Asking Yourself, "How much should I Plant?!"

[tropicalplanttom]

Have just been having a little browse, but had to post a quick reply here as I've just spent 5 minutes chuckling quietly to myself, recognising myself in most of the posts on this thread! My wife and I are planning very determinedly to plant LESS produce this year on the basis that we lost a great deal last summer due to lack of time to care for it all properly. In fact, just to add another element to the equation - Young Kids Vs Diminishing Interest levels between planting and harvest, and having to offset the investment of extra pocket money to coax them out to water for you once in a while!

 

[Detlor Poultry]

Can you imagine, the SPCP*?

digitS'

*Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Plants

I don't think the Lawnmover manufacturers would stand for that.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Sometime you just can 't plan for it. I had a bumper crop of Green Beans a few years ago, with just the regular amount I plant. I put up 83 qts. Gave over 80 qts to other people and still had a ton left.

 

[swampducks]

Please, give some thought to things like the cultivation and irrigation needs of your garden. And, what looks to be reasonable in May, often puts the plants - beyond the pale - in August. They will still be there. Will you be there for them ?

This is oh, so true! Especially that August thing if you live in the south. When I lived in Virginia by August my gardens all went to hell because I was staying inside to avoid the heat and humidity.

Now up here in MI August is a piece of cake if you don't mind the deer flies, but I've got so much property I tend to over do it. A few years ago I stopped starting seeds in my basement and bought 4-packs of veggies to try to avoid that. It worked but the nurseries almost never had the cultivars I wanted. So this year I've ordered more seed, told myself I'm only getting a couple tomato varieties. HA! I must have 3 cherries and 3 or 4 other tomato varieties on the way, not to mention snow peas and beans, etc.

My other problem is I live in the woods. It's mostly too shady so a few years ago DH tilled up a huge plot on the other property which is farmed for corn, etc by a neighbor. I have to lug water to it, I can't be there every day, and there are critters because it's not fenced. Last year my cucumber and zucchini crops were a disaster. Tomatoes little better.

A couple years ago DH started cutting down cedars in the swamp across the driveway to make a turn around for large trucks and equipment, with the space in the middle a vegetable garden for me. He has yet to finish the road and he's got to add sand and soil to build up the garden part because it's too wet. He says he may be able to get part of it done for me this year, but I'm afraid it won't be till August so in the meantime I'm stuck with what I've had. Got my fingers crossed though.

Hopefully I can figure something out till then that is better than what I've been doing. Planting less would probably help though.

Here is some advice from the horticulturalist at About.com: How Much to Plant Per Person. Notice that she uses information from John Jeavons' "How To Grow More Vegetables." I have often gone back to this book . . . with a pencil and paper . . . to see what makes sense to me. And, speaking of pencil and paper - measuring by the foot and putting together a map is just a super idea. Heck, it is even fun !

From the about.com page:

a family of 4; 2 hills of cucumbers, 5 tomato plants.

There are just 2 of us, me and DH. I have never, NEVER planted so few of either. *snort* Sure I do some canning but I think 14 tomato plants has been the fewest ever for me. But there are reasons beyond canning, up north here the tomatoes don't seem to do well so I have to plant more, but still. must be nice to have 5 plants that can feed 4 people all summer long.

 

[digitS']

I once had a friend who liked my idea of gardening-on-other-people's-property (GOOPP ). When I told him that I knew someone, not all that far from his home, who had some land he could use - he jumped at it!!

We took a drive out to see the ground. The guy lived in the country, worked elsewhere and allowed a local guy to farm his acreage. Near the house, he had this ground behind his garage that the grain farmer couldn't get his big tractor into. He just turned back into the field and left it to grow weeds. It was probably 100' by 150'.

I asked about water - irrigation is critically important here. He pointed to the well house and said that a valve there could be used but the well did not produce enuf water to run more than 1 sprinkler at a time.

I turned to Paul* and told him, "I've got just about this much ground to irrigate with Rainbird impulse sprinklers on hoses. I'm running 3 sprinklers at a time and running water twice a week. You cannot cover more than about a 35' circle with a sprinkler like that. Decide how much time you want to spend out here, moving 1 sprinkler."

On the way back to town, I tried to impress on Paul that I was running three sprinklers at once nearly 4 hours in 3, 30' circles. Then, I'd move them. It was taking me nearly 2 days to finish and then I start over again so that the gardens have water twice a week. I'm only putting down about 3/4" at a time.

He used the entire piece of ground for his garden .

Paul's idea was to run his lone sprinkler while he was out there for a few hours, a couple of times each week. Within weeks into the summer, the soil had such a moisture deficit that he couldn't begin to keep up with his plants' need water! He didn't last to the end of July.

I felt sorry for the property owner and Paul. And, embarrassed to know either one of them .

Steve

*not his real name