Understanding DTM! | Urban Farming Day 2

"Grow Gardens. Not Lawns."

Last post I shared our fledgling farm's limitations and goals. Our first challenge? Deciding what crops to plant.

What DTM stands for...

Working dinner w/ @nikkij

DTM stands for Date to Maturity. Every crop has an average time it takes to grow (mature) before it is ready for harvest.

Some crops mature crazy fast. Radishes can be harvested an average of 28 days after you plant them.

Others like to take their time. If you want to harvest brussel sprouts, you can expect to wait a solid 90 days

This information is freely available. So far, one of the best resources I've found has been Johnny's Selected Seeds.

Our Strategy

One (of the three) major limitations we have is space. In short - we don't have it.

If we want to create a sustainable project on such little land we must prioritize crops that can turn over quickly. We can't plant, tend all year, and harvest once.

We need to harvest multiple times in a season - and that means picking crops with a short Date To Maturity.

The idea is simple.

• First , select a group of crops that are quick to mature.

• Second, harvest to market when they're ready.

• Third immediately lay down another crop in the bed.

This is going to require amending the soil, rotating crops, and I'm sure a number of other techniques I don't know about yet (any pointers, please leave in comments!).

However, it is the only way we can make our urban garden work.

We've decided to set a hard rule against any crop that takes longer than 70 days to mature. In reality, we are hoping to identify a number of crops under the 45 day range.

Execution

We've begun the process of identifying crops that satisfy this requirement. You can see a quick screenshot of what our spreadsheet looks like here.

As you can tell, we're still fairly early, and haven't even dug into the different varieties of crops.

super preliminary worksheet

This is only one of the five initial criteria we set to select crops with. I'm excited to continue to learn (and share) the nuances with DTM, as well as our other criteria (which you can read about here).

Conclusion

It's been an incredible 24 hours. Huge thanks again to Curtis Stone for his teaching through his YouTube chanel (no affiliation, just great content).

If you liked this article and want to catch our first post, you can find it here.

Selecting Our Crops! | Urban Farming Day 1

Lastly, all proceeds go to farm.

I'm documenting for a few reasons.

First, as tribute to the amazing content producers before me. You've given me confidence to start this project, and I hope others will be inspired in the same way.

Second, for Steemit. Although new here, I hope to contribute meaningful, valuable articles.

Lastly, every upvote breaths life into our garden.

We're self-funding, and we're inviting you to help. Currently we're on our way to saving for an Earthway Seeder. New, it's $112.99, but we think we can get one used for $70 off eBay.

Your Support so Far! $0.06

Thank you so much!
Stephan