Is short-Term Gardening worth it?

[MilStachian]

My wife and I are currently renting a home in southern Maryland, just west of Annapolis.  Our lease expires in June and we'll be moving to another home just north of here.

Once we settle in, I'll likely be moving again (I'm a military guy) in June 2017. 

My wife and I have always wanted a garden, but with all of our moving around we're hesitant to make the investment in time and money.  However, I'm especially interested to try to turn my thumb green.

For you experienced gardeners out there, do you think it's worth it for us to plant some vegetables or herbs at the next place, even if we're there for just two years?  And if so, what plants/herbs should we plant? 

[Thegoblinchief]

For you experienced gardeners out there, do you think it's worth it for us to plant some vegetables or herbs at the next place, even if we're there for just two years?  And if so, what plants/herbs should we plant?

1. You need to have space that gets at least 6 hours of sun.

2. You need to know what you eat. Don't grow (at least, not much) what you don't already eat. By all means experiment with a couple plants here or there, but don't invest much space in new things. That's going to determine what you plant, not what others might recommend.

3. Are you going to be doing containers, raised beds, or in-ground beds? In-ground beds (with or without any sort of border) require minimal $, maybe some compost tilled in to improve the soil, but I had pretty damn good yields with just regular lawn tilled over. (See: http://thegoblinchief.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/garden-quest-4-breaking-sod-on-a-budget/)

4. Obviously don't bother with longer-term things like berries, fruit trees, or rhubarb.

[Zaga]

I have had a garden at 2 different short term rentals.  If the sun and soil are good enough, then I say go for it!  Pick things that are easy to grow like tomatoes, onions, lettuce, peppers, radishes, etc.  In one of my gardens I had to put up a 2 foot chicken wire fence to keep out rabbits, your location may need something specific like that.

[Rural]

I'd say so. Any herbs you will actually use are good. Lettuces or spinach if it will grow in your area. Those grow fast. If you like radishes, they're a 30- day turnaround from seed to plate.


You can grow tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets, and cherry tomatoes might not bee to cumbersome to move in June. For the years where you'll be there all summer, tomatoes are plenty of bang for the buck. Squash is easy as long as you'll be there all summer, as are peppers.

[big_owl]

Where in southern Maryland are you?  The owls may also live in SoMD...but anyway...

1. In terms of saving money by growing your own food...not even close.  It takes several years of trial and error to learn what works in your area and also the skills of growing plants in general. So if your only motivation is to save money then forget it.  SoMD is really bad for growing - it's extremely hot and dry in the summer so plants require daily watering in July and August.  The high temps and humidity cause problems with even basic plants like tomatoes.  Banana peppers grow pretty well, but lettuce is a loser except for spring and fall.  Corn is a waste of time since you can buy it so cheap anyway.

2. If it's more for the challenge of it, and for the lovely taste of those peppers and tomatoes (in September when they finally ripen...) then that's great.  Eggplants randomly do pretty well around here in Southern Maryland so I recommend them as well.  Many people start out gardening with some sort of noble savage delusion and the thought that they'll randomly be able to feed themselves when society breaks down due to Obama or whatever.  That's a recipe for failure.  If you understand that it takes years to learn what works in your area and that your first year or two will probably be miserable failures as you learn the ideal times to set out plants in your area, the watering requirements, etc...then your expectations are probably realistic. 

In 2012 we canned about 55 jars of pickles and they still taste damn good.  This year due to the cool temps around here we got decent tomatoes, and peppers are good as well.  I just put in the fall crop of lettuce so that should be rolling in a few weeks as well.  Still, Southern Maryland isn't easy to grow veggies in.  There's a reason it was primarily Tobacco back in the day.

[mudgestache]

I'd definitely go with raised beds so you can start off with good soil since you don't have time for trail and error. Check into squarefoot gardening. Be creative with containers and be sure to research what plants are considered good beginners for your area. Of course you'll want to go with things you're actually going to use or like me you can grow things for other people just for the fun of it :) Good luck!

[GizmoTX]

This seems to be a neat way to have a portable garden:

http://modernfarmer.com/2013/08/meet-tom-colicchios-urban-rooftop-farmer/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Milk-Crate-Air-Pot-Square-Foot-Urban-Container-G/

[Gone Fishing]

Heck yeah! 

Don't waste money on gimmicky gardening stuff.  All you need is a shovel, seeds, a few plants, and some untreated lawn clippings/leaves.

