Size of a garden

reply to post by mattifikation


Simple answer... it depends.

Detailed answer... It depends on whether or not you know canning and jaring techniques and whether or not you are willing to perform those time-consuming tasks.

Gardening is easy and can be done on a very small plot. Tomatoes are an excellent crop due to their high vitamin and mineral content, variety of uses and ease of storage. Tomatoes have a high yield relative to space taken, continue to produce for the entire growing season and, for the most part, aren't too fickle aboput their growing environement. I would be congnisant of watering needs as the fruit has a tendency to split if it receivesx too much or not enough water.

Root crops are also excellent but take up alot of room relative to yield. That being said, root-crops have the longest shelf-life. Carrots, potatoes, onions and radishes are all easy to grow and provide another excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Legumes such as beans, peas, soya and lentil are also excellent crops. Medium yield relative to growing space but excellent vitamin and mineral content. Easy to care for, requiring nothing beyond basic gardening skills and the beans can be dried for a year plus in storage.

Squash family takes up a tremendous amount of room relative to yield but provide a wealth of vitamins and minerals. Storage can be a concern as shelf-life is relatively short overall. Certain squashes do hold up well when stored correctly; such as acorn squash, butternut squash and other hard squashes. Avoid zuchinni, summer squash, egg plant etc... unless you have alot of room and time to care for them. Most are susceptible to drought and diseases and unless kept in optimal growing conditions will provide little yield and die quickly.

Exotics should be avoided... Aspargus, once established can be delectible, however it yields only once or twice season, generally very early in the season and will take a considerable amount of work to establish. Broccoli, Cauliflower, specialty lettuces etc... are highly susceptible to disease, blight and insect damage. A carefully planned garden with different flowers and herbs can help to control some of these types of afflictions but those are advanced gardening techniques.

Corn and wheat are staples that take up alot of room but really need to be grown if you are planning on supplying yourself with all of your needs. Rice is too much of a specialty unless you are versed in bog gardening. Fruit gardening can be both labor intensive and take up a tremendous amount of room but needs to be accomplished in order for proper nutrition. Consider an apple and/or pear tree, some type of berry bush (Ever-bearing types like raspberry or blackberry while avoiding single yield varieties of strawberries etc...).

Nuts are critical to your survival as well as they contain complex protein, amino acids and omega3. While difficult to propagate and grow traditional nuts like peanuts or almonds here in the north, we are blessed with many different nut bearing trees and plants to help us. Foraging should suffice and even the most bitter tasting nut can be made edible through preparation (i.e. roasting).

I could go on and on and on... I live in NE Ohio and have been an avid gardener for over 30 years. There is almost nothing relative to our climate that I have not grown. Perhaps if you had some specific questions, this would be easier, so ask away and I will try to help.

Someone suggested using fecal matter to build up soil trace elements... NEVER, NEVER, NEVER do this unless you a.) compost it thoroughly and properly or you sterlize it! BLEACHING WILL NOT WORK! It is especially important that you compost or sterlize if the fecal matter comes from a meat eater; human, dog, or otherwise. Composting properly requires bringing it up to temperatures exceeding 200 degrees F for periods longer than 3 weeks! Active Mycorrhizae, nitrobacter, and nitrasomona bacterium need to break the fecal matter down and kill the fungal, viral and bacterial properties that will infest your garden and infect your food.

My recommendation... horse and cow manure are fine... once composted but avoid ANY fecal matter from carnivorous animals at all costs or it could cost you your life. The easiest way to introduce trace minerals are to bury dried bones or grind them into bone meal and mix rusting nails into the soil.