grow own food

[Guest guest]

I do!

 

I've had a huge garden most of my life. I grow most of my greens (4

seasons), tomatoes, pumpkins (LOVE pumpkins!), beets, potatoes, herbs,

fruits etc. My girls are well versed in raising food crops and compost and

seasonal cycles. I got a greenhouse frame last year but due to the big ice

storm we had this past December I had an unfortunate collapse of the plastic

(like a tree right through it) and everything I had sown for winter harvest

was lost (bummer) So all I have left was what was in the cold frames and

since getting the greenhouse up and running it wasn't much - oh well, next

year...At least the food wasn't essential - there is a grocery store

available to me and we have the money to buy stuff, but it hurt nonetheless.

Within a few more weeks I expect to have another plastic on the greenhouse,

but it'll be too warm for early crops in there so I'll just use it to grow

some heat loving stuff like peppers this summer. In the interim I've pirated

the ripped plastic to make mini greenhouses (like low tunnels) over some of

my beds to help things get a jump start at least. I'm trying some of my

potatoes in trash barrels this year (just for novelty sake) and my youngest

(3) is getting all set for all the fun she's going to have in her bean

tee-pee.

 

I'd like to bring in some bees at some point and I'm currently weighing the

pros and cons of getting rid of my sheep in favor of growing more veggies to

sell at market or to keep the sheep and get into dyed roving sales instead.

 

The Gardening Organically is a wonderful community full of

helpful hints and ideas.

 

Tameson in NH

 

 

-

" iowa_classic " <iowa_classic

This summer I will be able to have a garden and try growing our food. Do

other people on this list do the same thing?

[Guest guest]

We're rabid gardeners as well. If we plant nothing else, we'll do tomatoes, pole

beans and squash. This year we're doing Henderson bush baby limas (awesome,

delicious, prolific producers), pole green beans, slicing and cherry tomatoes,

yellow crookneck squash, eggplant, watermelons, cantelope,  onions, sweet

potatoes (if the local farm here is selling the plants), lettuce and cucumbers.

I plant most of our crops from plants, so by mid April we should have the plants

hardened off and ready to go into the garden. I like planting through a thick

layer of newspapers covered with mulch to keep the plants clean and reduce

weeding. (We'll still have to weed, we always weed, blech.) If I do corn, it

will start from seed in the garden, but it is usually more efficient to buy

several bushels from local farms. We have a good acreage to farm on, but this

will be a small family garden. Four squash plants can usually make enough for

just eating, but I'll be putting

out about 4 dozen plants so we'll be able to freeze and can the excess. We love

squash.

 

Since we're in the deep south, lettuce likes going to bolt fast, but I've found

that the loose leaf lettuces, planted at weekly intervals, last long enough for

us to eat from the garden. We're also doing about 4 dozen each of the other

vegetables and fruit. We have 3 large, heavy producing fig trees and the boss

has a pear tree he lets us pick from (he doesn't like his pears, just store

bought...guess he doesn't know that pears ripen and soften AFTER picking,

hehehe).

 

I am considering a couple of Brussels sprouts (funky alien looking thing to

grow), broccoli (loves to go bolt fast) and a couple of cabbages. If I can get

the husband person to double dig another spot in the garden, we'll do collard

greens which love the heat and we can harvest just about year round.

 

The rest of the veggies will be either given us, foraged by us (we glean with

permission) or bought from a local farm.

 

Jeanne in GA

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

We grow all our fruits an veggies in southern California, as well as all the

herbs. Still buying mushrooms. There are a couple other people who do on this

list.

roseta

 

, " iowa_classic " <iowa_classic

wrote:

>

> I havent posted in a long time! This summer I will be able to have a garden

and try growing our food. Do other people on this list do the same thing? And

what do you grow? We live in the midwest so I wont be growing any citrus or

avocados. lol

>

>

> Kandi

>

[Guest guest]

I have a spaghetti / salsa garden lol. Mostly tomatoes: yellow & red cherry,

nepal reds & for the first time last year: black prince - not sure if I will try

these again this year. Also lots of peppers: sweet red & yellow, hot jalapenos

& moderate banana peppers, lots of basil & oregano. And also for the first

time last year (never had enough pace before) acorn squash which turned out

fantastic - SO tasty!. This year I want to add onions & sugar pumpkins as I am

digging out the other half of the front yard to double my space. Might try

cucumbers again for DH - last year the vine died.

 

Eventually I will have strawberries & blueberries as well and an asparagus bed

but I can only dig up so much lawn each year. And to our utter dismay I found

an underground tank in our sideyard so we have to deal with that before I plant

any food in that area.

 

Where in Iowa are you? My G'pa was born in Tama and I spent many a summer there

catching fireflies and getting eaten by mosquitoes lol.

 

Whatever you decide to grow, enjoy your garden! I LOVE eating what I grew.

 

Peace,

Diane

 

, " iowa_classic " <iowa_classic

wrote:

>

> I havent posted in a long time! This summer I will be able to have a garden

and try growing our food. Do other people on this list do the same thing? And

what do you grow? We live in the midwest so I wont be growing any citrus or

avocados. lol

>

>

> Kandi

>