Turn your garden area with the shovel.  Break up the big clods by stabbing them with the shovel, but don't worry about turning the entire garden into fine soil, just the one foot square where you plan on putting a plant or seeds. You can get quite a bit done in an hour or two and it is great exercise.

My favorites for summer are jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, okra, summer/winter squash, Thai basil, and cucumbers.

The squash and cucumbers do great from seed, the okra will too if you wait until the soil is good and warm (after memorial day).  I buy plants for the rest.

My favorites for fall are Kale, turnips, beets, mustard greens, and lettuce.  All do well from seed.  Broccoli and cabbage seem to do better from started plants.

Plant your seeds/plants, water, then mulch no more than 2 inches deep around with your clippings.  If you can't get clippings, use leaves.  If you can't get either, use straw.  It is not very expensive and a bale or two will cover a good amount of ground.  If you use anything other than clippings, you may need a bit of fertilizer.  Just get a 25-50 lb. bag of cheap 10-10-10 from the box store and spread a couple tablespoons evenly in a 18 inch circumference around each plant.   Refresh clippings or other mulch with fertilizer every 2-3 weeks.

I weed until produce starts coming in, then I pick.  It looks like a jungle by the time the season is over, but that is okay, just mow it all down with a push mower and start all over.

As your plants produce and age, they will start looking shabby and eventually die, don't worry, they are all annuals, this is what they were meant to do.

If you like rosemary and will use a fair bit of it, I'd plant one.  They can live through winter until it gets down to the single digits.  Rosemary roasted potatoes are one of my favorite cheap sides.
   

[DecD]

We had a garden for two summers at a house we rented for two years.  I did it for the joy of gardening and the joy of eating home-grown tomatoes and green beans.

I opted for the in-ground garden, because building a raised bed is expensive.

For me, gardening is an important part of life so skipping it during our rental years wasn't an option (we owned a house before and after the rental- we were in a transition period, we knew we'd only be in the city for two years.  I have a garden now as well, of course!) 

Also, don't be intimidated by hot, dry summers - or humidity - in southern Maryland.  I live in coastal Texas- if I can manage a garden here, you can have success there, too!!

If the soil there is just not going to work for a garden, or if you'll be there for less than a whole summer, or if your landlord won't let you dig a garden, consider containers- you can take them with you! 

As for what you should plant- I have always had great success with green beans, tomatoes, basil, onions, hot peppers, radishes, lettuce, spinach.  Plant what you like!  And you definitely need sunshine- the more the better.  The best way to fail at gardening is to try to garden in the shade.  Pay attention to the right planting times for your location.  Frost is ok for peas but not tomatoes, for example. The /r/gardening forum on reddit is pretty helpful for getting started.

[TheFrugalFox]

I am also in the "go for it" camp. Keep it simple and you really do not need to spend much - but it's fun being outdoors and getting your hands dirty. I also tell new gardeners - plant cherry tomatoes, forget normal tomatoes, they are much harder to grow. Where ever I have been spinch/swiss chard always seems to grow easily as well.

[JeffC]

As a fellow nomadic renter, I can say that I find gardening ABSOLUTELY worth it.  It is great to start my morning walking in the garden, picking whatever is ripe, and making breakfast out of it.  There is very awesome movement started by Larry Hall in Minnesota based on sub-irrigated growing.  It is super cheap to build a portable setup out of a few basic readily available materials.  You can make them self watering so that you don't have to really tend it.  Just build it and then go pick stuff when it is ready.

Go on Facebook and look up "Rain Gutter Grow Systems" it is truly astounding.  I put in maybe $200, and have 25 Strawberry plants, 6 tomatoes, 2 okra, 1 eggplant, 6 different peppers, 20 Broccoli, all sorts of herbs, and a huge amount of lettuces.  It may take more than one year for it to pay for itself financially, but more importantly, it changes your relationship to food.  Eating food you grew yourself is a very satisfying feeling and it changes the way you look at food in the supermarket, for sure.

[GuitarStv]

If you're interested in gardening in the future, it's worth it.  Think of it as a mini practice garden rather than a food source.  If you get food from it, it's just an added win.

[swallowtail]

YES!

There is so much to learn, and so much pleasure to be had, even in a short term project.  Start asap!

[mudgestache]

"I opted for the in-ground garden, because building a raised bed is expensive."

Raised beds don't have to be expensive at all! You can use all kinds of things to make a raised bed. $5 kiddie pools. Craig's listed bricks. Garden stakes and chicken wire or a roll of construction fencing. Broken concrete. So many choices :)

[DecD]

"I opted for the in-ground garden, because building a raised bed is expensive."

