Planning the Gardens

It's that time of the year where preparations have to begin for the spring planting. It's not something I spent a lot of time on last year, but this year is definitely going to be different. We're going to be adding a lot more to our gardens this year, including some new trees and some friendly bugs, such as ladybugs, to keep the pests down. We're not exactly going for the whole 'micro-ecosystem' that a lot of small-scale farmers are looking to emulate, but we are going to do what's best for the soil, the plants, and above all, our family.

The real question we have to ask is, how far are we going to take this gardening thing? Are we going to focus on just growing enough food for the family? If so, I can do that working on a part-time basis in the garden while working full-time at my bookkeeping job. It's not my favorite plan, but it's the most straightforward. On the other hand, with the price of gas threatening to climb into the stratosphere, it might not be practical to drive to work four or five days a week come summertime.

Another option is to join the ever-growing community of market gardeners, people who do small-scale, organic farming and sell it at local markets, to subscribers, or at their own roadside stands. That would mean a lot more of a time requirement on my part, and probably would require hiring some help as well; I'm not getting any younger, after all. And to grow that much food would be a full-time job.

Partnering with a local greenhouse to get some veggies so we don't have to plant them ourselves is another option, although that limits our market share, since we're growing less and buying some from the greenhouse. But there's another option that might work: meal prep. Growing our own food and using it to prepare ready-made meals for people to buy and take home. It's not the most original idea, but anyone who has ever tasted my wife's cooking knows that the quality will be sky-high. She does love to cook, but making a full-time job of it might dampen her enthusiasm.

We have time to decide; this year, the focus is going to be growing as much food for the family as possible; if we sell some of it for extra income, that will be a bonus. And, of course, we will have the meat to sell as well, with chickens and pigs coming to the farm in the spring. Keeping our options open is a good idea.

So, what will we be doing this year? Well, the smaller garden (it was our main garden last year) will be primarily corn, beans, and squash, all growing together to complement each other; it's an old, traditional native style of gardening that we learned about late last year, and we're looking forward to trying it. We're also going to put a trellis between the two gardens to grow peas and possibly cucumbers as well.

The big garden, which was only partly used last year, is going to be the main garden. We've already got two fifty-foot rows of garlic in the ground, hibernating for the winter. In the spring, I'll be planting potatoes in between the two rows of garlic; the garlic helps keep the potato bugs down. I'll also be planting peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes, onions, and other veggies to grow not only for ourselves, but for the animals as well. Oh, and sunflowers. Lots and lots of sunflowers. The seeds are great, and the chickens love them. Keeping the animals healthy is an important part of the farm, after all.

So, the plan isn't fixed yet, but we've got some strong ideas ready to go. Over the next couple of months, I'm going to get a proper layout prepared so I can get the gardens off to a great start in the spring. I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you'll come along for the ride.