Thursday, April 12, 2012

Our Garden


THIS GARDEN IS FROM A FEW YEARS AGO


We have a garden that is about 36-40 feet wide. The rows are 85 feet long. We have a row of red potatoes, 3 rows of green beans (roma II, stringless), 1 row of either crowder or purple hull peas...or is it half a row of each? Then we have 1 row of ford hook lima beans, 37 tomato plants, 5 pepper plants, a row of spring onions, 1 or 1/2 rows of squash (Some is yellow and some is zucchini. I am not sure how many hills), 1/2 row or so of cucumbers(I am once again not sure how many hills), about 120 or more feet of corn. We will be planting a patch of watermelon soon too. I also may be missing something.

Everything looks good outside. We have blooms on the tomatoes. Everything came up well except for the peas. So we will replant where they didn't come up. Those things produce until frost so we will have a long season of those. We had 1/3 row of lettuce that did not come up at all.

I guess I know about the beans and peas just from trial and error. So we plant from what experience we had in yields. We do plant a little (sometimes a lot) more than what we think we'll need. This is just in case something happens to some plants and also in hopes we can share with family and friends. So for instance, one year we had 2 rows of green beans and I put away 120 quarts that year. So I am expecting at least that many from the 3 rows from this year.

I am hoping to get some okra seed to plant. I do like okra! I'd say that is the one thing that I am missing in planting. I may plant some the same time we replant the lettuce and peas.

It is my desire to grow and preserve 90% of our produce. I am leaving leeway in there for when we don't have fresh lettuce or tomatoes in the winter. Now... one day when I get my dream greenhouse, I will not be worried about that anymore either. Either way, we like to grow right here or at least eat local.

5 comments:

donna www.merryheartcrafts.com said...

Oh, your garden is beautiful!! I am unfamilar with the type of peas you plant. I will have to check them out. The type I plant only bear in early spring. Thanks for the tip. Enjoy your day and God bless.

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! You are very blessed to have so much room to plant. I'm with ya on the dream greenhouse. My dear hubby wanted to do one for this yr but we aren't through with planning or educating ourselves on the science of it all....LOL. How exciting for your family to be this self-sufficient.

~Heather~

Dana said...

I love it!! I hope to grow and preserve quite a bit this year too!!

On my list is:
Garlic- already started and up!!
green onions
lima beans-maybe :)
green beans
peas
Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Zuchinni
Yellow Squash
Pumpkins
Watermelon
Herbs: Thyme, Basil,Oregano,Parsley,Sage

And like you I hope to be able to can a couple hundred quarts of produce for our family!!

Good luck!!
Dana

April said...

That does sound like a GOOD garden! I don't know how long our rows are?? I guess I need to measure them-) I am excited about fresh tomatoes and squash!! I can't wait to see how your lima beans do. We've never planted those before,but we do like them!

Cathy said...

Hi Susan,
Wishing you a great harvest with your garden. It's fun reading about what all you have/are planting.
Thinking of you today and love ya,
Cathy