There are many popular methods of gardening, two of them are the raised bed approach, and traditional row gardening. A raised bed it is generally where a frame of any shape or size is built and filled with fertilizer of one’s choice, this lifts the garden above ground level. Row cropping is like the typical farmland scene where there are rows of crops in long straight lines and a walking space in between each row. Each means of gardening and raising crops has their advantages, and their disadvantages. After comparing, and looking at the evidence it will be simple to tell which is better to use depending the outcome one wants.
Raised bed gardening is a form of agriculture where the soil is formed in wide beds that can be any length or shape. The topsoil is raised above the surrounding ground and is encircled by a frame that is usually made of wood, rock, or concrete blocks, and can be enhanced with compost or a soil of one’s choice. The plants are spaced much closer together than conventional row gardening, creating a lush productive gardening space that suppresses weeds and conserves moisture.
The raised bed has been gaining favor in the world today due to its effectiveness and easy use. They extend the planting season; they can reduce weeds if designed and planted properly and reduce the need to use poor or contaminated native soil. Since the gardener does not walk on the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing. The close plant spacing and the use of compost generally result in higher yields with raised beds in comparison to conventional row gardening. Waist-high raised beds enable the elderly, the physically disabled, or just the lazy who want to have an easy time, to grow vegetables w...
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...ot be a good thing. It would cost a lot of money to buy soil strengthening materials for a large piece of property. It takes a lot of space. It’s not very water efficient because of spaces between plants. Although one does not spend money on buying a frame or soil, they spend a lot on maintenance, water etc…. this concludes the comparison of two effective techniques of growing crops
After evidences, it is clear that raised beds work much better for typical gardening which is why it continuously claims more favor, the only case in which using rows is necessary is for planting on large plots of land to grow foods in bulk. Though raised beds have become used increasingly there are still faithful followers of the traditional row planting. These two methods do have their advantages and disadvantages though and each is a wise process to choose for planting a garden.
As Jensen points out, farming and industry accounts for the vast majority of total water usage in the world (477). The increasingly scarce resource is a necessary ingredient when growing food. Technology continuously improves to make it easier for farmers to grow crops while using less water. Scientists at the University of Georgia utilize what they term “variable rate irrigation” to let farmers automate the current systems of irrigation to water only the crops that need it (Gies). This is an example of retrofitting current farms, but there is a new way of farming coming to cities that reuses practically all of its water and stakes claim much less acreage in the process. The future of agriculture belongs to vertical and urban farming. These types of farms reduce the use of water, chemicals (such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides), soil and space (The Economist). These farms are so cutting edge that they are mostly in the experimental stages. Firms like Famgro farms are testing “stackable” farming systems that can scale with demand, even further reducing waste. Famgro’s stackable farms are ideal for cityscapes where land is at a premium; furthermore, reaping the added benefit of being in close proximity to the customers that they serve. Customers will enjoy high quality, fresh produce at only a slightly
“Aside from its diverse population of mostly introduced crops, the Monticello garden was American in its size and scope, experimental character, and expansive visual sweep. 600,000 cubic feet of Piedmont red clay was moved with a cart and mule to create the "hanging garden," an...
First of all, gardening has been proven to ameliorate the wellbeing of an individual. As Finley says, “we are soil”. Since we are creatures of the earth, it makes sense
That said, long term these practices are unsustainable and the reality is that the solution of greater rotation in crops also means less flooding and healthier soil during drought – mutually beneficial to the land, the farmers, and the consumers alike. This shows that apart from future generations, our lives become better via that repayment to the land as well – with greater access to healthier, more diverse
The definition of conventional farming is “Intensive farming or intensive agriculture as an agricultural production system characterized by a low fallow ratio and the high use of inputs such as capital, labor, or heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area.” Conventional farming is the method that a majority of farmers use. Although they have to use a lot more chemicals and fertilizers, conventional farming is cheaper than organic farming. Conventional farming has significantly higher crop yields than organic thus, producing more money, making it much more farmer friendly. Conventional farmers also use genetically engineered seeds that are sometimes referred to as “miracle seeds” because of their ability to fight against certain diseases or produce higher yields. The technical term for these seeds is HYV’s or high yield varieties (Qaim). Conventional farming also incorporates the use...
