"Country" gardens (on acreage) pictures please!

[farmgirlroots]

The gears are finally in motion and we are moving to acreage (we've only been talking about it for 10 yrs)!!!! So, it is a 10 acre plot, and is mainly pasture land. I've finally got the space to put in one heck of a veggie garden! I just have no idea what that realistically needs to be...obviously much different from my current urban garden that consists of 7 4x10' cedar boxes, next to my permitted 5 hens and their little coop. Anyway, I have a total blank slate. I'd love to see pictures of the country gardens you have to get me started. This go around I'm not so concerned with aesthetics (as I am being in the city) and am much more interested in function and lower cost (those cedar boards and hauling in a dump truck of compost/dirt got super spendy). I will need to also think about deer fencing and a gate large enough to get a utility tractor in to till it.

 

[lazy gardener]

Congratulations. My advice to you is to start small, and expand as you go along. In addition to the veggie garden, perhaps you'll want some fruit trees, Siberian pea shrub, and a planting of other crops to make your chickens happy; BOSS, amaranth, various greens, sorghum, comfrey, millet, and a few other grains. Be very careful about your location of trees, as you don't want them to shade your garden, and the roots of trees will travel an amazing distance to rob your garden of nutrients.

Were your raised beds big enough to meet your family's needs? If they were, it's not necessarily best to go with a super big garden, because it will mean a lot more work, and if it produces more than you can possibly use, a lot of it will go to waste, unless you have the time to maintain and harvest and lug it all to a food pantry, or otherwise dispose of it in a good stewardship manner. (chickens, other farm animals, neighbors... )

I am a huge fan of gardening under mulch, using wide rows for smaller crops, progression planting, planting under plastic, using grow frames to expand the growing season, and trellising. (I use cattle panel, and old metal a-frame style swing sets as my primary trellises. Electrical conduit is also a winner, as well as 2 x 3 frames held together with nuts and bolts.)

If you can find a local farmer with aged manure, that will get you off to a good start. When I started my new garden, I had 7 yards of manure delivered and spread it at least 4" thick. That was a LOT of shoveling!!!! You can also get/use fall leaves. If you pile them in the fall, with a sprinkling of soil and urea or other high nitrogen source mixed in and watered into the pile, and cover it with plastic, it will be well onto the way to breaking down by spring.

 

[whtdragn]

We live on two acres on the Ohio and I would love to have 20. Congratulations.

 

[poodlechicks]

x2 gardener.
I also use trellises and plant shade veggies under it. It works well for me.

Also, one other thing you need to be aware of are garden pests. If you had done containers so far, you might not have encountered woodchucks or voles. I came from a suburban small garden to acreage in the country and I had to deal with these pests, who ate most of my first year's crop. I had to dig 3 feet under the fence and place wire cloth to avoid the woodchucks and fence part of the property where I had the vegetable garden and orchard. I also have fruit trees. 2 of them had their roots and lower trunk ripped by voles in the winter. They were young and didn't resist the damage. Now they remaining ones get wrapped in the fall and seem to be thriving. Oh, and don't forget about the deer. They too love to munch on fresh vegetables. And flowers, and anything they can get their teeth in.

One thing I didn't know is that chickens can act as guardians of the orchard. I had a woodchuck eating my apples in the fall. As soon as the chickens spotted it, they ran after the critter and chased it out the yard. It was hilarious.

I am telling you this so there are no surprises, because nature here in the country IS after your vegetables

With proper prevention, you'll have a wonderful experience and a bounty of greens to feast on. Congratulations on your newly acquired property! It is such a good feeling to harvest your own food.

 

[jerrey]

i had voles in my flower beds and I tried everything finally I got raid of them you have to take pieces of apples put it on a mouse trap next to the hole cover with shoe box are a small basket it works I got 16 in all

 

[bustedchicks]

get a cat for any rodents and a dog for the critters. firecrackers for the deer. start small but a good variety to see what grows well. try stuff you might not have grown in town. research your local plants and whats edible. plant lots of berries and you can get 25 different fruit nut trees in a small area.

I have yet been able to fence the perimeter but have come up with a clever garden fence. 5/8 inch rebar cut into 4 ft lengths. hammer them in the ground about 2 ft. 3/4 inch pvc pipe or pvc conduit slides over pipe and a screw thru pvc to pressure on rebar. you make a hoop house and wrap it with deer fencing.

from how to grow vegetables and fruits by the organic method by J I Rodale

 

[bustedchicks]

 

[bustedchicks]

I don't have big acreage but its something. My gardens are spread out on the north, east and south side. Each area grows different crops based on their need for sun exposure . It works out okay but it is difficult to manage when watering since they are not in a centralized location

 

[poodlechicks]

My garden/ small orchard is located in one piece of land. It makes it easier to water and it is where the fenced area is. Now with the chickens, I have to build a fence within the fence. But for now, they are helping me "till " the soil. They're doing a great job before I start planting.

 

[ShelbyCoral]

We are doing out first garden this year on 6 acres. We will post pictures soon! We are planting everything! strawberries to broccoli, Wheat grass to Pumpkins! We plan to make it look like a royal garden! Rose bush arches to!