For me, planning my next-year’s small garden is small agony. No sunshine.  No digging.  No planting.  No picking.  But I know I want to produce as much food as possible in the space I have, so planning (however distasteful) must be endured.  The planning end game is all about maximizing both space AND time. Here’s what I mean…

I live five miles from downtown Dallas, Texas.  I have gardened in this area for over 20 years.  In my backyard I have 422 square feet in raised beds.

From early spring to late fall we have three growing seasons:  1) early spring to early summer; 2) dog days of 95 plus degree days when eggs fry on the concrete; and 3) early fall to early winter.  Furthermore, I know that in the Dog Days only a few crops will produce something edible (okra, black-eyed peas, certain peppers, heat tolerant tomatoes, maybe some egg plant if I’m lucky).  So, if I am going to maximize my space and deal with the fierce Texas summer, I’ll need to know what crops to plant where, and when to plant them through the season.    

Simply making a sketch of my beds and jotting down where my plants will go, won’t do. I need to show how things will look as the weeks pass.  I’ve borrowed/stolen a technique from film production called Storyboarding. The idea is simple enough.  Make a series of sketches showing how a story - in this case my garden - progresses over time (the North Texas growing seasons.

Check out this 3 Month Storyboard for a raised bed vegetable garden in Dallas.