Backyard Organic

Vegetable Gardening
Max Apton
Farm Manager, Amawalk Farm
Owner, The Farmer’s Garden
 About the Gardener
• I am a Westchester native

• I have a background in organic

vegetable farming

• Former field manager at Stone Barns

Center in Tarrytown

• Current farm manager at Amawalk

Farm in Katonah

• Owner of a home edible landscaping

business, The Farmer’s Garden

• Weekly garden columnist for The

Journal News
 Today’s Class

• Picking garden placement in

your yard

• Preparing soil for planting

• What and when to plant

• Gardening with kids

Location, Location, Location!
Picking the right spot for your garden.
 Garden Placement
• There are many things to consider before turning
over your soil:

• Direct sun exposure (southern facing, trees,

houses, etc).

• Soil conditions

• Terrain (slope, ponds, rocks, forest)

• Proximity to water source, kitchen

 How Much Space Do I
Need?

• Well, it depends on what you

grow.

• A 15’ x 20’ can offer lots of

greens, roots and some fruits
(ie. tomatoes and peppers) for
a family of four.

• Biting off plenty to chew

 Preparing your soil
• Pick your sunniest spot

• Collect a soil sample

• Add compost and other organic, mineral amendments

• Till the sod under or cut away the sod

• Work soil deeply

• Create raised beds

 Breaking Ground
• Gather your amendments

• Access to machinery

• Sod removal vs. tilling sod

• Spreading compost and

amendments, working deeply

• Allowing time for breakdown

and settling
 Preparing Raised Beds

• Raised beds without all the

fuss

• Friable soil, good tilth, clod-free

and smooth

• Wide rows, deep soil, paths for

foot traffic and wheelbarrows

• Preparing seed beds

When to plant and harvest popular garden veggies

Crop Seed or TP Plant outside Harvest

Carrots,
March-May,
spinach and Seed June-October
July-August
beets
Lettuce heads May-July, Late-
March-May,
(romaine, TP August to
July-September
butter, etc) October
June,
Radishes and March-May,
Seed September-
peas August-October
November
Onions and
TP April June-August
potatoes
Kale, cabbage,
TP April, May, July May-December
broccoli
Tomatoes,
Late-July to first
peppers, TP May
frost
eggplant
Sunlight and Space Needs of Common Garden Plants

Vegetable Sunlight Box Planter Container

At least 4-6 Lettuce, arugula,

Leafy greens Yes
hours baby kale/chard

Herbs At least 4 hours Yes Yes

Tomatoes,
eggplant, At least 8 hours No Yes
peppers
Potatoes,
Yes, though not
zucchini, At least 8 hours No
preferable
squash
Carrots, beets
At least 6 hours No No
and roots

Strawberries At least 8 hours No Yes

 Inviting Kids to Garden
• Gardening should be a family
activity!

• Kid-friendly activities:

• seeding large-seeded crops

like peas and beans

• watering the garden

• tuber treasure hunt!

• root vegetables

• snacking!
 Advanced Activities for Kids
and Teens
• For the older children:

• Measuring the garden beds and calculating plants

and seeds required

• Harvesting greens and fruits

• Cooking with the harvest

• Weeding the garden

 Fertility Simplified

• Above all else: Add compost and organic matter

• Ocean products: kelp meal, fish fertilizer, greensand

• Cover cropping, straw mulch. Not leaving soil bare.

 Macronutrients

Fast-release Slow-release
Nutrient What It Does
Sources Sources
Responsible for Alfalfa meal, fish
Legumes, green
plant vigor, fertilizer,
Nitrogen manures and
foliage and blood/crab/feath
compost
protein synthesis er meal
Soft-rock
Flower and fruit. Animal manure,
Phosphorous phosphate, bone
Photosynthesis. compost,
meal
Roots, plant Wood ash, Sul- Greensand,
Potassium
immunity po-mag azomite, granite
Flavor and Pulverized Compost,
Calcium
overall strength limestone gypsum
Photosynthesis
Dolomitic lime, Compost, kelp
Magnesium and healthy
Sul-po-mag meal, greensand
growth
Protein/enzyme Elemental sulfur,
Sulfur Gypsum
production sul-po-mag