Starting Seeds Indoors

Having had quite enough winter I am looking forward to planting time and getting back to the garden.
This year I will attempt to start a few things, such as onions and peas, indoors.  Usually I just start a few things such as tomatoes and peppers indoors.  For onions I always bought sets and have had varying results.

Because I expect this year to be my last garden season at this location I want to grow as much as possible.  This also means I will do succession planting and continue to start new plants as soon as the previous ones have died off.  

While searching for recommendations for indoor planting time I found this site:  Heirloom Organics
 and their chart suits me best.  They sells seeds and their site is loaded with information for starting and growing seeds.

When to Plant Chart

High Point Cultivator with Wooden Handles from Lehman's; review and DIY help

Earlier this year I purchased this cultivator in the hope of reducing the back strain created from all that bending and stretching that goes along with cultivating the garden.  Since I am not as agile as I once was, any help is always welcomed.

High Point Cultivator  

                                    (the tool bracket in the photo is a little different than mine)

Let me begin by saying the product is good quality.  Strong enough to do the job and last years, yet light enough so it won't make moving it around a total body workout.  The bare wooden handles are very nice.  I stained mine with a stain/sealer product.

The only problem is in the assembly directions.  They are skimpy and not well detailed.  Putting this together was like doing a jig-saw puzzle with the photo of the finished puzzle.

I hope these photos will be helpful for anyone who decides to get one of these garden tools.  This link will take you to Lehman's High Point Cultivator    (I receive nothing in return for providing this).

Cultivator comes in two pieces

cultivator assembled

cultivator top view

cultivator side view

cultivator with bolt for attaching to the tool bracket

Assembled cultivator, tines are curved downward

Brace for handles

Tool Brackets (they should be mounted so they curve downward in the same angle as the handles)

It took a several attempts putting these parts together, and finding out they were in the wrong way.

Handles, tool brackets (left)  brace (right)

Cultivator assembled

Wheel connection/axle to wheel brackets

Tool brackets (left/bottom) Wheel brackets (top/right)

Bolt and nut which connect wheel brackets to the tool brackets.

In order to line up the holes to attach the wheel support to  bracket which holds the plow, cultivator or furrow tool, the two brackets must be disconnected from the wooden handles.

This I learned the hard way after struggling for a half hour to do it with the brackets already attached to the handles.

When it was finally ready to use it worked very well indeed and did reduce my work time and physical stress level.  It also stood up to the weather well since I left it near the garden fence all season through rain, wind and hot sun.  It was still looking new when I put it away for the winter.

This would make a great gift for the gardener in your home, just assemble it first.

Merry Christmas

Backyard Farm: Harvest for 2015 : 450+ pounds

 Okay, I am a bit late with this post.... but better late than never.

just a few of the winter squash harvested in 2015

END OF SEASON UPDATE:  135 pounds of tomatoes; 147 pounds winter squash; 120 pounds
zucchini and yellow summer squash; bushel of green beans, bushel of cucumbers, peck of bell peppers, 30 pounds cabbage, plus lots of parsley, chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme and dill.

24 meat chickens; 6 meat ducks; 1 turkey and several hundred eggs.
                                                             ****     ****    ****



The first harvest: cabbages, tomatoes and peppers.... yum!

This is the first year that I don't need to water the garden every day.  In fact, due to all the rain this season, I have watered it only twice, and only for a short period.

When it comes to watering the garden look for the signs that it needs water, don't just assume that because the topsoil looks or feels dry and it hasn't rained it in days (or longer) that the plants are in thirsty.

Over-watering is just as bad for the plants as not getting adequate water.

Check the soil at root level.  If it is dry, they need a drink.   If it is moist, leave the hose turned off.

Another thing I have noticed with the winter squash is when those huge leaves begin to droop and resemble half closed umbrellas they need a little drink.  I set the hose a few inches above ground level, set the spray to a wide, medium flow and secure it so it will spray across to all (or most) of the plants and the ground.  It usually takes about 1/2-1 hour until the leaves perk up again.

Since the plants are supporting large, growing squash I do not want them to get stressed, so I water them just until they respond.

This method seems to be working well.  There has been no sign of white mildew, or other damage caused by over-watering.

 

mulching with hay from the goat pen

During the early weeks I was hoeing out weeds every morning.  Not a fun job by any stretch of the imagination.  Then I needed to figure out what to do with all the hay the goats weren't eating, and I didn't want it to go waste.

