Garden Plans and Projects

I’ve spent a good deal of time working on the main garden recently.  Weeds and the last remains of last year’s crops have been pulled and burned.  I also pulled up surrounding T-posts that I had driven into the ground our first year out here.  They had at one time supported poultry fencing (used to be known as chicken wire), but have been nothing more than an eyesore the last few years.

On Saturday I drove down to Platteville to raid Menards.  I bought enough 12-foot 2x12’s for three deep beds.  I will be using two of them for our root crops:  carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and beets.  Lisa will be using the third one to plant potatoes.

My plan is to attempt to freeze, can, and/or dry as much of our veggies as possible.  The ultimate goal is to eliminate the need to purchase any produce except for items that cannot be grown in this climate.  I know, for instance, that we purchased roughly $350 worth of canned tomato products last year.  If I could eliminate just that one area from our annual produce bill, it would be awesome.

Lisa and I discussed the distribution of garden responsibilities a couple of weeks ago.  She will be growing some of the items that I want to store, as well as others that I will not be growing.  For instance, she will be planting two rows of tomatoes.  As one of our trellises can manage 13 plants, Lisa will have a total of 26 plants.  Because we need far more than that, I will also grow three rows (39 plants) in a different garden to make up the difference.  It may sound goofy but is seems to be working as we had no disagreements during our discussion.  This delights me but also makes me a little nervous.

While at Menards I also bought various lengths of translucent roofing panels, which will be used in building hoop houses this week for the broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce and other greens.  I will also be pulling them back out this fall to cover plants when we hope to extend our growing season.

While I’ve yet to get any seed trays started, the purchase of our hoop house materials may have eliminated the need for them altogether.  Sowing directly into the ground is so much easier and rewarding in my opinion.  We’ll find out if it will work starting this week.