In today's day and age, the local foods movement and people's desires to minimize the negative environmental impact of their food have grown exponentially. Many young adults especially are not interested in simply going to the grocery store and buying produce made in all areas of the world. They want to know exactly where their food comes from and how it was produced. If you are one of those people, then you may be looking to install a small backyard garden in your yard so you can completely control the crop to table process. Get to know a few ideas to help you get your backyard garden started as soon as possible:
Install Raised Beds for Herbs and Smaller Plants
If you want to maximize your yield from your small garden, it is important to think vertical as well as horizontal in terms of the space that you use. Having raised beds in your garden area can improve your total yield from your plants and can help you avoid pesky problems like weeds that can damage your crops.
When you want herbs as well as vegetables in your backyard garden, you should put the herbs in raised beds. Many herbs are quite delicate and are also desirable to animals like gophers, rabbits, and other creatures because they smell delicious. Raised beds can act as a deterrent to those animals and can prevent damage from other issues (the weeds mentioned above).
Smaller plants that do not grow on vines (i.e., not pumpkins, strawberries, etc.) can also be planted in these raised beds. It may be best to avoid planting root vegetables in raised beds though as you may not have the proper soil depth to allow such plants to thrive. This can include carrots, onions, and potatoes that should go into the ground directly.
Consider Drip Irrigation
When a part of your reasoning for putting in a small backyard garden is the environmental impact of your food, you do not want to use a great deal of extra water to make your garden thrive. Over-watering is not only bad for the environment but is also bad for your garden plants themselves.
Using a drip irrigation system can help to prevent such problems. This type of irrigation involves a slow flow of water going through a hose directly into your soil. Water is not wasted above ground through sprinklers that spray it all over but instead goes right into the soil supporting your garden plants.
To make the most out of your drip irrigation system, you could also connect that system to a rain barrel that collects rainwater, so you are not taking the water for your garden from the municipal water system.
These ideas will help you to install your small backyard garden as successfully as possible. Check out a website like http://sprinklersdfw.com/ for more information and assistance.