HomesteaderWife's 2017 Garden

[HomesteaderWife]

I always find it beneficial to record not only the year's planting times/growing results, but to also make note of what we are growing. It helps me prepare for the next year, and learn from what happened the past year. I figured I would talk about it here, while also keeping my own garden journal on paper at home.

Name: HomesteaderWife
Location: Central Alabama
Year: 2017
Growing Conditions: Hot and dry most years, with some droughts, but also spells of heavy rain and high winds
Soil Condition: Turned over and tilled before the plant- seems to hold moisture very well after planting a Winter cover crop.
Pests: In the past, deer and rabbits have been the major problem. Crows have been frequenting as well.

Below I will list what we have planted this year. This is not to mention we have fig trees and wild blackberries to take advantage of as well! Note that H means heirloom and NH means non-heirloom.

Planting List:

• Cucumber Squash NH
• Yellow Squash NH
• Tomatoes NH
• Jalapenos NH
• Bell Peppers NH
• Okra NH
• Green Beans NH
• Birdhouse Gourds H
• Scarlet Nantes carrots H
• Golden Bantam sweet corn H
• Broomcorn Sorghum H
• Blue Hopi corn H
• Painted Mountain corn (Thanks @baymule !) H

NOTE: Corn is being staggered at different times to avoid cross-pollination and ensure the best results! Also, each variety has its own space to be planted. We are not harvesting then re-planting the same spot. We are hoping to improve and add different heirloom varieties each year so that we have 100% heirlooms! If the Blue Hopi is successful, we will offer a small bit of it for sale!

Minus the Blue Hopi and Painted Mountain corn varieties, all other seeds/plants were put in the ground April 26th and 27th.

Thank you for following this first year garden journal!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Blue Hopi Seeds- A very dark, yet brilliant shade of blue. Photos cannot do the coloration justice.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm looking forward to following your journal HomesteadersWife.
Painted Mountain corn is one of my favorites. It's brilliant and beautiful also and is fast enough to mature in our short season.

 

[lcertuche]

Are you growing sorghum for livestock feed. It should grow well where you live.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@lcertuche - Actually, the broom corn sorghum is more for crafting, as it's supposed to be multi-colored! I want to attempt to make a broom or two from it. However, what is left over will most likely go to our goats!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

May 3rd, 2017:
Cucumbers, green beans, carrots, some of the gourds, and sorghum are coming up now. Figs are on the trees now but very new still! Wild blackberries in the area have yet to bloom. Current pests to the garden are a single rabbit, and I stumbled across a whitetail deer today. It had not tracked into the garden, though, but the rabbit has.

 

[baymule]

Is the Hopi corn dent or flint? I wish you the best with your garden and I hope it grows the best harvest ever!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@baymule - It is a variety of flint corn. It has higher protein than dent corns, so a lot of the time its ground up for flour. It can be eaten when young and in the milk stage as a sweet corn.

 

[baymule]

The grain mill I have will not mill flint corn. The instructions said not to since flint corn is so hard that it would damage the metal burrs. So I stick to dent and flour corns. I haven't made cornmeal in a long time though.....

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@baymule - We have some Bloody Butcher seed as well that we will grow bulk of next year. It's a beautiful, thick dent corn that is crimson red in color and good for cornmeal. This will be the first time with the Blue Hopi but we are excited. I'm curious as to what kind of grain mill you have- let's just say we bought one awhile back and it was promptly returned because flakes of metal kept coming off in the meal.