Homesteaders

[Chicken girl 15]

Compost is a gift. I have 2 going. 1 is yard/kitchen/horse poo the other is the chicken run. Lots of woodchips veggie scraps and chicken poo. I have to move my 1 closer to my garden though. Hubby set it up to far away.

 

[rancher hicks]

Fair enough. I bought a book about wild edibles and was amazed at the amount. We do not have any wild berries (except goose berries which I hate) either, so I have had to plant.

Can I get the title of that book? PM me please.

Goose berries are good when mixed with other berries. I did some Gooseberry jam and it's way to tart. I have to redo it with something else. I can share some recipes for using them. Lord knows I keep fighting to get my bushes started.

I also like rhubarb but think I lost one plant this year.

I've been asking DW how much of this and that we use each year.

I could use some advice on growing carrots. We use about 60 pounds a year. I don't expect to grow that many but if I can do half that would be cool. How much space do I need?

How much space do I need for potatoes? What are the best ones to grow?

What are the best onions? Are they hard to grow? What about shallots?

There is just the two of us, but we feed the grown kids too. They stop over now and then for leftovers or when DW makes too much.

(opinions, questions and comments are for everyone, not just those quoted. )

Thanks for the help. Oh and pictures are really helpful. I don't do other sites so BYC is it. Lord knows I waste to much time on Pinterest.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Give me some time, I think it got buried. I will get to looking for it though, I did like that book. I also had a great one that talked about planting an orchard and creating an edible yard, I am sure they are togeather.
Potatoes are great, I plant 2 rows about 20 feet long. That gets us through most of winter (I need to start storing them better and they would last longer) I have yet to have luck with carrots, I know they do best in sandy soil.
I highly recommend winter onions, for anyone looking. They are a perennial plant. I still have green growing from those onions and it has been 20s here.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Can I get the title of that book?  PM me please.  

Goose berries are good when mixed with other berries. I did some Gooseberry jam and it's way to tart. I have to redo it with something else.  I can share some recipes for using them. Lord knows I keep fighting to get my bushes started.  

I also like rhubarb but think I lost one plant this year. 

I've been asking DW how much of this and that we use each year. 

I could use some advice on growing carrots. We use about 60 pounds a year. I don't expect to grow that many but if I can do half that would be cool.  How much space do I need? 

How much space do I need for potatoes?  What are the best ones to grow?  

What are the best onions?  Are they hard to grow? What about shallots?  

There is just the two of us, but we feed the grown kids too. They stop over now and then for leftovers or when DW makes too much. 

(opinions, questions and comments are for everyone, not  just those quoted. ) 

Thanks for the help. Oh and pictures are really helpful. I don't do other sites so BYC is it.  Lord knows I waste to much time on Pinterest. :/

I did carrots last season. They did ok but next spring I'm doing it in a 2ft tall raised bed with sifted compost/old manure/dirt. I'm going to wrap black garden matting around the bottom of the box and fill it to the top. However doing them in the ground worked good flavor wise but they grew around rocks and some were very short and fat because they grew into rocks and could only go out not down. I planted 1 seed every 4 inches, as they don't get to big around, and that's what I plan on doing in the box in spring. Potatoes I'm doing the same with. I had good luck and desirable taste but the blasted rocks again. I would almost sights any root or tuber be planted in a sifted raised bed.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I did carrots last season. They did ok but next spring I'm doing it in a 2ft tall raised bed with sifted compost/old manure/dirt. I'm going to wrap black garden matting around the bottom of the box and fill it to the top. However doing them in the ground worked good flavor wise but they grew around rocks and some were very short and fat because they grew into rocks and could only go out not down. I planted 1 seed every 4 inches, as they don't get to big around, and that's what I plan on doing in the box in spring. Potatoes I'm doing the same with. I had good luck and desirable taste but the blasted rocks again. I would almost sights any root or tuber be planted in a sifted raised bed.

Is that the advantage to a raised box? a way to remove the rocks?

