Lots of Questions!

Maybe someone has asked the questions you have! But if not, shoot me a message or email!

Q: Here is my garden plan that I am working on for next season. I am doubling my garden but only planting about 25% more because everything was too cramped this year. PHOTO BELOW We can or freeze dry whatever we don't eat fresh. The lettuce and Spinach will be planted in 3 week intervals. The corn will have 4 batches planted 2 weeks apart. I am also going to plant squash, watermelons, and pumpkins outside of the fenced-in garden but they are just going to be feral and whatever happens, happens. The squash absolutely took over my garden this year. I live in zone 6a. Any constructive comments would be appreciated. Everything is to scale, one square equals one foot. PHOTO BELOW.

A: How much shadow will your trellis cast? Greens to the north of it are better than sunlovers.
Acorn squash and zucchini won't climb but tomatoes will!
Can you scatter your garlic, onions and herbs near your greens to disquise from bugs that like them? Then make those beds another pollinator garden - maybe cut flowers You'll get pollinators from east and west that way.
Peas are spring and fall crops so what's your summer plan for that bed?
Is the whole area fenced for protection? Trellis is good for deer to not want to jump into the garden. If you put your tomatoes on trellises or t posts and rebar, that's another way to discourage deer from jumping in.
If you aren't going to try to protect/manage the melons and pumpkins, why plant them? The deer will eat them and they might not grow to the same potential as they would if you managed them. I do agree that squash tend to take over!

Q: We moved to our little homestead and are doing the prep work for our garden. I really struggle with knowing how big it should be, though. At our last house, as much as I tried, I couldn’t grow enough to can with my 5 vegetable-loving kids running around.

Is there some kind of resource that says, “If you want to grow vegetables and store for the winter months, you need to grow “x” amount of each vegetable?”

I know I can’t get an exact answer here, as every family varies with how much they eat, but I literally am starting from scratch not having any kind of idea.

A: Best of luck! What are you wanting to grow?
The more simple, the better success you'll have, the less work it will be and the more fun your whole family has....
Start with a SMALL plot with good, wide paths to make it easier to tend. Think 20x20.
Too many people start too big and then get burnt out midsummer.
Pick a super sunny spot as close to the house and water source as possible. Bonus points if you can plant it in an area your family walks past daily!
Fence it to protect your food and avoid having to plant over and over again...
You can grow upward on trellises and can add to it if needed.

https://morningchores.com/vegetable-garden-size/
https://youtu.be/e28Yhm1aY_s

Q: Oh, goodness. I need a lot of vegetables. 😬
A: Keep in mind that you'll have at least three growing seasons: cool, warm/hot and cool again so if you can plan out the first cool crop in the spring, you can repeat that for the second cool crop in the fall. 😀
Plan, do, check, modify plan ;)
Depending on your kids' ages, they can help with the plan, planting and rethinking the plan when you go to do it again.

Q: Hey there! My family just moved to a 4 acre property and there are hardly any trees and no fencing. We’d like to fence off part of the property as one of our first projects to have a safe place for pets and kids and to have a little privacy. It is so so windy so I’m worried about fencing blowing over. What is the best way to fence a large area (about half acre to an acre) best price and wind and hopefully predator resistant. (Coyotes, deer, fox) Thanks!
A:The strongest winds in our area typically come from the west so most of our privacy fencing runs west to east. Ours are solid panels from Lowes.
But as long as poles are sunk into the ground far enough and panels secured properly, there shouldn't be much issue.
We've had fully latticed panels too but then privacy is sacrificed.
Any temp fencing will help keep pets and kids within a certain boundary. We've used wooden snowfencing before successfully. The benefit of temp fencing is that you can take some time to decide if that's where you want the perm stuff to go and can make changes easier than if you install perm fencing right away.
Coyotes and fox - might consider electric poultry fencing to discourage them. Teach the kids not to touch...if they do it once, they won't likely do it again ;)
Deer - they won't jump over if they don't think they can make a good landing. Many people have success with fishing line fence...but that won't help with the other critters.