Growing food with Aquaponics is more efficient than growing food the traditional soil garden way. In a typical soil garden, growers end up spending hours of their time doing back breaking work on their garden, but not anymore, with Aquaponics the need for any tilling, digging, or weeding is eliminated. Aquaponics combines Aquaculture (Raising fish in tanks), and Hydroponics (Growing plants without soil). The outcome is a working system that provides plants with all the nutrients they need, while using a minimum of space, effort, water, fertilizers, and pesticides. Aquaponics allows farmers to use up to 90% less water than normal farming would use, so instead of watering your soil and having the majority of your water either lost by run off or evaporated by the sun, the water is recycled repeatedly through the system saving farmers hundreds of dollars on their monthly water bills. Also when growing with Aquaponics, much more food can be produced in a smaller space, in some cases growers have produced around twenty times the amount of produce in the same area a soil garden would. In addition, with the closed, controlled environment of the system, the need for the use of any pesticides a basically eliminated. Finally, Aquaponics enables growers to grow bigger, better and more quality produce.
They take pride in caring for the land, water and natural resources in several ways. One way is by using cover crops which are plants grown to protect the soil and put healthy nutrients back into it, while slowing erosion, controlling pests, and increasing organic matter. They also use crop rotation by planting different crops in the same field but during different times. This keeps the land fertile because not all of the nutrients are being used with each crop. Buffer zones are another technique farmers use to plant strips of vegetation between the fields and bodies of water to keep the soil out of the water source. No till fields are used to keep the soil in place when it rains, helping moisture stay in the
This is a form of rotational grazing. It is considered the best method of grazing. It involves the farmer dividing grazing areas into 20-25 paddocks. The paddocks depend on the size of our herd. Every day cows will graze one paddock. This method is based on the idea that each tiller has three actively growing leaves at an...
As agriculture has become more intensive, farmers have become capable of producing higher yields using less labour and less land. Growth of the agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing. It, like every other thing, has its pros and cons. Topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm labourers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. These are the cons of the new improved agriculture.
Farming has evolved from providing food only for your family to providing food for your whole community. This aspect really kicked off in Europe during the middle ages when a new crop rotation plan emerged. Crop rotation is necessary. If every year the same crop is grown on the same soil the plants will keep taking the same nutrients needed for its survival. Previously the farmers used the Roman system, which is a two crop rotation. With this system the soil never had a break, there was always a crop being grown (“Feeding” par. 8). The new crop rotation plan was a three crop rotation. This system is very different from the Roman system. Every third year the field will lay fallow being used for pasture. When the field is used for pasture, the animals waste is spread out all over the field while they graze...
Home gardens offer a wide variety of benefits to the environment and serve a diverse group of people. Home gardening provides a source of fresh produce and free of chemicals, it also gives you complete control over the chemicals and products used during the growing process. A home garden allows you to pick the produce when its ripe, unlike produce at the store is often picked before its fully ripe. The quality and flavor of the freshly picked produce from home is better than the produce that might have unknown chemicals and was likely picked several days or weeks before being sold. The produce retains more nutrients when consumed shortly after being picked, making your home garden vegetables a healthier option. A garden also provides a positive environmental impact. The compost allows you to recycle certain kitchen and yard waste into a nutrient-rich additive for the garden. This provides natural fertilizer for you plants and reduces the wastes you produce. If you choose to avoid or limit chemical use, you reduce pollution from your gardening activities. Besides being good for the environment gardens have environmental gains for us. Gardening help control urban temperatures, If the environmental landscape design is effective it can cool your home in summer and warm it in winter, it can also reduce the energy cost by up to 20%. Gardening, and all the physical activity that goes along with it, leads to a better overall physical health, weight loss, improve you bones, and reduces the risk of having osteoporosis. “In a study of 3,310 older women, researchers from the University of Arkansas found that women involved in yard work and other types of gardening exercises had lower rates of osteoporosis than joggers, swimmers, and women wh...
Soil is the most important non-renewable resource on any farm. Healthy soil is key to a good
Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...
Between the rows of one crop there will be another crop, or several other crops, opposed to the empty spaces usually found between crops. Utilizing this area produces something of use to the farmer rather than requiring an investment of more labor, money or herbicides (CITE HERE). Meaning the more complex farming system (polyculture) is gets more total production per area. Underdeveloped agriculture systems produce a more diverse crop set with the same amount of energy it requires a large farm to produce a single crop. The agricultural output per area is larger than developed farms.
What type of garden is the best fit for you? Do you have room in a large backyard, limited space, or no yard at all? A thriving garden is possible in any one of these scenarios. If you have very limited space, you will want to