42°N 88°W · South-East Wisconsin · USDA Zone 5B 2,000 Sq Ft Organic Kitchen Garden · June – September Season Archival Monograph · Published December 30, 2018
Complete Field Archive · Published December 30, 2018

The Garden Journal.

18original dispatches
from South-East Wisconsin

Every crop profile, high-density raised-bed technique, cattle-panel trellis build, and indoor winter microgreen guide from our 2018 kitchen garden in USDA Zone 5B.

18 storiesPublished December 30, 2018 · South-East Wisconsin (Zone 5B)
№ 01

A Summary Of Our Kitchen Gardening in 2018

We live in South-East Wisconsin, USA, in USDA Zone 5B. Our winters are too cold for growing anything; however, we get four months a year, from June till…

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№ 02

Growing In Raised Beds

We grow root vegetables and small leafy greens on raised beds. The beds are made with 'construction lumber'. Being not chemically treated makes construction…

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№ 03

How We Use Trellises In Gardening

We prefer to grow vining or climbing varieties of vegetable plants, as opposed to bush varieties. Pole beans, indeterminate tomatoes, cucumbers, Asian gourds…

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№ 04

Tomatoes

We plant around 30 tomato plants every year. This year we had 16 varieties of tomatoes. Most of them produced well. We plant them about a foot (30 cm) apart.…

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№ 05

How We Grow Microgreens

We grow several varieties of microgreens indoors during our long winters. Fenugreek, mustard, chia, amaranth, onion, cilantro, arugula and kale are some of the…

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№ 06

Our Garden Fences And Grape Trellis

We have a lot of wild rabbits, ‘Eastern Cottontail’, in the area. In the first year of gardening we thought we could do without fences. Instead we used garlic or…

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№ 07

Seeding Templates And Stamps

We plant our vegetables much denser than usually recommended. The root vegetables and leafy greens we plant in raised beds are only 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Though…

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№ 08

Asian Gourds

Bitter gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd, hairy gourd, luffa and tindora are vegetables we love. They need a longer growing season than what we have. So, we start…

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№ 09

Pole Beans

Every year we plant three or four varieties of pole beans and a couple of varieties of bush beans. Pole beans are much better suited to our needs. First of all,…

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№ 10

Bush Beans

We plant a couple of varieties of bush beans too every year. Though some of them are quite tasty, they are a pain to harvest. Bending down to pick them is not…

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№ 11

Brussels Sprouts

We had stopped growing them many years ago, as these large plants take a lot of space in the garden and they require almost the entire growing season to mature.…

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№ 12

Large Leafy Greens

In addition to the compact greens we grow on raised beds, Swiss Chard, Japanese Mustard, Kale, Leek, Celery, Nasturtium etc. are grown outside the raised beds.

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№ 13

Peppers

Cayenne is our favorite pepper. We use them in a lot of preparations in the kitchen. So, we grow at least 10-15 plants each year. They are either harvested when…

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№ 14

Garlic, Onions and Shallots

We use garlic, onions and shallots regularly in our kitchen. They are very easy to grow too. So we grow plenty of each.

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№ 15

Fruits and Berries

We have a couple of apple, pear, cherry and plum trees, and one apricot tree in our backyard. Pear trees are the easiest to maintain and the most productive for…

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№ 16

Kulli Corn

We try to avoid plants that take a lot of space in the garden and give a single harvest. Corn is one of them. Not only are they large, but they can grow quite…

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№ 17

A Few Other Favorites

Okra, broccoli, summer squash, cucumber, eggplant etc. are vegetables we grow every year. They all produce abundantly here.

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№ 18

How We Grow Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass is believed to be highly nutritious, with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to boot. It's one of the easiest microgreens to grow indoors…

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