Q: Over the past few years my husband & I have moved from suburban to rural & set up a small family sized farm. We have learned so much & our ultimate goal is to be 100% farm to table. This year I’m going to focus on gardening & canning. Any tips?
A:Keep the gardening part small and as close to the house and water source as possible. Increase over time.
Consider installing drop irrigation.
FENCE it so you only have to plant once.
Use the vertical space as much as possible: trellises, arches, stringing tomatoes.
Make good, weed free paths.
Plant intensively(close) to keep weeds down.
Only grow what you'll EAT, give away, barter with or preserve.
Ask neighbors for chicken 💩 if you don't already have them.
Make every structure temporary until you decide it's in just the right spot, then perm it. Move things around if they aren't working.
Compost on the spot with chop and drop.
Plant all tall stuff on the north side of the plot unless you're looking to shade your greens from the hot sun....

Q: Doing a garden for my first time this year. We currently live with my parents and they have done gardens before. I am curious when I should start? What set up do you prefer? We are NOT doing a raised as that’s not what my parents want. We are looking to plant corn, tomato’s, peppers, beans, cucumbers,squash, zucchini, pumpkins(for the kids), broccoli, possibly others as well.

A:So many questions:
How much space?
How much sunshine do you get?
Do you get four legged creatures in your neighborhood?
Will you be starting from seed? Or buying plants?
How much of what do you want?
What's your soil like?
What's your water like?
Do you have access to compost?
When is your last frost date?

Replies:
• plenty space
• Full sun
• Some critters not many that we see
• Idk what a better option would be on seeds or plants but I don’t have indoor space to germinate inside
• We have 12 in the home and I plan to learn to can this year so I’m more prepared when we move out
• Idk what the soil is like
• Well water
• We do not compost but have free roaming chickens
• We are Grand Rapids area I don’t think we should get more frost but who knows lol

A: Planning ahead helps with success. That's why I asked the questions 😀

What have they grown successfully in the past in that area? And what did they have a hard time growing? Better soil means better success. If you can get some of that chicken poop/chicken bedding worked into the soil soon, it has a little time to break down so it doesn't burn the plants.

How much $ are you willing/able to sink into gardening?

You have time to install protection before planting. Roaming chickens will demolish all your plantings unless it's fenced in. So will deer. Others will eat tender leaves and seeds you plant.
(Let the chickens in after all the growing is done. They'll till and poop for you and prep the area for next year 😉 )

You WILL get frost and snow for a while yet. From the food you mentioned in your post and because you would be buying plants(tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, broccoli)
or starting seeds in the ground
(corn, beans, squash, zucchini, pumpkins), I would wait to plant all of it till the end of May.

Frost is likely at any NIGHTtime temp that's 45 or below. Many people cover their fresh plantings with frost cloth each night to protect them and remove the cloth when it warms up in the day.

Q: What kinda greenhouses do you all have? What do you wish you did different? Diy, budget friendly ideas preferred!

A: Hoop/high tunnels get quickly wrecked in our high winds. We have an Ana White style and it's never been affected by wind. I love that the plans are free and that the outside skin can be modified to use what is most cost efficient for you. https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/diy-greenhouse

Q: Drafts. Thinking some expanding foam.. did you do anything in addition to her plans?
A: For winter I added bubblewrap along the plastic and partitioned off about half the space to grow in. Added 20 amp electric and a heater. This keeps it above freezing most days. I've got straw bales along the outside of the north wall to insulate. Next year I'll need to insulate better. Ours is 10x16.

Q: I would love to build this. I was hoping you could answer some questions. Can you give me an estimate an how much it cost? How long did it take to build? How tall is the ceiling? I'm 6'5 and want to make sure I can walk through it comfortably.
A: Costs vary so much..
Look at the plans to see what materials you would want to use and quantities. Then go to a big box store online and get the price per piece. Do the math for your project..then add 10%..
My husband and I cut wood and assembled framework in the garage then took the frames outside to assemble. It took us a full wknd to get the basics assembled, including the outsides.
I ordered everything online through Lowes and used curbside pickup to save time.
The peak of ours is 8', then the angles are 30 degrees off the peak.
To save money, it's easy enough to make it small to start, then add on as you have more funds.
Q: Did you use treated wood? I don't like using treated wood in things I'm growing food so i wondered what people did. I have a lot of amish sawmills around me and their lumber is much cheaper (and a true size boards) than big stores so I was thinking of using that. But I would love opinions from others.
A: No to treated wood but it's not a bad idea to stain or paint it since it will be exposed to heat and moisture.
Q:I live in MI and am trying to figure out what I can grow in the winter months. That will kind of determine the size I build.
A: If you insulate/heat it there's more you can grow than if you don't. I'm growing kale and spinaches and peas and carrots and lettuce in mine right now.
Here's a group you might find helpful
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1056414957836051/?ref=share