Help planning my garden

[Denim Deb]

We have horses, remember.

Point taken...
And I don't even have a high maintenance one.... he's just BIG.

Stormy is my hard keeper. He's older (21), and has heaves. He used to be a very easy keeper. Now, I feed him as much grain as I feed the others combined as well as rice brand and hay pellets. And, occasionally, he doesn't eat it all. (Like today.) Recently, I've also started letting him out of the field onto RU's lawn. I know he's not going to go any place since he won't go far from Misty. And I think that he's FINALLY starting to put on some weight. He could use at least 75 more lbs, if not more

 

[~gd]

Sounds like you live in a much better place for good prices than I do! I've tried to get things that are broken at a discount, but the most they'd give is 10%. And, normally, it's not worth it. So, I just try to find what bargains I can. I've saved myself a ton of money over the years by NOT buying things that I want, but don't need.

What ever floats your boat. I admit that I own things that I want but don't need. the way I think about it is that I earned the money. Some of what I need just can't be bought so I take what comfort that I can by buying what I want, My time has value too but if I enjoy looking for a bargin I hurt noone, I am not forcing anyone to deal with me, and if they won't dicker it comes down to just how badly I want something, how much will I pay for it. ~gd

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Jack, thanks for the tip I'll look at the website.

Deb, I'm sorry I forgot to include that information. I'm single, live in NC, and while I would mostly just like fresh produce I have a large chest freezer that I can store in. I have only had the traditional garden but would like to get the most out of my space. Any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to be getting some strawberry plants to add as ground cover to the flower garden. I have a herb garden out front too.

Hello from SC!! Are you Western NC?...middle or coastal?

 

[nachoqtpie]

I'm in the SE corner of NC.. We really like it down here, even tho there really is a "clash of the titans" as far as culture. We have the Marine Corps base Camp LeJeune, which brings people from all over the world (its not uncommon to see the British or Australian Army here), and then you have the local farmers that have been here for generations. It's tough sometimes! Just yesterday they were harvesting cotton right across the road and one of the farmers almost got hit because some guy came FLYING down our little 2 lane road! (Speed limit is 45mph, it is both residential AND rural!)

OP I think that you will be just fine with those few plants and

There is also a sister site called The Easy Garden(click) where a lot of us talk (almost) strictly gardening. There are a few of us from NC there as well. Hope to see you over there!

 

[doubleatraining]

nachoqtpie, I live just north of Raleigh.

 

[~gd]

nachoqtpie, I live just north of Raleigh.

I am just about 30 miles South of Raleigh, near Sanford NC. Talk about culture clash we have Ft. Bragg [Paratroops and Special Forces] Pope AFB [those paratroops have to jump out of something] to the South, Research Triangle Park [imported Yuppies] to the North. A fair sized industrial base [fabrics, chicken processing, and pharma] most of which are on hard times due to overseas outsourcing. The factory jobs brought a bunch of illegals whose children [citizens born in the USA] now want their part of the American Dream while their jobs are being shipped overseas. It is hard to find natives=Good old boys except in government jobs and owners of service businesses and farms.~gd

 

[nachoqtpie]

We were going to buy a house in Roxboro a while back. Nice little 1901 house on 9 acres. It turned out that it needed WAY too much work and it was way way WAY out of our DIY league. DH is now going to go to school at ECU for electrical engineering. That should be about 2 years and we will be ready to move into our farmette as soon as hubs gets a job. I'm kinda hoping to move away from here... but at the same time, part of me would really like to stay around here so we could still go to the beach if we wanted. The other part says "If you move... you can have a basement."

I'm not a local, but, at the same time, I've been here long enough to say that I'm not going anywhere soon. I grew up in a small farming community, THEN moved to the big city. I'm a country girl at heart, and that sure is hard to take away.

 

[hqueen13]

Oh!! NC Homies!!
I was born in NC, and after a VERY short stint in FL my parents moved us back to Charlotte, and that is where I grew up. Definately not the country, but NC itself is really *home* to me. I like it up here out in the country outside of Baltimore, but it just isn't quite home. Truthfully, the mountains of NC are more home, anyway. I think we're going to end up having to settle for western VA though, ultimately. I don't know, though, ask me again in 9 months and see if it is the same answer!

 

[peteyfoozer]

Can you freeze lettuce for storage? ??

If you have a Vacuum Sealer (like Foodsaver) and a jar lid attachment, you can cut up your lettuce, put it in a half gallon glass jar and vacuum seal it. It keeps over a month like that without wilting or browning. We have to do that because we live 4 hours from where we grocery shop. A half gallon will hold one head of romaine or most of a head of iceberg lettuce.