By using the hay from the goat pen as mulch between the plant rows,  there has been a lot less weeding to do and the ground has been remaining moist and so it requires less watering.

When the gardening season is at an end the hay will be turned into the ground, along with the hay from their stall, and will compost directly in the garden over the winter months.

Since I do not use any chemicals or pesticides in my garden it is a daily chore to keep up with the

munching critters that insist on devouring everything in sight.   The first of these insects appeared in my cabbage patch.  Since I planted only six plants there wasn't enough to share with the bugs.  That miserable little cabbage moth just wouldn't go away.

I tried a concoction of soapy water and vinegar which I sprayed on all the leaves of the cabbages.  It actually worked, until it rained.

Then I read somewhere that baking soda sprinkled on the plants will keep all the pests away.   That also worked well!    .....until it rained.   So I kept up with either sprinkling or spraying whenever the solutions got washed away and until the cabbages were large and formed well enough to let them fend for themselves.

In the end I harvested 6 cabbages with a total weight of 22.5 pounds and barely a hole in sight.By the way,  I also sprayed and sprinkled the Brussel Sprouts too.

The only other insect issue has been Japanese Beetles.  This annoying little bugs can eat leaves in no time.  The sparrows have found a happy feeding ground in my garden.  They can be seen each morning by the dozens sitting on the tomato fencing and feeding on the beetles.

Whatever beetles the birds don't get we try and collect by hand and then feed them to the chickens.

Everything else in the garden managed well on their own with no assistance from me.

The zucchini and summer squash have finally stopped producing!  I stand in awe at the amount they produced this year... a whopping 108 pounds from 8 plants.   At this moment there are still on vines one giant zucchini and giant yellow squash which I am letting grow as long as possible and then I will save the seeds and remove all the withered plants.

Some of this squash I shared with whomever would accept it.  The remainder we ate, or dehydrated, or shredded and froze to use in zucchini bread and muffins this winter.  It's amazing how much easier it is to store these veggies once they have been dehydrated.  20 pounds will shrink down to fill a quart sized canning jar.

If you haven't tried dehydrating your surplus vegetables I recommend you give it a try.   It is very easy, and there isn't much work or prep time involved in comparison to canning.

Don't have a dehydrator, that's okay, use the oven set on a low 135 degrees for veggies and fruit.  To prepare the zucchini and summer squash it isn't necessary to  blanch them after they have been sliced to about 3/8" thickness.  Last year I didn't blanch.  This year I blanched for 6-7 minutes and found that they reconstitute to their original size quicker.  They are ideal for slow cooker meals since the extended cooking time allows them to fully reconstitute.

The four raised beds were filled with homemade compost at the start of the season.  Then weekly throughout most of the growing time  the entire garden was given a heavy dosing of chicken poo tea.

When I planted the cabbages in the first raised bed I mulched them using the wood chips from the ducks pen.  First I put all the wood chips and duck poo into a 30 gallon tote and filled it with water.
After a few days the chips were saturated and the poo was mostly dissolved in the water.

Next I spread a thick layer of those chips around the transplants, about 6-8 inches deep, then gave it all a good dose of the poo tea.   I did the same treatment to the Brussel Sprouts and Muskmelons.

Not a weed in sight all season!

This was the first time growing these three vegetables.  The Brussel Sprouts seem to be doing well, there are tons of little sprouts growing and developing.  And the muskmelons have issued several of their fruit (one per plant).

The most amazing development in the garden is the winter squash patch where I planted 4 Blue Hubbard from seeds I save from last year; there are 5+ Blue Hubbards  growing and are each about the size of a basketball.  The Butternut squash which I have never had success with currently has about a dozen nice squash of varying weights, the largest is at least 5 pounds and still growing.
Another test is the Acorn squash.  Since they are small and the plants are large it is difficult to find them and get an accurate count, but there are more than 5 at this time.

To plant these squash I dug up and loosened the soil of the entire area where the seedlings would go.
Then I added lots of wood chip compost mixed with aged chicken poo.  After transplanting, all the plants got a good dose of chicken poo tea.  At first I fed them weekly for two months, then every other week.  Now I just make certain to water the plants when I see their leaves beginning to droop.

And by the way, no weeds here either!  I mulched thickly with wood chips soaked in the chicken poo tea.