Raised beds don't have to be expensive at all! You can use all kinds of things to make a raised bed. $5 kiddie pools. Craig's listed bricks. Garden stakes and chicken wire or a roll of construction fencing. Broken concrete. So many choices :)

It's recommended you use a container mix in raised beds (Mel's Mix is a famous one) and it's not super cheap to fill the bed with quality mix.  I agree that the edging materials can be cheap or free.  But if you're renting, it's doubtful you've got a compost pile at your disposal, or large quantities of mix. 

[Spondulix]

Do either of you have gardening experience or starting from scratch?

I easily wasted $100 in plants, products and books over a few years due to trial and error (mostly error, I know now!) It was worth every penny to do a gardening workshop, and my yields have changed dramatically as a result. I think the class I took was $30, but I learned how to start from seed, got seedlings to take home and plant, how to spot problems, fertilize, when to pull plants, plus I had a professional gardener available for questions!

[happy]

Another yes from me.
A huge number of veges are annuals and a ready eat<6months.  You can either grow them in containers - thus taking them with you, or use the garden where you are if available. As well as my vegepatch I have containers in the courtyard near the front door which grow salad vege, herbs and starts.

If you haven't done it before, start now in containers, it does take some practice, although usually one has enough beginners luck to get momentum up.

[deborah]

Most vegetables are annuals (dead within a year of sowing) - part of the reason why they produce so much fruit. When I rented I found that vegetables sometimes gave great yields as the soil hadn't been depleted over the years, and I could grow anything anywhere without thinking what I had planted there last year (if you plant the same thing in the same place year after year the bugs that eat it are already there, and the nutrients that particular plant uses have been depleted).

[Gerard]

Even if you go tiny, just herbs and maybe some cut-and-come-again greens, I think it's worth it. Once you have access to fresh herbs ten feet away, you realize all the awesome things that they go in. And the nutritional density of dark green things is pretty high. Worst case, your soil is not great and you have to add nitrogen-rich fertilizer.

[Bob W]

In probably won't pencil out but here is one tip I've tried.

Instead of soil I used a lighter weight soil mix medium in 5 gallon cheap ass pots.   I also added SAP (super absorbent particles or you can cut up baby diapers).   Tomatoes, peppers, most herbs can winter over well.   I kept my peppers in the basement until first frost and had peppers by May 15.   The peppers produces all summer for 2 years until I tired of them.  Out of one 5 gallon pot we picked over 100 red, yellow and orange peppers.   I would say about $30 worth.

The pot system makes a few pots at least portable enough if you want to move them with you for an instant "this is my home" feel.

[jeromedawg]

I think it's worth it but don't get carried away. I really got into the idea of square foot gardening, which is a cool concept and can yield a pretty nice harvest. Setup 2 4x4 beds in my smallish yard and they did pretty well, overall. However, the yard was already a mess (dirt and no grass, gravel or pavers) and would get out of control with weeds or after the rain came. It would get muddy out there. Not to mention, we ended up having a flea problem from possums which I think were already around the area but probably more-so attracted to the yard with the gardens there. We're part of an HOA too, so leave a dog out there to scare the possums off isn't a viable solution. If we were in the city, this probably wouldn't be as big of a deal (ala 'urban gardening') but with condos in suburbia where larger rodents like possums can swing by anytime, it can be a challenge. Until we get our yard renovated and figure out how to keep possums out of it effectively, I won't be doing any more gardening out there. If I want to grow anything, it will have to be indoors for now.

[EastCoastMike]

I'm a big fan of gardening in general.  I don't have any illusions that my gardening skills will save me from Obama (hah! couldn't resist) but I enjoy the hobby.  I keep it small and manageable.  I focus on tomatoes, herbs I use (cilantro, basil, and rosemary), and peppers.  If you decide to grow rosemary, I suggest putting it into its own container.  Same thing with mint. 

Take a look at what will grow in your area with minimal effort, then compare that to what you like to eat.  If you hate horseradish, there's no point growing it even if it's a fantastic producer in your area.

[Duchess of Stratosphear]

Google "sheet composting" or "lasagna gardening" for easy ways to get started on building garden soil. If you start this fall, your garden bed could be ready to plant by spring.

[FLBiker]

Do you have a community garden nearby?  I do some gardening at home, but in terms of short-term stuff (like annual vegetables) I've found it much easier at the community garden.  The garden I belong to is $100 per year for a 30 x 4 micro irrigated bed.  They have all the tools, compost, mulch, etc. too.  I still may put in a couple of beds at home, but we'll see.