2013, 2014 Update
To update for summer of 2013 and to plan for 2014, I decided I needed to update my garden map. I've abandoned my old idea of naming sections of the garden for various states of the union, and replaced it with using cardinal directions. Therefore, NG is North Garden, WCG is West Central Garden and so forth. GG is Greenhouse Garden, as I plan to move the greenhouse to the north edge of this plot in late 2013. (It currently sits on the north edge of WC Garden).
WP,NP and SP are West, North and South poultry yards respectively. Of course GH is garden house, and CH is chicken house.
Garden Plot Dimensions
The distance from the fence on the west and the fence on the east is about 125 feet, while from the north fence to the fence on the south edge of the South Garden is about 100 feet.
South Garden about 30' x 11' 315 square feet
East Garden 22' x 27' minus some 570 square feet
South Garden about 30' x 11' 315 square feet
East Garden 22' x 27' minus some 570 square feet
North Garden 5' x 24' 120 square feet
East Central Garden 27' x 14' 378 square feet
West Central Garden 27' x 14' 378 square feet
Greenhouse Garden 10' x 8' 80 square feet
West Garden 17 x 24' 408 square feet (planned for 2014)
Total Garden Area for 2014 2,179 square feet
East Central Garden 27' x 14' 378 square feet
West Central Garden 27' x 14' 378 square feet
Greenhouse Garden 10' x 8' 80 square feet
West Garden 17 x 24' 408 square feet (planned for 2014)
Total Garden Area for 2014 2,179 square feet
Google Map Farmyard
Ain't Google maps wonderful? This was taken about August or September of 2011. Locations:
B 2,3,4,5; C5 Area of Garden Map above
A 2,3,4 Barn D 1 Farm house
B 5 Chicken House C 4 Garage
B 3 Garden House C 7 Neighbor's Garage
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| David's Garden, Farmyard |
There's more land to the north and west of the barn and house, but that's reserved for the woodticks, the bears, the deer and those who like to play with them.
Historical Maps
A brief look at garden plans since 2011. I recently found some of my garden notes from 1999 and 2000. I'll be adding some of those notes here in the near future.
2011 & 2012
This is a representation of the bed locations in my garden. I've chosen to use the states of the United States as a geographical reference, with Alaska and Washington on the west edge of the garden, Maine and New York on the east, Minnesota on the north, and Texas on the south.
Now, when I talk about planting lettuce and spinach in Missouri, which I plan to do next week, I'll be designating a section of the garden, not hopping a greyhound to Jefferson City.
The entire garden is about 90 feet from Alaska to New York, and 40 feet from Minnesota to Texas. The beds are generally about 30 inches wide, as are the paths between them. There are exceptions as can be roughly gauged on this map.
The barn and a fence are on the northern edge of the garden, the garden shed and chicken yard on the west, My property line and a fence on the east, and the fence shown on the southern edge.
I could have used world locations as names, but then how could I expand? I'm thinking about a new plot north of the barn, which could be named after Canadian provinces, or just on the west side of the chicken yard, which could be Siberia. You can see it from Alaska then ya know.
These names should become second nature to me in a short time, and should make my record keeping easier, or at least a lot more fun.
Spring 2013 Update
This map shows some of the changes I made to the garden in the fall of 2012. The garden area is still roughly 90 feet by 40 feet, but a number of the grassy paths between beds have been eliminated. It slightly increases the tillable area, and decreases the ability of the grass to creep into the tilled area. Not shown on this map is the 2012 expansion of Puerto Rico and Martinique south of the chicken coop.
Buildings are outlined in red, chicken yards show sketches of red chickens, fences are blue lines with X's, grassy areas are shown with grass symbols, and garden plots are green rectangles with state abbreviations. Except for Illinois and Louisiana, all plots are between 112 and 126 square feet. The fence shown on the east side of the garden hasn't been built yet, but will be completed in the next month to 6 weeks.
Plot Descriptions and Sizes
Alaska 10x12 feet, 120 square feet- before 2013 was Alaska.
California 15x8 feet, 120 square feet- before 2013 was Washington, Oregon and California.
Minnesota 24x5 feet, 120 square feet- before 2013 was Minnesota and Iowa.
Wyoming 9x14 feet, 126 square feet- before 2013 was northern part of Idaho and Montana.
Colorado 9x14 feet, 126 square feet- before was southern part of Idaho and Montana; and the western 9 feet of Texas.
Dakota, North and South 4x28 feet, 112 square feet, Wyoming and central 4 feet of Texas.
Iowa 14x9 feet, 126 square feet. Before 2013 was northern 9 feet of Kansas and Missouri.
Missouri 14x9 feet, 126 square feet. Before 2013 was southern 9 feet of Kansas and Missouri.
Arkansas 14x9 feet, 126 square feet. Before 2013 was grass path and eastern 9 feet of Texas.
Illinois 4x20 feet, 80 square feet. Unchanged from 2012.
Louisiana 4x4 feet, 16 square feet. Unchanged from 2012.
Pennsylvania 10x12 feet, 120 square feet. Before 2013 was western 6 feet of Maine and northern 6 feet of Indiana.
New York 10x12 feet, 120 square feet. Before 2013 was central 9 feet of Maine and northern 6 feet of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Alabama 10x12 feet, 120 square feet. Before 2013 was southern 12 feet of Indiana.
Georgia 10x12 feet, 120 square feet. Before 2013 was southern 12 feet of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Not pictured on this map, but located south of the chicken coop and yard is:
Puerto Rico Polygon, 244 square feet. Unchanged from 2012. (2 plots)
Martinique Polygon, 244 square feet. Unchanged from 2012. (2 plots)