Garden Update

The garden after less than 2 months!

The garden 2 months ago.

tomato rows in May

 This is the garden as it appeared early this morning.  The squash plants and tomato plants are waist high and thriving.
The pepper plants may not be tall, but they are loaded with peppers!
I started harvesting zucchini and summer squash last week and so far have gotten 34.5 pounds; and there is much more that will be ready today, tomorrow, .....

tomato rows today

tomatoes  vining back and forth through fencing.

The lettuce is long gone.  The dill and Italian parsley have been doing great, the rosemary (the little plants at the left of this photo >  have been transplanted to the herb bed and have tripled in size!  Also the garden sage plant just above the rosemary in the photo.
The second raised bed is full of zucchini and summer squash, about a dozen plants, and they are all thriving.  The second "hooped" bed holds brussel sprouts and musk melon.

Photo on left is the tomato and pepper patch.
There are four tomato rows planted along cattle panels for support.  The green frame at the right front corner supports cucumbers, and those few green plants to the right of the shovel are green peppers.

Among all these are vagabond squash, pumpkin or watermelon plants which grew from the compost.


Photo to the right is the same view as above.
The 4 tomato rows, peppers, cucumbers and vagabond squash, etc.

The tomato plants are heavy with fruit and now I am just waiting on them to ripen.






The tomatoes weaving themselves in and out through the fencing.

This is the best tomato support  I have ever used!  The plants are well supported and it is easy to trim the plants and see the fruit.

The snap green beans are off to a slow start and I have had to restart have the seed (the wild rabbit ate half the seedlings).

I have sliced, blanched and frozen 11 pounds of zucchini and summer squash so far.  Today I will prepare another 10 pounds for dehydration, shred a couple of the very big zucchini for the freezer to use later in zucchini bread and other recipes.  We have also shared a few with the neighbors.  It's the least I can do since everyone has been very good about our new rooster's crowing.

Backyard Farm: Photos of the "Farm"

Eye level view of the new fencing for the garden and the goats.

The lower portions of the picket fencing and the goats pen are "lined" with chicken wire in order to keep chickens and wild critters out of the garden; and to keep chickens from wandering out of the goat pen.

There is a chicken wire "tunnel" which connects the chicken run with the goat pen and allows chickens to have full access to the goat pen as well as their own large run.

This view during fence installation shows more clearly the chicken run at the back of the garden.
The run is about 25' long x 8' deep and is beneath the trees and along the fenced property line.

The property behind is an early elementary school, grades K-5.  The children often bring their parents to visit the animals after school.
The teachers have also taken their young students to visit our turkeys at Thanksgiving.

I apologize for the dark areas at the tops of these photos, it's the camera strap peeking over the lens.

Another view during the installation; the yellow chicken house has two runs and the coop is divided inside by a chicken wire wall and door.
This is to keep young birds separate from the mature hens and their pecking order.

Cattle panels have been used for the goat pen; left-over panels are being used as support for the tomatoes. 

An old frame made from piping and wire, to form a mesh, is providing support for the cucumbers.

A view from "the street" looking in to the yard along the fence-line.

The goat pen was constructed from pressure treated 4x4's and 2x6's and 50" inch x 16 foot galvanized cattle panels.  The entire goat yard
measures about 30' x 20' with an ell about 8' x 12'.

We left the height of the 4x4's uncut in case we need to add additional height to the fence as the goats get bigger.

These goats are 4 months of age in this photo and are about half their adult size.

Inside the goat pen there is ample space for running and playing.  A teeter-totter, cable spool and child's slide keep them busy when they aren't playing tag with the chickens.
                       

 This overhead view was photographed through window screening and with electrical wiring in the way.  Please excuse the poor photo quality.

To the far left of the photo, along the neighbors fence, is our compost area consisting of 3 large bins made from rescued decking. 
At the upper left corner is the smaller of the two chicken runs.  We use this run for turkeys, ducks, and meat chicks before they are big enough for the chicken tractor and the larger fenced in pen.

 The larger chicken run, to the right of the coop, is situated along the neighbors chain-link fence and the back side of the garden.  It also meets with the back left corner of the goat pen where we added a chicken wire tunnel so the hens can easily roam from their run to the bigger goat pen.

Lots of worms, bugs and greens available for their foraging.


