Big Sky Country

Horses grazing in Great Falls, Montana. 

During my visit to Great Falls, Montana in July of 2012, I began a fire escape garden project. The third largest city in Montana, Great Falls is a quiet town of parks, peace, and like all of Montana, of Big Sky. I did not understand why Montana is known as Big Sky Country until I saw it for myself, the beautiful and ever expanding sky.

Polycultural Vegetable Box Project

I found inspiration for this project from a great book called The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. I found this book to be filled with innovative ideas about how to utilize space as well as how to beautifully adapt a gardening lifestyle into an urban setting. 

Even if one does not live in an urban environment, I find these projects still noteworthy for someone with small living spaces in general, such as an apartment. If this is you, do not be discouraged, a little outdoor space can go a long way. 

The concept of a polycultural bed, whether it be a large-raised bed, or a simple vegetable/herb box, is simple. A polyculture simply describes a garden growing many different varieties of plants. In this fire escape garden, right outside the kitchen window, of our apartment, we grew basil, chives, rosemary, lavender, lettuce, and carrots in a wine crate. The lettuce and carrots we grew from seed, while the other herbs we purchased as young plants. We also grew lemon balm and thyme in another long rectangular planter, which was left from the previous apartment dwellers. 

Polycultural fire escape Veggie/Herb Box. 

The variety of plants mimics the biodiversity of life found in nature. Bigger plants, in this case the rosemary, lavender, basil, and chives, will protect the smaller lettuce and carrot sprouts from elements such as high winds, harsh sun and pounding rain. They also provide shade for the more fragile sprouts. Unlike a monoculture, where only one type of plant or crop is grown, such as corn in the U.S., polycultures have a more suitable habitat for success. 

One plant may attract beneficial insects which prey on insects that may be eating a neighboring plant. Perhaps one plant takes nitrogen out of the soil, while another one replenishes nitrogen in the soil. This interrelated and interdependent community of plants work together like a community of people, each with a different contribution to the whole.

Water garden regularly, but be careful not to over water.

Here are the Steps:

1. Get nutritious soil. Good soil is the foundation to any successful garden. Since this garden is in a container, potting soil is best. "Black Gold" soil contains feather meal, compost, bone meal, bat guano and many other fortifying plant foods.

Good soil is crucial for a healthy garden. 

2. Purchase a few varieties of your favorite herbs and vegetables, including some from a few seed packets. These seed packets will be sprinkled evenly into the dirt. Here we have carrots and a lettuce mix. 

A new family of herbs and seeds. 

3. Fill the container 3/4ths of the way with soil. Gently transplant the baby herbs into a wine crate. This wine crate we got for $2 at Sam's Club. Whatever container you use, make sure it has good drainage, so water may escape. Improper drainage could lead to soil rot. Spread the plants out, but remember that density and disorder are part of this particular method. 

Press firmly around crown. 

4. Evenly sprinkle seeds around the planted herbs covering all the spaces of soil. Then with a watering can, water thoroughly. Watering in a sink or outside is best to avoid floods! While what you grow is up to you, stick to plants that do not take up too much space such as: lettuce, root vegetables, beans, herbs or edible flowers. Perhaps plant a theme of favorites like Asian vegetables or heirloom varieties of some sort.

Sprinkle in seed packets evenly and water. 

5. Voila! As plants grow with different maturation rates, there will always be something to harvest and eat! When empty spaces emerge, plant new varieties. The density of growing greens will eliminate weeds and act as a mulch to keep soil temperature regulated. Enjoy a buffet of fresh veggies and herbs!

Located right outside the kitchen window is fresh produce!

*Photos By Tiffanie Ma