What do you tell a new gardener?

[thistlebloom]

Oh right, ....a HE.
Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, zucchini.

....is this all for him, or was he thinking of market gardening?

If he's hoping to live off his land....well lets just say I see a really thin guy in his future.

 

[seedcorn]

$$$ not an issue.

Key question is how large to let him till before I do sales job to get him to stop. Has more land than garden will be-5 acres. They are just going to till and plant.

Some will want to quit reading here......I told them to glysophate grass, let it die before tilling as they will never get the grass from taking over garden.

Ridge has it correct. Thinking growing a lot of things, won't happen. No he is not stupid enough to leave thriving business. I want it to be large enough to get a sampling of fresh vegetables but small enough that they can maintain with mulching-if they can get grass killed.

 

[so lucky]

Maybe I'm just cranky tonight, but I will say this anyway. I don't think it is fair or reasonable for anyone to expect someone else to answer all their questions about something they have never attempted before. Not willing to read, not willing to wait and learn slowly by doing; just want you to make some decisions for them as what to plant and how much. Then perhaps blame you if it all falls apart.
If it were me, I wouldn't expend a lot of time and energy trying to help him unless he is willing to at least read up on the subject.
And if he is insistent on going "big," try to influence him to stick with just gardens at first. That way, he won't be jeopardizing living animals.
Yeah, I guess I am cranky.

 

[seedcorn]

Lucky, that's HE's. Chill. We look, we see, we do. He will have about 4-5 layers. House already there, large enough for 100(we'll be doing some remodeling here). Not worried about any heat from him. As a friend, just trying to help him ease him into different life style. Big enough to be of value but small enough that he doesn't have to spend a lot of time in it.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Well...this is probably different than how we would approach a garden, but i think i would recommend that these 2 guys go to a nursery and buy a huge variety of seedlings. (we all know what a hassle seed starting can be, not a great thing for beginner gardeners without very much time). The first summer can be experimental - buy 1 or a handful of every seedling they sell at the nursery. Tell them to keep notes on what they like and what grows well. Next year they can focus in on those things they enjoyed most.

 

[thistlebloom]

Heather....take notes? These are guys that don't want to read!

 

[journey11]

I'm not sure there is any help for either of them if they think they can just fly into it half-cocked. It takes time and trial and error to learn how to do these things and do them right. Get impatient and refuse to study up, well, you're going to end up with a pretty high failure rate. A big garden is going to take a lot of time to maintain. They need to be willing to start out smaller, learn the ropes. I imagine a crash and burn scenario here, probably ending up aggravated and never coming back to it again.

A little veggie garden, a couple of chickens...that's all anyone needs just starting out.

 

[digitS']

I saw some information on the Irish population the other day. If I remember right, they have only recently regained the population from pre Irish potato famine. Numbers don't really indicate all that much but the Irish were a capable people, 150 years ago.

Now, I could be wrong about all this but from what precious little that I know, the British controlled most of best farm land and grew grain for export back to Britain.

The Irish were resourceful and each family had their milk cow, or cows. They grazed on common highlands. The families grew potatoes and their population numbers increased.

I'm sure that there were other foods grown but it must not have been much. Witness the trouble they were in after the late blight struck. Milk and potatoes

Steve

 

[so lucky]

Those cows grazing on grassland would have been producing some pretty healthy milk, though. Kind of a boring diet, but.....
Anyway, Seedcorn, I hear what you are saying, and can tell you are committed to helping him get started. For starters, you could just encourage him to block off and prepare something like 20x40 feet, amend the soil after he gets rid of the grass, and plant the typical tomatoes, beans, corn, cukes, etc. The hard thing, IMO, is to keep the weeds out.
He will need to be educated in how to preserve the produce, too. Is there a "missus" who is savvy about canning and freezing? (not that he couldn't, but again, time is an issue)
I would not attempt to make the whole process sound easy. We all know it's not just a matter of throwing a handful of seeds out, but it may look that easy to a novice. Good luck on your tutoring, seedcorn.

 

[Wishin']

Heather....take notes? These are guys that don't want to read!

AND they certainly don't WRITE important info down, and if they happened to they wouldn't file it so it would not be available when they need it.