Gardening

Do any of you keep a family garden? The wife and I would like to start a garden to get started on a little self sufficiency, get the family working together outside, and maybe save a little money.

We don't really know where to start. We live in a rental right now and will really only be here for another year, +/- a few months. We thought about just planting some beans and tomatoes in a couple of medium to large terra cotta pots and a few stalks of corn.

The idea of canning some of our produce, if there is enough for that, is bouncing around too.

Any advice for us?

Thanks!

A3M0N said:

Do any of you keep a family garden? The wife and I would like to start a garden to get started on a little self sufficiency, get the family working together outside, and maybe save a little money.

We don't really know where to start. We live in a rental right now and will really only be here for another year, +/- a few months. We thought about just planting some beans and tomatoes in a couple of medium to large terra cotta pots and a few stalks of corn.

The idea of canning some of our produce, if there is enough for that, is bouncing around too.

Any advice for us?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Start here.
http://okaloosa.ifas.ufl.edu/

Tomatoes and peppers will do well in pots. Corn is not worth the effort on a small scale IMHO.

I agree with the corn not worth it. unless you are going to plant rows upon rows it's not worth it. each stalk only generates 1-2 ears. Beans I doubt would do well in a pot simply because you need lots of plants to produce enough beans to eat. Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli maybe, lettuce, would all produce in a pot i'd say. likely not enough to can though. but enough to eat this summer that's for sure.

If you have a yard i'd till up a small garden (or big). even if you are only going to be there for one more year it would be worth it to be able to plant more plants and really "work the land". You still got time to plant and harvest. I'd suggest buying plants about the size in the picture, that way you can just transplant them and have a full garden instantly.






my pepper plants



strawberry patch...well soon to be strawberry patch



Tomatoes, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, a few peppers, 5 rows of beans and a row of broccoli. and I've got plans to till up more in the corner for cantaloupe and watermelon




Gardening is a lot of work but it's fun. especially eating FRESH veggies. knowing exactly where they came from

There is a gardening thread in the Mess Hall you may want to look at.

I suggest maybe growing herbs in addition. Easy to grow indoors if space is limited outside your rental. Basil has been a favorite of mine to grow and smells great. I like your idea of pots...portability when it's time to go. Have fun!

Check out the food grade five gallon pails that Lowes sells. Instant, light-weight, highly portable pot that's stackable when not in use. If you use them for tomatoes you can use wire to attach a stake to the ouside of the pot to support the plant.

I would start by checking out a few books on container gardening.

Another popular method for space intensive gardening is square foot gardening. It's a methodology that let's you get an appreciable amount of produce from one or two 4'*4' plots.

Tomatoes are a good way to get started. A couple of plants will supply enough fruit to feed a family and a half dozen will produce enough that canning is a distinct possibility.

A few zuchini plants will either die immediately or produce enough squash that your neighbors will start crossing the street upon seeing you. It's kind of a crap shoot, but the payoff can be big. Sometimes too big.

Cucumbers, vining squash and melons can all be grown in pots or a trench and trained to climb a trellis or fence. This can make them growable in a very compact space with minimal tilling.

If you are space limited, tomatoes will do well in those upside down planters. You can buy them, but I used some old 5 gallon buckets. Just cut a hole in the bottom big enough to get the roots through, make a collar out of foam (egg crate type mattress pad foam works) to keep it from falling. Fill the bucket with a good potting soil, hang on the back porch and keep it watered. I suggest finding a local nursery as they will know what varieties grow well in your area and will probably carry plants that are local as well. You have a longer growing season down there so you have plenty of time before the first frost hits. I grew tomatoes up until late November when I was stationed down there. One problem I did have was the humidity brings on a lot of fungus type bight. Copper soap takes care of it really well.I would also suggest skipping the corn and beans. When I lived in Navarre, we used to find plenty of people selling it roadside and cheap. There is also a good farmers’ market in Crestview. You can cut the corn off the cob and freeze it, less work than canning. Beans can be frozen too if you plan on eating them within a year. Peppers do well in pots and I have also done cucumbers. You can train vine plants to climb a trellis. Carrots do well in pots too, my kids love them. Any herb can go into pots. You will be surprised by how much you can actually grow in pots or boxes if you don’t want to dig up your yard, just get creative.

The OP didn't say anything about being space limited, but I went there anyway. I didn't figure he would want to do too awful much digging if he was just starting out and unsure how he was going to like gardening as a hobby. It also seems like a lot of work to dig up a large garden if he is relocating in a year.

We decided to keep it simple right now. We have some tomato plants and plan some strawberries and try some green beans. Thanks everyone!