Garden this year? Bigger?

[JonChristina]

I have been hearing a lot of chatter in quite a few of my groups I frequent about food prices jumping in the next year. I had not planned to have one this year due to our extreme remodeling demands but I am rethinking the issue.

This is only my 2nd year canning and still lack confidence.
Do you think it is important?

What are your plans? If you garden, are you going to make it even bigger?

[countryjo]

I would reconsider......if you already have a garden spot in shouldn't be hard to do one again, plant things close together and use something like grass clipping or a weed block to cut down on weeding. Can you set up a drip system, or have several hoses place in the garden so you don't have to move them and use a timer. We just set it for a hour and it turns it self off. these are all time savers and just a little weeding here and there and check for bugs, Use foil around the stem of plants and that keeps lots of bugs away. I think you can do both....if you don't have time to can, could you freeze your produce this year? I love going to the freezer and getting things out to make a meal.
This year my Husband is making me more raised beds. With prices going up, seems like a very good investment.

[tomato204]

And don't forget winter squashes like butternut don't need to be canned or frozen, just set them on a shelf :)
Onions and potatoes likewise are easy to store.

[Laura]

I have been hearing a lot of chatter in quite a few of my groups I frequent about food prices jumping in the next year. I had not planned to have one this year due to our extreme remodeling demands but I am rethinking the issue.

This is only my 2nd year canning and still lack confidence.
Do you think it is important?

What are your plans? If you garden, are you going to make it even bigger?

Yes. I am going to expand this year. I am adding raised beds, fruit trees, and am turning 'flower beds' into vegetable beds!!

[leera]

I also was not planning on doing a garden,but instead concentrating my efforts on improving the soil in my garden areas.I don't have raised beds yet,but thanks to the wonders of the internet and craigslist,have most of the materials I need to build them now.

It will be a few more years before the things I planted last year produce anything,as it was our first year here,but I will adding fruit tress and probably some more berries of some type.

Last year I planted:
Blueberries(two different types for good pollination)
Blackberries
Red and black raspberries
White and Concord grapes
Red Currants
Instead of flowers in the flower beds,we planted June Bearing strawberries.

Hopefully everything makes it through the winter...we shall see,I may need to replace some that don't make it.

I had two garden beds last year,I want to add a third,the soil is just so horrible here that I've been adding rabbit manure to the garden areas all fall/winter...I figure by April when the ground here can be worked,most of it will have broken down already,and the rest will till in pretty easy.

I've got a standing deal with the guy I buy rabbit meat from,and all I have to do is email him and ask him to bring over a load of manure..

I'm thinking about building the raised bed frame(For the third bed),and as the year progresses,use it as a sort of sheet composting area all summer,top it off with top soil in the fall,and maybe I could use it as a garden bed next year??

I also want to get an asparagus bed planted this year,and was thinking about maybe some multiplier onions in another area....still thinking on those two ideas.

[Nancymw]

Definitely expanding this year. Planted a couple more fruit trees, berry bushes, etc. Getting better at the gardening thing, but not near where I want to be yet. Still lots of failures, but learning as I go. Not enough crop yet to can so far. Hopefully this year. Got a barrel to make a rain barrel also. Sure would like to get another year gardening under my belt before I had to depend on it; but who knows what the future holds. Just do the best I can.

[bacpacker1513]

I have expanded my gardens quite a lot this year. I plowed 1 more large bed (75x50) for my cucumbers, squash and melons. My other bed (120x100) will have most everything else in it. I have a small 3rd bed (30x50) up close to the house that we will grow okra, lima beans, herbs, lettuce, arugula, and such so we can look at it daily easily.
I am trying a lot of new crops this year as well. I have a wheat patch for the first time that seems to be doing ok so far. Also going to plant beets, parsnips, different tomato's, and several new types (to us) squash and melons.
I should be getting my new fruit trees in the next couple weeks or so, mainly apples and pears. Last year we put in a buch of blueberries and they look to be doing really well.
I've been gardening since I was a kid and still learn new stuff every year. Like others have said put some stuff out even if it's smaller. You'll still get something and most likely learn some things to.

