would have is getting perennials in the ground as soon as is reasonably possible. I massively under estimated the berries we would eat and am still waiting fo my asparagus.

[@WellGroundedGardens]

This is one where I’m probably pushing the boundaries of my own advice-many if the things I want to grow are fall planted, so I’m doing them at the very end of year 1. I still think that counts 🤷‍♀️