The goat yard measures approximately 30' left to right and 20' front to back.  There is also an additional section which adds another 8' x 12' to the back, left corner of their yard.  This is also the corner where the chickens can come and go.

At the front of the goat fence, about in the center, we have a hay bin made from left-over cattle panel.  The panel was measured and cut in a sort of + shape, and all four sides folded upward, and joined at the corner seams with zip-ties.  Longer  bits of the some of the wire were folded over to form hooks for hanging onto the fencing.

This is my favorite area!  It is where we grow my Kentucky Wonder green beans.  The frame is 8' wide x 16' long x 10' high (might be a bit higher)

There are 7 "joists" plus the two ends.  Twine used for baling hay is tied to the joists about 5" apart.  At the ground are 2"x2"x8" strips to which I tie the bottom end of the twice, about 5" apart.  By tying the lines so the wood strips float just above the ground the lines remain taut.
I plow a trench for each row and fill it with compost, burying the wood strips with the compost.  (The dark lines in the earth are these rows) 
At the bottom half of each end we added 2"x3" fencing (left-over) for additional vine support, such as for vining flowers like Morning Glory. 
Added bonus here, when nothing is being grown except flowers, it is a nice area for comfortable outdoor chairs; or, as we plan to try later this year, covered and wrapped with heavy plastic wrap, it can be used a a warm house to extend the growing season, or start seeds in the early spring.  It has full sun, all day, all year.
To the far left is the fenced area for meat birds.

This arch is the chicken tractor we use for the meat birds that are old enough to remain outdoors.  During the day, both ends remain open.  At night both ends go up, with the birds inside, for their protection.

Currently we have ducks living here.  Six Peking for meat, and 4 ducks of two other breeds for pets.  The area is enclosed with 2'x3' fencing, 48" tall. 

After the ducks have been processed, it will be time to move the meat chickens to the area; then turkeys.

Through the arbor at the rear of this area, is the front yard.  Next year, we plan to add an orchard and more garden there.  The orchard will have apples, peaches and pears all planted using the espalier method in order to get the most use from the limited space.

As you can see from these photos, we do not live out in the middle of nowhere.   Nor do we have a very large parcel of land.  What we do have is a carefully laid out site plan where we can get grow or raise most of our food.  We also earn a bit of money from the sale of our eggs which helps to pay for the feed and wood chips they will need in the winter.

Our goats will be ready for breeding around Thanksgiving.  I am searching for a suitable sire for their kids, which should be born in April.  At that time there will be plenty of fresh goats milk for drinking, for cheeses and for soap.  Much of which will be sold, including the kids.

From this garden I can, dehydrate, ferment, etc. enough food to last us until the next harvest.  

There is still much to accomplish such as collecting and storing water, converting our oil heat source to a sustainable wood heat system, building a green house and a root cellar.  In time we would also like to drill a well and be free of the water company.

We have looked into solar power for electricity but at this time the investment isn't doesn't make "cents" for the small amount of electric power we consume.

I hope this visual of the layout of our little homestead is helpful to you when you are planning your backyard farm.  Remember, this started with only 6 bags of potting soil!

Backyard Farm: Start Small, then Expand

To give a better perspective of what can be accomplished in a small space I have collected a series of images showing the evolution of our backyard into a "farm".  It is my desire that these photos will help you with your decision whether or not to convert your limited space and maybe provide a few ideas of what can be accomplished in a small area.

In the beginning.....

In the beginning our backyard was a weekly chore of mowing grass and/or raking leaves and walnuts (there were 5 walnut trees, three maple and a massive pine).  There was a small 12' x 12' patio area and nothing else.

My first garden.  Six bags of potting mix.

year 1- 2011 and 2012

 In "Year 1" of our garden we started small, very small.  The garden consisted of 5 or 6 large bags of potting soil.  Into each bag I planted two tomato plants, two summer squash plants,
 
 cucumbers, and cantaloups.  It wasn't a big garden, but there was plenty of tomatoes, cukes, summer squash and zucchini to share.



Year 2 - 2013:  The gardening bug bit me and I knew I needed more space to grow so we dug up a bit of dirt.

and also added a three of raised beds.  We also decided we needed chickens, both for their eggs and for their "fertilizer".

 

We were able to get some free pallets, and built a hen house.  It's lucky the pallets were free, because the siding, nails and roofing were not.  Neither was the pressure treated 4"x4"x10" timbers upon which we set the house.