[fancy1]

We're planting more food stuff in the flower beds this year. And adding a couple more fruit trees.
A friend of our, though not a prepper, does a lot of hydroponic gardening and has fresh lettuce and other things all year round. So, we're visiting his place this weekend and getting the "beginners" version of hydroponics. I really like the idea of having the fresh veggies all year and though we've always grown our garden in dirt.... well, I'm not too old to learn!

[Catalpa]

Definitely going to increase this year; I bought a tiller that has electric start so I can till as much as I want. I'm thinking on making one bed for corn and squash, and the tomatoes, peppers, carrots, etc. in the garden I tilled up last year.

Whoever invented pull starts really doesn't like women!

[wildturnip]

We expanded our vegetable gardens and field corn quite a bit last year so I don't think we'll expand any more on those. We are thinking of putting in some more blueberries and making a blackberry patch. A friend has offered us all the thornless blackberries we want.

[oldtimer]

Unless you live in a desert, you should be able to figure out how to garden so you don't need to irrigate. We live in SD and we are nearly a desert climate, but I don't believe in wasting water watering a garden. I have concentrated on growing heirloom vegetable varieties that were brought to this country by the German immigrants from Russia. What grew well on the semiarid steppes of southern Russia and Ukraine does well here on the Great Plains.

Too, I would caution people against the use of grass clippings for mulch unless you know the lawn has not been sprayed. Many a person has accepted free grass clippings as a wonderful "gift" but the lawns those clippings came from have been sprayed and the broadleaf sprays used to make a "beautiful dandelion free lawn" end up killing your vegies and flowers. :sad:

Find what will grow best in your area, and grow it. Some things, no matter how lovely they look in the catalog just may not grow in your area. For instance, here on the high plains the soil is terribly alkaline. We can NOT grow acid loving plants like blueberries. Even though in areas of Minnesota at the same latitude as we are can. Their soil is acidic over there. We have a number of other things that just won't take here either, so you learn to adjust.

Raised beds, I have found, also require more moisture, so if you live in a semiarid to arid place, though the raised beds warm up nicely and may help you get crops a week or two earlier, they may not be worth the waste of water.

I've lived my entire life where water is in short supply. The world's access to clean usable water is growing slimmer all the time. Please consider how to save it.

The biggest waste of water is a lawn. Plant buffalo grass, it will stay green without water though not as luxuriously green a bluegrass which was never meant to be grown in semiarid and arid places in the first place. A lawn should be able to grow with what rain falls from the sky. Plant your grass according to the native grasses of the area and if a dryspell comes and the lawn dries up, oh well, you won't have to mow! :D

I've been gardening for nigh on to fifty years. My garden has grown to larger than a football field. However, our younguns grew up and moved away, so we're planning on planting the smallest garden we've had in the last twenty some years, but I'd have to be at death's door to not at least try and set a garden out. :)

Happy Gardening All!

[Dame]

Looking forward to spring greens, asparagus, dandylion, artichoke already.

This year my garden plans are a bit less than most years. I am needing to do a better job of tending the gardens and of harvest and storage. Last year was so wet and cold that most of the garden spots need green manure and lots of cultivation to stay ahead of the weeds that seeded out last year.

[Cougarwalker79]

While I'm still in the city and limited to our local community gardens, I'm planning on doubling my garden space by renting a second plot this year. I'd like to get enough tomatoes to can, so I'll be planting quite a bit more of those than last year.

Our green beans did very well last year, so we are hoping to move on to some heirloom varieties for this year. We want to try a few other heirlooms, maybe beets, maybe carrots, since I'm pretty experienced with growing those...

We had a miserable year last year for everything in the cucumber family... We had a week of night-time rain in early july, and everything ended up with powder mold. Hopefully this year will be better.

We are also hoping to add in some medicinal plants to the herbs this year. I tried chamomile last year, but it never sprouted. This year I want to do echinacea, and some marsh mallow. We tend to use them a lot over the winter, so we may as well grow our own.

[Dame]

Solar flares. Yes! Good news for likely a warmer growing season.

