The only limit to growing your own food is your imagination. Instead of
struggling during difficult times, THRIVE. You don't have to have acres
and acres of land.
We have been looking at plans for a window pane greenhouse. The right side of the house does not have an ideal gardening area, but I think it would work for a greenhouse. Anyone have experience with greenhouse gardening?
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| Vertical Gardening |
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| Shoe Rack Herb Garden |
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| Think upwards not outwards. |
Love the shoe rack garden. Will be starting this in the spring even though we have ample room finally to garden. You ever try the 3 sisters garden? I think I will do that as well this year. Lastly, if you have any good sources that are free or relatively cheap on permaculture and how to get started, let me know. I would like to add some swells to our land and possibly plant cover crops on the outskirts for deer and possibly elk. I have also researched cultivating wildlife (even though this isn't truly gardening). I am going to get started with some laying hens very soon, then advance into ducks, probably mallards and wood ducks, both for eggs and meat. Then, I may even get some pheasants and release so I can hunt and have a variety of meat to eat. On another note, I just ordered 7 apple, 2 pear and 2 cherry trees. They will be here this coming week for me to plant.
ReplyDeleteLet me look through my materials to see what I have on the permaculture end. An ebook that is excellent and free is "Beyond Organic" Nice on the trees, don't forget your berry bushes as well. They are a great source of micronutrients and antioxidants. Grapes are easy to grow, and they adapt well to vertical growing. Companion planting will help you keep your gardening organic. One example is plant grape vines on raised braces, under the vines plant marigolds and your berry bushes. The marigolds will keep critters and insects away. Peppermint at your perimeter will keep out ants, etc.
DeleteYou can get the shoe racks at any thrift store for about a $1. I love being able to hang the spices right outside the kitchen for easy access. They can also be used to grow strawberries.
I have not heard of the 3 sisters gardening, but I am guessing it is similar to the idea of a four-plot rotation. This is where you are only using three fields at a time with a cover crop, like mustard, is planted in the dormant field. This is to minimize the depletion of any one mineral and replenishing each field yearly.
Don't forget about greenhouses/biodomes. Biodomes are relatively inexpensive but are amazing to grow foods in the off-season. They are also an excellent place to practice aquaponics. Just build an interior perimeter tank for the fish and go from there. Using tilapia, you will have a never ending source of protein and nutrients for your plants.
On the animals, we are starting with chickens. Once the barn is fully restored, we are moving to goats, etc. I am hoping to save the second barn for larger livestock, but that remains to be seen. It is pretty dilapidated.
If you can do it without revealing your location, send pics. I would love to see how you are progressing.
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ReplyDeleteOkay, here is a really good beginning article for permaculture. Hope it helps.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/gardening/451581/a_beginners_guide_to_permaculture_gardening.html
Thanks for the info...I am gonna check it out. The 3 sisters garden is you plant corn on a mound. Around the mound in a circle, you plant squash and you plant beans right around the corn so they can use the corn for climbing. The beans add nitrogen to the soil and all 3 plants grow well together. I am getting berry bushes this spring to plant. I love the idea about grapes, marigolds and berries with peppermint around the perimeter.
ReplyDeleteOh cool! I will have to do some more research on the 3 sisters. It sounds like some of the tips in the organic gardening book I have.
DeleteTime to start the seeds. We have been harvesting from our organic produce and will be starting our seeds indoors this week. One idea I read about and am going to use is the toilet paper roll starter method. Cut the cardboard holders in half, fill them with dirt and plant with seeds. The holders need to be placed on a tray to hold the water. Our idea it to use a large flat bottomed storage box with a lid. The plastic needs to be 2,4, or 5 so that it doesn't leach. This setup acts as a mini green house and is a great way to recycle and get your garden started early. We will plant more seeds indoors in another month and keep staggering until late spring. After late spring, we will buy seedlings to continue planting until late June. The staggering ensures a multi month harvest. Our other seeds come from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds. They are a reliable source of nonGMO Heritage seeds.
ReplyDeleteThe second project I am looking to do is make a green house for the back yard using recycled windows. There is a great salvage yard near us. The windows need to be triple sealed with an organic clear sealant to remove the risk of contamination from paint. It is an inexpensive and responsible way to extend your harvest. If this works the way we think it will, I would like to add an aquaponics component to it at the end of the summer. We are not huge fish eaters, but we definitely are not eating fish from the grocery store. There have been way too many oil spills and nuclear reactor accidents (Japan) for us to feel comfortable with even deep sea wild caught fish.
Since our housing is yet to be settled, our garden this year will be done via container and vertical. These two methods allow us to continue our gardening and to make it mobile when necessary. Moving the containers will have a negative impact on production for a while, but it is better than no production. You can garden, harvest and can anywhere. It just takes a will.
Any gardening tips are welcome! Have a great day.