We also needed to buy fencing and posts to build a run with ample space for a dozen chickens (we had intended to buy only six chicks, but the farm store could only sell them in groups of 12).

After adding an old window we had and a coat of paint, and a few laying boxes, the hen house was ready.

Several 10' x 3/4" pvc pipes form the frames for supporting the plastic sheets which help to extend the growing season.

The garden had expanded to three raised beds and a dug out area about 16' x 16'. 

Year 3 - 2014:  Lots going on in our third year!

year 3

Matt is 6' tall/ the beans at this time were only half grown to their full height.

The garden continued to expand with the addition of two more raised beds, a 12' x 12' corn patch,  an 8' x 16' bean patch (for my Kentucky Wonder snap beans), and a dug out garden which has expanded to 20' x 30' (more or less).

20' x 30' garden, with raised beds behind, and corn patch behind the raised beds (behind the hoops)

In our third year we planted 32 tomaoto plants which produced 150 lbs of fruit.  The bean patch produced 36 jars of snap beans and 5+ pounds of dried beans for use as seed.  400 corn stalks produced an average of 2 ears per stalk; approximately 10 lbs each of yellow summer squash and zucchini; a half bushel of green bell peppers (for some reason the 5 plants didn't begin to produce until late August); also pumpkin, butternut and acorn squash.

In addition I tried planting onions and potatoes for the first time.  The onions didn't do very well, growing from onion sets only to ping pong ball size (I dried and saved them and replanted this year); the potatoes were just a couple of kitchen spuds which were beginning to sprout so instead of throwing them into the compost bin, I planted them.  They produced enough mid-ling sized spuds to add to a stew.

This was also the year we decided to try raising meat birds, chickens and turkeys.  We were able to raise and process 24 chickens and 2 turkeys (named Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Year 4 - 2015

This year we have made some big changes.   Goats, ducks and roosters.

 

This is in April, a view of the garden (r. front) chicken run (left)  new goat pen (new fence at center r to l)

view of the goat pen and garden from the hen house.

view of garden from hen house looking toward the house.

This is the view of the garden from the hen house looking toward the back of the house.
The garden is being fenced in order to keep critters out.

There is a chicken tractor (center right- hoops)
where we keep the Pekin ducklings. (meat)

The area in the lower right corner is the corn patch from last year.  This year:  winter squash.

We added two little goats to our farm.  These little sisters were born in January and will be ready to breed in November, increasing our livestock which we will sell, and they will produce milk for drinking, cheese, soap....

tomato rows, bell peppers, cucumbers

Last year I staked the tomato plants to 2" x 2" x 8' poles.  It worked fine, but meant I had to keep tying the growing plants to the stakes all season.

This year, since I have some cattle panels left over from the goat pen, I decided to try training the tomato plants to weave themselves in and out of the fencing, after all, tomato plants are vines to some degree.

I have also added crushed egg shells to each tomato plant hole.  The calcium is supposed produce sweeter fruit.

garden, chicken house and run

 On the right side of the photo is a green frame, made of pipe (salvaged) which has had wire woven up, down and across.  This is support for the cucumbers.
 Overview of the garden, chicken house and run, and goat pen.  (view if from a second floor window through window screen)

The bean patch is located out of view to the far lower left of the garden.

goat pen

Look carefully at the way the yard is set-up.
Every area fits neatly next to the next, and every inch is being used in the most efficient manner possible.

The total area is less than 1/4 acre.  Next year the plan is to expand into the front yard by adding an espaliered orchard with dwarf apple, peach and pear trees.

Our hope for the garden this year is to harvest another 150 pounds of tomatoes; at least a bushel of bell peppers; lettuce and herbs for the table; a bushel each of yellow summer squash and zucchini;
as many brussels sprouts as six plants can produce (first time growing these); at least 30 pounds of winter squash; green peas; rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, 6 cabbages, onions and more......

There will also be an average one dozen eggs per day which we sell at $3 dz., 24 meat chickens, 2 turkeys for meat and two to sell; 10 pekin ducks for meat.

I do not use insect repellent in my garden.  As much as possible I manually remove bad bugs as I find them and feed them to the chickens who love them.

Also, only natural fertilizer is used such as compost I from my compost bins, or when necessary, I will buy organic compost when I don't have enough of my own.  I also feed the garden a regular feeding of chicken poo tea.  This is by far, the best fertilizer I have every used.