[CC604]

yes. double the size, plus a garden allotment.

it's amazing what you can do with a tiny amount of space. we've got an urban plot, with strict bylaws on 'prettiness' of yard space...last year we had in 100 sq feet:

cherry tree
peach tree
5 blueberry bushes
3 currant bushes
2 josta bushes
2 rhubarb
1 lingonberry
1 saskatoon
100s and 100s of strawberry plants
snowpeas
lettuce
onions
beets
carrots
rosemary
chives
kninnicknick
daylilies
grapes
nasturtiums
pansies

with food prices due to rise, it's bound to help

[cuppajoe]

yes. double the size, plus a garden allotment.

it's amazing what you can do with a tiny amount of space. we've got an urban plot, with strict bylaws on 'prettiness' of yard space...last year we had in 100 sq feet:

cherry tree
peach tree
5 blueberry bushes
3 currant bushes
2 josta bushes
2 rhubarb
1 lingonberry
1 saskatoon
100s and 100s of strawberry plants
snowpeas
lettuce
onions
beets
carrots
rosemary
chives
kninnicknick
daylilies
grapes
nasturtiums
pansies

with food prices due to rise, it's bound to help



WOW...you mean you had ALL this in a 10x10 area?
:yes2:

[leera]

......."The biggest waste of water is a lawn".........

Yes,could not agree more on that comment.When we lived in the trailer park,we had to water the lawn and keep it green per park rules,but now that we have our own plot of land,I could really care less if the lawn is green,or weed free.....I think the dandelions and clover,etc give it character and texture.

For me the raised beds are needed,as the clay soil is just too heavy to be able to bring it up to garden quality any time soon,it will also allow some flood protection should the water get a little too deep onto the property,the lowest point of our property floods quite often,last year it didn't reach my garden area,but did get a good 1 1/2 to 2 foot deep at times during heavy rain.I kept expecting to look out my sewing room window and see ducks or geese swimming in it.

[squeaky]

We have several raised beds that we grow most of our veggies in but we are expanding this year with a 50x50 plot for corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and large container gourds. We've grown easy things for years like tomatoes, yellow squash and peppers. For us growing white potatoes has been impossible!
We have tried unsuccessfully to grow white taters in barrels but DH says we will try again this year. I'm thinking of putting a few in the new plot just to see if it will grow for us. Last year we grew sweet potatoes for the first time in one bed and they took over the walkways and parts of the neighboring beds.
We are adding a few more fruit trees this year but mostly berry bushes.
For us it has been an ongoing learning process and it just takes time to build your skills and confidence.

[leera]

Squeaky,some friends of mine have had great luck growing potatoes this way:

Throw out some old straw into a long row,set seed potatoes on top,and another layer of straw to voer,and keep adding straw as the potato plants get taller...in the fall when they die back,simply remove the layers of straw and harvest your potatoes....

[squeaky]

Thank you leera!! I'm gonna try it that way and I'll let you know how they turn out. I was dreading trying my hand at them anymore but DH is insistent that we can grow them. We ruined 4- 55 gal barrels by drilling holes in the bottom of them to grow taters in. Maybe we'll find something that we can use them for later on.
Thank you again leera, I hope I can be of help to you somehow soon.

[Fortyfour]

Since my garden is a 100'x100' fenced in area, I won't be expanding it. But I do plan to use more of it this year as I usually leave 1/4 to 1/3 of it each year to pack on chicken manure, grass clipping, etc and then rotate year to year. I'll still leave part of it unused, but will pack more stuff into what area I do plant.

This fall our fruit room will be a packed area!

[femmesteader]

Last year my garden was 8'x4' This year i have secured another garden (thanks to an 89yr old senior down the street and a garden-sharing website) and this new plot is about 30'x40'ish.

I..cannot...wait.

