Farmfresh
City Biddy
Helps a bunch!i_am2bz said:Let's see...according to my NC gardening book......I am in USDA hardiness zone 7b...annual precip in inches is about 55 (sorry, it doesn't break down by dry/wet seasons). Avg 1st fall frost is in November, last spring frost is in mid-April.
We live in a "development", but it's in the middle of nowhere...it's considered "unincorporated" (not part of any town or city), so we only pay county taxes & the only zoning requirements are for building. We have our own well, & as I mentioned before, the leach (sp?) field for the septic takes up a good part of the backyard (hence, not being able to plant trees there).
No allergies to any food that I know of. Yeah, I have quirky tastes, not like my will-eat-anything hubby, but that's another story.
Does that help at all...?
You said you already have chickens and since you are a beginner at this I personally would recommend that you hold status quo for a while without adding any other animals, especially since you are a vegetarian. Bees may be the exception to that rule.
I ultimately believe that you WILL branch out into other animals later (especially if you hang around here!), but for now I think it is important to learn the gardening skills and focus on things a bit until you get good at them. Once the confidence level is up... try something new.
For beginners with little space, I like to recommend things that really pack a punch in a small space. Also things that are high dollar that you buy a lot of. Example for me at least is the tomato.
Around here we eat a LOT of tomatoes and tomato products, like salsa, marina sauce, ketchup and barbecue sauce. This makes tomatoes a MUST grow item in my garden and I try to devote a lot of space to them.
Tomatoes have lots of varieties and come in two basic types - determinate and indeterminate. Determinate tomatoes are often grown in containers. They will basically produce one big flush of tomatoes and then slow WAY down or stop. Indeterminate tomatoes (the kind I always grow) are hard to deal with in a small space because they continue to grow and vine all over the place all summer long. The good side to that is they produce tomatoes over a long season, so for me it is worth the hassle.
I would very much recommend you start off with a raised bed or if not raised at least a "defined" garden bed. By raising or defining the garden bed you save energy and costs by not amending the part of the garden used for paths - just the part you are actually growing in. The rule is that you should be easily able to reach to the center of a bed and it should be accessible from each side as well. You should be able to reach in and weed or pick without stepping in your bed soil and thus compacting it. Length does not matter. It could be a mile long if the area allows for that. Beds should also be where they receive full sun because most veggies thrive in that.
I love the idea of hauling manure from a local stable and amending the soil. For this first bed it may be a little labor intensive, but I would dig out about half of the native soil, add a thick layer of bark chips, a layer of sand a layer of manure and then pile your soil back in. The bark chips and sand will both help with drainage and the bark will actually provide a sponge of sorts to help hold moisture and keep soil evenly moist. Adding the manure (with the bedding that is usually mixed in to it) adds nitrogen and humus. Again helping to keep the soil aerated.
I place a line of tall 8 foot T-posts down the center of my beds and like to attach fencing to that with as large of a mesh as possible. (Concrete reinforcement wire works well.) I keep this "permanent fence" about 18 inches off of the ground surface. Setting up a bed in this fashion really gives you space to use.
I consider all veggies of three basic growth types. I have the "Ups" like tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, peas, cucumbers and other like viney things.
The "Downs" beets, carrots, onions, potatoes etc... you get the idea. And last of all the "Outs" like cabbages, broccoli, lettuce, kale, bush beans and bush varieties of squash.
With a bed set up like above I plan my "Ups" first. They are assigned center space on the "fence". Between or at the base of the "Ups" go some "Downs". Then the "Outs" fill in spaces near the edge of the beds. I use Square Foot gardening rules and as much mulch as possible. Each year I add manure in the late fall and more mulch all of the time. I try to dig as little as possible.
I also grow a lot of container plants. Herbs give a lot of bang for the space. You can grow enough herbs for your family AND plenty for gifts in a few large pots on the patio.
Let those chickens go to work. Pick a spot for a future bed and fence it off as your chickens summer home. Let them dig and peck and poo. Next year move the hens and turn the soil. I move my hens into my garden space to spend the winter each year. I toss in a couple of bales of straw to help keep them high and dry and by spring the garden looks like I tilled it.
Finally on fruit. I would try to find a place for another apple tree. One reason that you are not getting apples might be lack of proper fertilization. I would really check out grafted trees from Miller or Stark Bros or another fruit tree specialty nursery. Grafted trees carry several types of apple on the same tree giving you LOTS of bang for the space. I have a grafted "Fruit Cocktail Tree" in my front yard that produces peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums (which all belong to the same family) on one tree. It rocks!