 

[Beekissed]

I've homesteaded off grid in my formative years~100 acres, log cabins, no utilities or running water, etc.~ and have done it on grid ever since then down through the years. Good to see others interested in it, it's a good way of life. I'd have no other.

 

[Raech]

Can I get the title of that book?  PM me please.  

Goose berries are good when mixed with other berries. I did some Gooseberry jam and it's way to tart. I have to redo it with something else.  I can share some recipes for using them. Lord knows I keep fighting to get my bushes started.  

I also like rhubarb but think I lost one plant this year. 

I've been asking DW how much of this and that we use each year. 

I could use some advice on growing carrots. We use about 60 pounds a year. I don't expect to grow that many but if I can do half that would be cool.  How much space do I need? 

How much space do I need for potatoes?  What are the best ones to grow?  

What are the best onions?  Are they hard to grow? What about shallots?  

There is just the two of us, but we feed the grown kids too. They stop over now and then for leftovers or when DW makes too much. 

(opinions, questions and comments are for everyone, not  just those quoted. ) 

Thanks for the help. Oh and pictures are really helpful. I don't do other sites so BYC is it.  Lord knows I waste to much time on Pinterest. :/

I planted a 3'x3' spot and just scattered carrot seeds then covered with a thin layer of dirt(1/2 inch). They say poke holes in rows then thin every 3, but mine do fine without all the extra work. Last years garden at the old place was in an 18 inch pot and they did great but I plant short n sweet carrots. For onions we plant Walla Walla sweets and Spanish reds, WW's are sweets and grow to be about 3 inches across, our Reds Re always smaller, we havs also done green onions. Onions are super simple: plant 4 inches apart, mulch ontop(we used old bunny bedding), water regularly and weed as needed. Ready to pick when tops flop, or as you want them depending on size. When we pull them we lay them out for a few days to get a drier skin. They are one of our favorites to grow, plant and forget. Grandpa does potatoes a few feet apart and just puts a potato piece with 3 eyes on it in each mount, and weeds as needed. We love the red potatoes and of course Idaho Russets, he's in Idaho

 

[KlopKlop]

I planted a 3'x3' spot and just scattered carrot seeds then covered with a thin layer of dirt(1/2 inch). They say poke holes in rows then thin every 3, but mine do fine without all the extra work. Last years garden at the old place was in an 18 inch pot and they did great but I plant short n sweet carrots. For onions we plant Walla Walla sweets and Spanish reds, WW's are sweets and grow to be about 3 inches across, our Reds Re always smaller, we havs also done green onions. Onions are super simple: plant 4 inches apart, mulch ontop(we used old bunny bedding), water regularly and weed as needed. Ready to pick when tops flop, or as you want them depending on size. When we pull them we lay them out for a few days to get a drier skin. They are one of our favorites to grow, plant and forget. Grandpa does potatoes a few feet apart and just puts a potato piece with 3 eyes on it in each mount, and weeds as needed. We love the red potatoes and of course Idaho Russets, he's in Idaho

When you do the carrots do you thin them out at all? I have had mixed results with carrots (I think the weather plays a big role) but 2 years ago I had the best carrot crop I've ever had and it is because I thinned them. I had a couple carrots as big around as a soup can at the very top.

Last year I tried seed tape carrots and had zero luck. It was my first year in this new garden and I think the weeds just out competed them. I will try seed tape again I think but not exclusively. It was kind of expensive

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I use raised beds to avoid rocks and to keep from bending so far. Plus it keeps me a bit more organized. I have great luck with everything I grow. There is no one reason my garden works , it's a combination of everything. Compost, manure, sifting siol, not messing with it too much, weeding as nesacery, planting far enough apart that thinning is not needed. Taking in every bit of advice I read, hear, or think up and combining war works for my area and activity level.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Is that the advantage to a raised box? a way to remove the rocks?

yes, raised sifted beds remove rocks from root veggie grow space.