***Can you see how big my smile is***

I've also got it in my budget this year to buy a pressure canner and a dehydrator.
Oh yeah,it's gonna be a good year. :)

[Aamylf]

Our gardening season here in SWFL is the opposite of most of you, so I have a second crop of tomatoes, peppers,peas and beans in rightnow and am hoping they will fruit before they bolt. However, I am planning a second garden plus more containers for next fall. I have one 64 sq' bed with a second one just put in. That's pretty paltry for those with 100 x 100! but it's the best I can do right now. We do have a nice sunny spot out front that I've been considering/eyeing. It's awful sand, not soil, but tomatoes don't seem to care if it's sand as long as you give them some fertilizer. So I think next fall I will be able to plant an extra 8-10 tomato plants, which should give me 25 easily -- enough for eating, sauce, etc. I also discovered there is a corn I can plant here in late winter that will usually be ready before the 99 degree 99% humidity days.

[neparose]

I'm not increasing my garden size this year but instead, I'm trying to fill gaps in the pantry. I still have green beans from 2 years ago and probally enough for the next 2 years but the carrots didnt do good so I ran out early. I killed the pickle bush cucs last year so I never got to do pickles and we ran out. Onions got stem rot and I lost most of the ones in storage so this year I'm planting a boat load of copras. Although I would love to see a much bigger garden than what we currently have, the time it takes to look after it is something I am in short supply of. So instead I'm trying to garden smarter, not harder. Am currently considering the book on square foot gardening, and installing soaker hose this year to take some burden away. we're also looking into using mulch to keep the weeding down to a minimum. After all that gets accomplished, then maybe a mellon patch....lol!

[mousebandit]

Since this is our first year on this property and we are both cash & time strapped, plus I will be having another baby in August, this year's garden will be much smaller than we would like. We are definitely concerned about the rising food costs and are putting about $150/mo into food storage items as well.

JonCristina, if I remember correctly you're in Oregon too, right? Can't remember if you're westside or eastside though! If you're west of the cascades, you can probably just leave most of your root crops in the ground through the winter and over-winter them that way. Put a foot or more of old straw or some kind of mulch on top. When you need something, go push aside the mulch and pull! It's also not hard to make a mini-root cellar under the house or simply dig "clamps" in the garden to store some things.

I would absolutely consider planting at least a small garden. THink about what items you use regularly in your cooking (or what you would use if times got bad/worse), and which of those are the most expensive, and which of those you can grow and store in some way. Then throw in some of the "go the distance" veggies like winter squashes, tomatoes, maybe dry beans (although those are cheap to buy), etc., and give them a little space and love as well.

It never, ever, ever hurts to be prepared!

MouseBandit

[Dame]

Thank you leera!! I'm gonna try it that way and I'll let you know how they turn out. I was dreading trying my hand at them anymore but DH is insistent that we can grow them. We ruined 4- 55 gal barrels by drilling holes in the bottom of them to grow taters in. Maybe we'll find something that we can use them for later on.
Thank you again leera, I hope I can be of help to you somehow soon.

Hope those 55 gal drums were clean food grade paint on the inside. Otherwise the barrels may have killed your potatoes.

[CC604]

WOW...you mean you had ALL this in a 10x10 area?
:yes2:

with intensive layering, and something for plants to climb on, yes! (orientation is actually more like 5' x 20') trees at the back, then bushes, ground cover, then root veg, climbers climbing the trellis/house at the very back...looks like an absolute jungle and pruning is VERY necessary, and each plant could probably produce more if given more space. this is in my front yard in lieu of the usual landscaping shrubs, so it goes largely unnoticed until we're harvesting. having the trees and shrubs makes gardening easier but we still need corn, more onions/carrots/potatoes. hence the plot, since the backyard has no sunlight.

i don't think i'd know what to do with an acre!

[squeaky]

Hope those 55 gal drums were clean food grade paint on the inside. Otherwise the barrels may have killed your potatoes.

They are food grade, and they were from a local soda pop bottling plant and they had contained syrup in them. We cleaned them thoroughly so I figure we just cannot grow them that way. The other barrels will be used for rain collecting, and I'm glad we only ruined 4 for the potato experiment.

DH thinks maybe we should put them in a shadier spot instead of out in the direct sun, so we're gonna try again this year,... sigh. They always get off to a good start but then right when I think, ok, we did it, they die.:eek:
We have them up on blocks so that they get good drainage. I have pondered it till my brain hurt, :confused:so I'm not going to worry with them this year, only water them will I do.

Thank you Dame for weighing in on why we can't grow taters in a barrel.