Where to put a vegie garden

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cookieid
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Location: MD

Where to put a vegie garden

Post by cookieid »

Is a garden within ft from the well a bad idea? My well is 350 ft deep, water level inside the well is 100 ft from the ground/top. I want to have a vegie garden but where to put it? As you can see from the drawing, the well is in the back of the garage, the red box is for storm management and can't be disturbed, in the middle is an areaway from the basement. I don't like putting it on the left of the garage because the front garden hose would cross the driveway and the back hose bib is too far away. I don't like removing the front garden hose daily for months nor do I want to drive over it multiple times each day for months. Besides this, I want to be able to see my garden from inside the house but can't because there is no window/door on that side. If I put it in between the well and areaway, I'm concerned about contamination from manure/pesticide that I might use once a while. If I put it in between the red box and septic, it might obstruct septic service when needed (via the private road in the back). If septic service happens outside gardening season then there should be no issue. So where to put it?
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mega317
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by mega317 »

In my area people have veggie gardens in the front yard. It can be done to look very nice. Is that an option?
livesoft
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by livesoft »

I'd think an important feature would be sunlight and its direction and what obstructs it.
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cookieid
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by cookieid »

mega317 wrote:In my area people have veggie gardens in the front yard. It can be done to look very nice. Is that an option?
Unfortunately I can't put it in the front yard.
livesoft wrote:I'd think an important feature would be sunlight and its direction and what obstructs it.
It's pretty much open lot. Back of house is wood but it's about 100 ft away.
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dwickenh
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by dwickenh »

During early spring and late summer, your garden will appreciate being on the west or southwest side of your home for more direct sunlight. My garden is right against the back of my house on the west side. The heat reflected into the garden by my siding and foundation are good for the hot weather crops (okra and tomatoes). I am not familiar with the well problem. but I would stay at least 10 feet away for the well if you are using manure for fertilizer.

Depending on the size, you could also use a raised garden which does a much better job of handling run off from the manure or fertilizer.

Good luck to you on the choice location,

Dan
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TheGreyingDuke
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by TheGreyingDuke »

I have raised our vegetables for over 40 years and have never used a potent pesticide or herbicide. There are some pesticides that are permitted under organic guidelines, they tend to be not very pervasive nor toxic (Spinosad for example). There really isn't any need for these products gardening on a backyard scale (or any scale arguably).

Fresh manure is not usually put on gardens, composted manure would not represent a danger to your well water (probably fresh manure wouldn't either, given the depth of the well and the fact that you likely have an 8" steel casing going down until the well hits the ledge.

Could you amend your drawing to include compass points?
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cookieid
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by cookieid »

Garden size will be about 15x20 ft or larger and won't be raised.
House faces west, garage is on north side. I've updated the drawing to include compass points.
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dratkinson
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by dratkinson »

One of the homes in my subdivision (similar front yard layout, compass orientation) has a raised bed garden approximately on top of your "West" compass point. Their garden is watered by a drip irrigation system run off their home's lawn sprinkler controller. It's fun to ride by on my bike and watch the growing corn, tomatoes, peppers, and don't remember what else.


Barring a front-yard garden, can you plant south of your red box and east of your septic field? Put a hose end shutoff valve (2nd water valve; from ACE, Home Depot, HarborFreight,...) on your hose and just lay it out and leave it all season; turn the water on/off at your hose bib (1st water valve) as you go out to/come back from your garden. Use the 2nd water valve while working in your garden.

Could install a temporary drip/soaker hose system in garden. Remember seeing battery-powered sprinkler controllers that attach to hose bib (1st water valve; from HarborFreight) that could handle garden irrigation duty.

Can try your garden spot location, laid out water hose, drip/soaker hose, battery-powered sprinkler controller ideas and see if it works for you. Install something more permanent when you're happy with everything.


Schedule septic system preventative maintenance during the garden's off season. With preventative maintenance, there should be fewer needs for emergency service.


Some friends bought a retirement mountain home. Home has an established garden southwest of septic field (~100' downhill in your drawing) and surrounded by an 8' fence (deer). Previous homeowners installed a new waterline and freezeless yard hydrant to garden.



Edit. Forgot.
Last edited by dratkinson on Sat Jun 24, 2017 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Frisco Kid
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by Frisco Kid »

It might make sense to put it to the left of your garage and either install another hose bib or better yet install a drip irrigation system. Grow what ever will work with your available sunlight and temperatures.
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BolderBoy
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by BolderBoy »

bcdfgh wrote:Is a garden within ft from the well a bad idea? My well is 350 ft deep, water level inside the well is 100 ft from the ground/top.
How many feet? My folks lived on a farm for >50 years. They put their gardens just beyond the septic tank drain field. I asked my father once how far away from the drain field a well needed to be and he said "60 feet. It takes 60 feet of earth to 'sterilize' water." I have no idea of the accuracy of that statement, but they never had trouble.
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URSnshn
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by URSnshn »

Regarding contamination - you might also consider the distance from your house - if your house was painted using lead paint as it may have contaminated the ground adjacent to the house.
TheGreyingDuke
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by TheGreyingDuke »

Not knowing your location...

Gardens want about 1 inch of rain a week, there are ways to minimize watering needs (close planting, mulch) and it is best to water it all at once rather than small watering. The deep watering way encourages deep roots, which in turn allows the plants to access the minerals that are deep in the soil.

As livesoft said, orient it to the sun, run your rows north-south and you will be good.

I don't see the issue with the septic service, this likely occurs once every three years or so and the honey truck will have a hose that reaches into the septic tank with no adverse consequences for your garden. If their line needs to run over the garden, plan to do it once you put the garden to bed in the fall and the ground has begun to freeze ( if this applies to you).
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blueberry
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by blueberry »

I'm pretty new to the world of septic systems and find the whole thing a little traumatizing, but have my garden uphill from the drain field and feel good about it.

-bb
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cookieid
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Re: Where to put a vegie garden

Post by cookieid »

I appreciate everyone advice. To keep distance from the well I'll plant south of the red box and east of the septic as suggested by dratkinson.
Sorry I have problems with my laptop and couldn't reply earlier.
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