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Started By
Message
Home garden
Posted on 6/27/24 at 12:04 pm
Posted on 6/27/24 at 12:04 pm
I'm planning to start a home garden. I've been planting cover crops on half an acre for the last two years. My hope is to grow enough vegetables to feed a family of 7. I've been watching youtube videos and reading articles. Y'all are smarter than I am so I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts.
10
Posted on 6/27/24 at 12:24 pm to Rex Feral
Good luck. That’s all. Watermelons is pretty easy but takes a ton of space. Herbs are doable. Real food is impossible. I can barely get 10-20 good jalapeños in a year and I try.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 12:37 pm to Rex Feral
Half an acre is a pretty big home garden. A square acre measures 209 ft. x 209 ft., so half that is 209 ft. x 104.5 ft.
If you plant your rows on the long side, you can get 26 rows 4 ft. apart at the crown by 209 ft. long. That is a hell of a lot of product you can grow and can easily feed 7 people.
Getting it started could be a hell of a lot of work depending on how you plan on turning the ground, forming your rows, planting and maintaining.
Way more to it than that though. Is the soil even suitable for growing crops? If heavy clay, the soil will have to be amended with organic material to make it better for plants to grow and easier to work.
Soil samples sent in to the local AG department for analysis and then you doing what is needed to get the soil up to snuff with minerals and such that they recommend.
For something that big, you'd have to do most of your plants by seed and get them started in small pots weeks before you plan on planting so they will be ready to transplant. Also need to know which plant seeds do better by being directly sown into the ground and skip the starter pot task.
If this is your first garden, you may be biting off way more work than you think. It's not like growing a cover crop and a garden that big takes work to maintain, water, weed, tend to plants by tying things up that need support, pest control, varmint control, etc.
OK, that's enough food for thought for now.
If you plant your rows on the long side, you can get 26 rows 4 ft. apart at the crown by 209 ft. long. That is a hell of a lot of product you can grow and can easily feed 7 people.
Getting it started could be a hell of a lot of work depending on how you plan on turning the ground, forming your rows, planting and maintaining.
Way more to it than that though. Is the soil even suitable for growing crops? If heavy clay, the soil will have to be amended with organic material to make it better for plants to grow and easier to work.
Soil samples sent in to the local AG department for analysis and then you doing what is needed to get the soil up to snuff with minerals and such that they recommend.
For something that big, you'd have to do most of your plants by seed and get them started in small pots weeks before you plan on planting so they will be ready to transplant. Also need to know which plant seeds do better by being directly sown into the ground and skip the starter pot task.
If this is your first garden, you may be biting off way more work than you think. It's not like growing a cover crop and a garden that big takes work to maintain, water, weed, tend to plants by tying things up that need support, pest control, varmint control, etc.
OK, that's enough food for thought for now.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 1:07 pm to Rex Feral
quote:thats 22000SF
I've been planting cover crops on half an acre for the last two years
i built 3 each 8x24 beds, have 1-1/2 of them planted and cant keep up with all the produce. in any event, thats a HUGE garden.
you didnt ask any specific questions, so i'll just advise that its s shitpile of work, you will curse the weather/bugs/varmints/etc, and you will absolutely wonder WTF you were thinking at some point. the reward is worth it
good luck
Posted on 6/27/24 at 1:28 pm to Rex Feral
I don't grow a big garden anymore, but back when I did I relied heavily on this book:
I almost exclusively used his wide row approach for everything that it could be used for. I used his two-story method for running beans (usually green beans and speckled butter beans). I found a lot of value in his row layouts. I, along with my Pops when he was around, found myself going back to this book again and again.
His "cut and side dress" method changed how we grow pretty much all greens. For mixed greens, collards, turnip greens, etc. when they get up to a decent size you take a butcher's knife and cut them all off about an inch above the ground. It is a super quick way to harvest. Then, side dress the row with black cow and water it in. Two or three weeks later you get another harvest, and do the same thing again. You can get three good harvests off of one row of most greens.
I almost exclusively used his wide row approach for everything that it could be used for. I used his two-story method for running beans (usually green beans and speckled butter beans). I found a lot of value in his row layouts. I, along with my Pops when he was around, found myself going back to this book again and again.
His "cut and side dress" method changed how we grow pretty much all greens. For mixed greens, collards, turnip greens, etc. when they get up to a decent size you take a butcher's knife and cut them all off about an inch above the ground. It is a super quick way to harvest. Then, side dress the row with black cow and water it in. Two or three weeks later you get another harvest, and do the same thing again. You can get three good harvests off of one row of most greens.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 2:05 pm to Rex Feral
What does your family LIKE to eat? Start there.
With that much space, I’d certainly invest in long term providers if your climate allows. Berries, asparagus, maybe a few fruit trees.
Plan everything else in seasons and succession plant. My spring go-to’s are beets, chard, and romaine. You can preserve the beets and greens pretty easily.
For summer/fall, I recommend focusing on stuff you really enjoy. Sweet potatoes are surprisingly easy and quite attractive.
With that much space, I’d certainly invest in long term providers if your climate allows. Berries, asparagus, maybe a few fruit trees.
Plan everything else in seasons and succession plant. My spring go-to’s are beets, chard, and romaine. You can preserve the beets and greens pretty easily.
For summer/fall, I recommend focusing on stuff you really enjoy. Sweet potatoes are surprisingly easy and quite attractive.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 2:44 pm to Rex Feral
You are jumping straight into the deep end. Good luck!
Posted on 6/27/24 at 4:21 pm to Rex Feral
As others have said, grow what your family enjoys. You also have to look at shelf life and storage once harvested, there’s only so much freezer space. Be prepared to can, a lot.
Just my opinion, don’t waste your time on dry beans, juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
Just my opinion, don’t waste your time on dry beans, juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 6:21 pm to Rex Feral
I am not an experienced gardener, but have been doing a good bit of research recently and will start one soon. Look into no-till or no-dig gardening. Basically you mow down your garden space and heavily add soil/compost/mulch on top to kill the grass/weeds. Then plant. Maintain periodically with additional compost and mulch. Apparently digging and turning over the soil is not good for soil health.
There are tons of videos on YouTube from:
Anne of All Trades lazy Gardening
No-Till Growers
Jarhead Farm
And more.
There are tons of videos on YouTube from:
Anne of All Trades lazy Gardening
No-Till Growers
Jarhead Farm
And more.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 6:37 pm to ChEgrad
quote:absolutely true. And the no till method is far easier, less back breaking work, keeps weed seeds from being exposed, and you can use the organics that nature provides for free along with kitchen scraps, compost, earthworms, etc. only caveat is…no herbicides or pesticides
Apparently digging and turning over the soil is not good for soil health.
Posted on 6/27/24 at 8:43 pm to Dallaswho
quote:
Real food is impossible. I can barely get 10-20 good jalapeños in a year and I try.
Do not take this advice. I’ve got ziplocks full of jalapeños right now and grown plenty of real food with minimal effort. Just remember the letters NPK. Nitrogen-for green growth,Phosphorus helps with plant growth/root growth, and Potassium is for nutrient uptake/water distribution. Apply fertilizer(check letter percentages on the bag)3-4 weeks at a time with your base being a good organic compost to soil ratio and you will be golden
Posted on 6/27/24 at 9:51 pm to Rex Feral
ROTATE !!
Posted on 6/28/24 at 3:03 am to Rex Feral
Start small, add from there. Low maintenance crops are great. Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Pole Beans, Purple Hull Peas, Corn, etc. Find out what your family likes. I planted two rows of pole beans. After we had blanched them, in the freezer, we ate them almost a year later. Do your homework.
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