I spent the last few years researching foods native and historically grown in this area, as well as newer crops most suited to growing here, and for hand cultivation. Last year we took the plunge, and did 4 gardens, totaling more than an acre. We grew enough to, for all practical purposes, take ourselves off of the food grid. This was done in the evenings and on weekends. Enough food for a family of 5, for more than a year, and tons we gave away as well. There were dry corns for flour, potatoes, carrots and squashes that store well enough to simply be left in the basement for the winter, beets and fruits we pickled, tons of red sauce and canned tomatoes, and a house full of other things. At the end of the summer we took a few deer that had been raiding the garden at my parents, and that topped off our freezers. Our food bill, since July, has been 4 gallons of milk, 2 pounds of butter, and about 18 eggs a week. At the beginning of December that was $12 a week. Now it runs close to $20 for the same things and only 12 weeks have passed. We cannot insulate ourselves from all inflation, but at least on food we could live without what we would have to buy.
This summer we are even doing more. We did a large garden at a friend’s home west of us. Over the course of the summer they took great interest in it, and how much it produced with fairly minimal care. I sat down with them this winter, and plotted out what they would like to do this year, which involved doubling the regular part of the garden, and doing more than an acre in flour and flint corn.
We are greatly looking forward to another year of staying off the food grid and enjoying our time outside, and happy to share the whole experience with anyone who wants to tag along!
The site looks excellent!
still working things out with the site. hope to figure out how to auto-approve postings by people, and how people can subscribe. We should get better and better at this.
I am attempting a geadrn for the first time, and am unsure of the best spot to plan it. Our house block much of the sun in our yard, so the best spot is at the bottom of a small slope where the water runoff passes, leaving the ground almost always saturated and soft. I planned on building a bit of a raised bed. Is this a good spot to plan my geadrn or not? I watched a few videos online and one said it would be a good spot, but I wanted to be sure.Thanks in advance!
any garden is better than no garden.
If you are plainning to plant with deep root syetsm (carrots ) you will need at least 8 . For regular rooting crop like tomato, squash . 6 should be enough. Make sur that your bed is wide enough to allow root spreading and to allow the heat to disipate. Water retention will also be lower in a smaller bed. In a warm zone this can mean more watering. Use a mixture base with a good compost rather than peat moss.Marc
I had mine built with 2 6 but I had them made 4ft x 6ft. I have used them now for 5 years and love gardening this way. I have more conrotl over the weeds and I don’t seem to get as many pests. But my favorite part about these beds is the fact that I can actually plant at least one month before everyone else does because if I watch the weather report I know if I need to go out and cover the beds with plastic over night. These beds protect your seedlings from the wind too. I keep sheets of plastic like a paint drop cloth rolled up at the end of each bed if I need to cover I just pull the plastic over the bed and secure it with dirt or rocks. I doubt I will ever garden any other way again.Hope this helps. Enjoy