tidwell « Robin Writes

For what seems like 40 days and 40 nights, it’s been raining. Actually, I think, it was more like a week or so. Every. Single. Day. And most nights.

The charm of listening to rain on a metal roof was quickly quashed.

Woke up this morning to silence (except the constant meow from the cat who thinks that 5:30 a.m. is an acceptable breakfast time).
I jumped up—okay, staggered; had a wee bit last night, because even preppers and homesteaders have to kick loose now and again—and looked outside.

Blue sky. Not a single cloud.

I was sure I was suffering morning-after delusions, but nope—the weather persisted. Add a NW wind and a temp just below 80, it was perfect!

And supposed to stay that way for the whole week . . . we’ll see.

So after a rather late breakfast at the local café, I started to play catch-up on all the outdoor chores. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with rain itself, but prefer to take shelter during thunderstorms like any other sane individual.

Stop laughing!

And some things just can’t be done when it’s that wet, like the garden. However, now, weeds are much easier to pull and, thanks to the breeze, I’ll be able to till again tomorrow. Pretty much a weekly event until I mix up my weedkiller: Dawn, water, and vinegar. Can’t spray the plants you want to keep, though—they’ll be dead by the time you hit the end of the row if you miss the weeds.

Tomatoes had to be tied up and I have a few rows of complete or near-complete crop failure, so those have to be re-seeded. On the other hand, I’ve tripled my blueberry crop from last year, if all goes well, and I will have FIFTEEN whole blueberries in another week!

Laundry, too, needed to be done. Since I use the sun to dry things, it’s really helpful for it NOT to be raining. Yes, I have a dryer. No, it’s not yet hooked up. And I prefer it that way. We’ll cross that off the neverending list in November.

My husband picked today to start the bathtub removal—and I’m happy to report that it has indeed been removed and relocated to its new home across the road, with only the loss of the hot water pipe, which in turn commenced in a very clean bathroom floor—so he’s been tied up with this for about six hours. That means the chainsaw hasn’t been run, and the pasture hasn’t been mowed.

But that’s okay—what isn’t done today will be done the next, during the beautifully sunny but 90-degree day coming up.

I’m sweating just thinking about it . . .

For us, the goal is to grow everything we eat, enough for an entire year. Back in the old days, people did this without the benefit of power tools and grow lights, greenhouses, etc. I’m not opposed to using whatever tools you prefer, but it’s also good to know how to do things old school and to plan for particular times during the year—for instance, you’ll probably not be eating many fruits or vegetables out-of-season.

The big question, of course, is how much to plant? How many hills of zucchini do you need (ha!) and how many rows of potatoes? You will, by necessity, need to store foods throughout the year, whether by canning, freezing, or dehydrating, or simply using cold storage like a root cellar.

Based on my research and modifications, here’s what we should plant in the garden to feed 2-3 people for one year:

Roma tomatoes—12

Big Boy or Beefsteak—2

Cabbage—8

Corn—180 feet

Carrots—40 feet

Cucumber—8 hills

Kale—60 feet

Romaine/iceberg—23 feet

Cantaloupe—8 hills

Onion sets—113 feet

Green onion—23 feet

Bell pepper—9 plants

Jalapeno—9 plants

Potatoes—225 feet

Spinach—60 feet

Zucchini—6 hills

Yellow squash—6 hills

Acorn squash—8 hills

Green beans—111 feet

Now, you might not like or use these, or you might add other varieties. And this is a partial list, for us. The important thing is to plant what you will EAT, not what a website or calculator or blog tells you to plant. But these numbers will give you a good idea of how much you’re going to need throughout the year.

Think about this: let’s say you’re going to make spaghetti sauce; you’ll need onions, peppers, and tomatoes, just from this list alone. How often do make this? How often do you use some kind of tomato sauce or paste or diced or stewed varieties?

That’s a lot of tomatoes! I did an experiment of sorts last year—even though my tomato crop was abysmal. I still have a few jars from last year’s canning, but I cheated a few times and bought commercial sauce.

Also last year, I had gardens at two different homes, and since I was at each one about half the time, the plants all suffered. But I digress. You’ll want to make adjustments based on your typical usage and tastes, and of course, space.

This year, we’ve doubled our garden size, and here is what we actually planted:

Asparagus—20 feet

Potatoes—40 feet

Spinach—20 feet

Onions, both kinds—40 feet

Tomatoes, both kinds—16 plants

Cabbage—20 feet

Carrots—20 feet

Garlic—20 feet

Kale—20 feet

Romaine/butter—40 feet

Jalapenos—15 plants

Bell peppers—15 plants

Green beans—40 feet

Kidney beans—20 feet

Pinto beans—20 feet

Sweet corn—40 feet

And finally, 6 hills each of cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, yellow squash, acorn squash, and zucchini.

Assuming a typical yield, I’ll still likely have to supplement from farmers’ markets or stores, but I think on most of this we’ll come pretty close. And this, by the way, is less than half our garden area.

There is a silver lining though, in all this garden work: you’ll eat less and exercise more . . .