By Gay Spencer
Northside News
Many Northside neighbors enjoy tending some flowers or perhaps a raised bed of tomatoes and peppers in their yard, but few gardens can be called a “mini farm” as Claire Strader’s garden was recently described by a neighbor. With a background working in organic farming operations, she decided to turn what was a conventional grass lawn into an organic vegetable garden tailored to her family’s eating preferences.
After completing her undergraduate degree, Strader worked as an organic farmer. “It turned out, I liked growing food, and so I did become a farmer for quite some time, and this garden now, I think is just a way for me to still do what I love, though I’m not working as a farmer,” she said.
Now, Strader works as deputy director for Dane County-UW Extension. Her previous role in the organization was organic vegetable educator, where she worked with organic farmers. For over a decade, she taught organic farming methods — techniques used in her current garden — with Troy Farm and through Dane County-UW Extension. Recordings and materials about organic growing methods are available at dane.extension.wisc.edu.
The cycle of the seasons, the fluctuations in wet and dry years and hot and cold years has provided understanding of the strategy, decisions, planning and organization required to create and maintain Strader’s magnificent garden. Strader carefully manages the garden space, growing sprawling, vining crops like butternut squash and sweet potatoes in alternate years to save space.
She strategically leverages a root cellar for eating in the off season. The garden is designed not only for fresh eating but also for preservation. For things she doesn’t grow but wants to eat, she might have a regular plan for purchasing and preserving them, Strader explained, “We don’t grow, sweet corn, so we’ll buy that. Not very often, usually every other year, I’ll buy a case of sweet corn, and we’ll eat as much as we want fresh and then freeze the rest…. There’s a lot of planning involved in the garden.”
Strader keeps calendar records of planting and gardening processes and has years of garden diagrams and records. She learned that patience and planning, key no-till, organic farming principles, and drip irrigation (for some thirsty crops) reduce effort and boost results. From the start, she added a shaded table to provide a space to relax and enjoy the garden’s beauty. Over time, she has added more flowers, too.
Gardeners always face tough decisions on space. She said, “No gardener I know of has all the space they want to grow everything they want to grow. Some might not have the time to grow as much as they would like to grow. [They] make those decisions. What do you really want to eat? What stores well? What grows well in your yard versus your community garden?”
Many decisions and great patience were required when Strader first established the garden. She used a tractor to till the soil and begin the process, starting in mid-April. Then a summer was spent growing cover crops, and in the fall only a few beds had any kind of vegetable in them. The first year was devoted to killing the grass.
Patience, planning and learning are the key ingredients to her wonderful garden.
