Start Small and Learn Don’t get overwhelmed and feel you have to start with a large garden. It is more important just to start and select a garden size you can fully manage and enjoy. The homestead mindset is moving in a direction to become more self-sufficient, and that really starts by actively growing and learning. Your journey can begin with single small garden bed or a couple of flower boxes. Expand your gardens and homestead as you learn, gain confidence, and find more space. Becoming more self-sufficient doesn’t mean you must do everything from the start. Now that you’ve had a general introduction to modern homestead gardening, let’s dig into the details of planning and planting your space. COOL-SEASON CROP PROFILE RADISHES I have a fondness for radishes and struggled to grow them for years. I grew great leaves but harvested few radishes. It turns out, I was overpreparing the soil with nitrogen fertilizers and feeding them too much. Neglect radishes except for consistent watering, and you’ll have a great harvest. Don’t fertilizer the bed with anything more than yearly compost. This took me years to figure out; I learn new things every year. Radishes are grown for their bulbous root, and any excess love you give them seems to go right to the leaves. The classic ‘French Breakfast’ radish can be ready to harvest in as little as twenty-five days from germination. My favorite yearly standard radish is a hybrid called ‘Roxanne’. It is a steady producer of red, golf-ballsized radishes. While most plants can be grown from transplants, radish seeds should be directly sown into the garden early in spring. Space seeds so you’ll have at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) between the bulbous roots at maturity. Overcrowded radishes produce underwhelming radish bulbs. Since radishes mature quickly, plant them is succession. Succession planting is a fancy way of saying “stagger” the planting times of a crop. If you sow one hundred radish seeds on the same day, in thirty days you will have about ninety radishes to eat in a single week and very few after that. Radishes are best sown in succession every two weeks. If your cool-weather growing period is ninety days, sow up to six plantings of radishes. That translates to planting a couple rows every two weeks up into the last weeks of your cool period. The key takeaways for a successful radish garden are: no extra fertilizer, proper spacing, and staggered plantings. Growing Radishes Crop Type: Cool-Season Average Soil Planting Temperature: 40°F to 50°F (4°C to 10°C) Transplants: I recommend direct seeding. Direct Seeding: Plant 1 seed per hole 1/2 inch (1 cm) deep. Cover and water them in well. Plant Spacing: 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) apart and 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) between rows Growing Tips: Direct sow in late summer for a fall crop. Container Tips: Grow them in flower boxes with a 4 to 6 inch (10 to 15 cm) depth. Filling Raised Beds It can be expensive to fill raised beds. There are many ways this can be done and buying bagged products is the most expensive. It’s worth calling local landscape companies and ordering garden soil to be delivered when filling many beds. They typically have a garden soil plus compost mix for delivery. Otherwise you can make your own using this basic formula: one-half peat moss (or substitute coco coir) and one-half garden soil mixed equally as your 50/50 base. This very similar to the container mix I make in chapter 6. The garden soil can be anything from your property, some of it can be dug from the bottom of your raised bed area, or it can be purchased in bags typically labeled “garden soil.” Once you have the 50/50 mix, you can add compost and other amendments to it as you fill the new beds. A general rule of thumb, once the beds are filled, is to apply 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) of compost across the bed and work it in to a depth of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm). Starting an Herb or Greens Container Garden Growing herbs is a great way to start your adventure in homestead container gardening. Three great herbs are oregano, thyme, and chives. They are perennial in many areas, meaning they’ll come back year after year. I recommend starting seeds 8 to 10 weeks early indoors or buying transplants for this project. This will allow you to harvest these herbs the same season you plant them. Plant them about 6 inches (15 cm) apart in a flower box with a minimum depth of 6 inches (15 cm). You can plant them outside early because they are hardy and can take a frost. They’re best planted in a 5-gallon (19 L) container. Plant them equal distances apart based on the width of the pot. The herbs will get larger in a pot versus a flower box because the roots have more room to grow. However you decide to plant them, you’ll get plenty of herbs. Watering Your Homestead Garden Most garden plants have extensive surface roots and roots that go deep into the ground. The roots’ purpose is to acquire food and water. Plants get stressed when soil moisture is inconsistent, and that can cause problems. Stress inhibits growth and reduces flowering, fruiting, and overall production. Your vegetables will still produce, but not at yields they could have if they had been well-tended and watered. Stress also make it easier for diseases and insects to get a foothold on your plants. Underwatering is a common mistake in gardening. Watering on a schedule and using mulch helps maintain consistent moisture in the soil. This consistency is greatly appreciated by plants, and it is essential in maintaining strong healthy plant growth and production. As your garden becomes larger, managing water becomes more challenging. You may have to progress from hand-watering to using sprinklers or even installing automated drip systems or soaker hose systems.
✔ Author(s): Gary Pilarchik
✔ Title: The Modern Homestead Garden: Growing Self-sufficiency in Any Size Backyard
✔ Rating : 4.8 out of 5 base on (633 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 0760368171
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
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