AHTrimble.com

Practical Knowledge. Real Experience. Better Preparedness.

I need your feedback on my 2024 garden proposal

I have done a tremendous amount of work getting my garden ready for 2024. I’ve built boxes, hauled in compost, bought pearlite, laid down landscape cloth, hauled in 4 tons of rock, put in a water line, put up fencing…okay, you get the idea…I’ve done lots of work to get ready.

I’ve also decided to do with the square foot garden methodology, makes sense for our situation. I know the bed soil I’ve made is really terrific, it grew veggies last year that were amazing!

So now I am ready to plant. Well, actually I’ve already started planting some of the spring veggies. I had a long conversation with my wife about what we really enjoy eating. Based on that I’ve developed a plan for the garden this year. I want to run it past you folks and get your ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and any warnings as well.

So here are my two gardens as of now.

This south garden gets exposed to full sun all day, and lots of windy days in the spring. I have plenty of irrigation on timers, watering is not a problem.

Here is my south garden plant plan…

This north garden gets limited sun, but little wind. Bed #10 gets the most direct sun, maybe 2 – 4 hours per day, late morning. Bed #9 gets almost no sun. Bed #8 gets 2 – 3 hours per day, late afternoon.  I have plenty of irrigation on timers, watering is not a problem.

Here is my north garden plant plan…

o there you go

So there you go! Now it’s your turn, I want to hear from you…you can post a “comment” below or send me your thoughts via the form.

Let me here from you…

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨





 

8 responses to “I need your feedback on my 2024 garden proposal”

  1. MamaGrizzly Avatar
    MamaGrizzly

    If you have a glass top stove, like me, you can’t use an All American. I have a Presto canner which has worked super well for me for years. You can also use it as a water bath if you want to, just don’t put the weight on. But I have a steam canner for high acid foods (jams, jellies, fruit), and anything that can be safely water bath canned can be safely steam canned. They used to not say that, but if you look up the latest on Extension websites, etc., I think it was U of Wisconsin that did a study back in 2017 or thereabouts, debunking that skepticism. I actually have 2 steam canners that I keep going during fruit canning season (peaches, applesauce, jams, etc.) They use much less water, much quicker to cycle as a result. You can even do tomatoes with them if they’re the right variety (high enough acid). Or you could add lemon juice to acidify so you can steam can.

    Reply
  2. Barbara Gaume Avatar
    Barbara Gaume

    Wow!!!! Very impressive. Do you have plenty of jars 🫙? And lids. OK, I know that’s a dumb question, but it was really the only suggesti

    Reply
    1. AH Trimble Avatar
      AH Trimble

      Betty,
      Probably not enough jars, lots of spare lids.
      I need to figure out a good pressure canner, water bath canner as well.
      I’m think most of it goes into the freezer.
      Thank you for the kind compliments 🙂
      AH

      Reply
      1. Barbara Gaume Avatar
        Barbara Gaume

        AH,
        If you need a pressure canner I highly recommend getting an All-American. They are far away best. I have two, I believe they are 921. I originally bought the biggest one they had thinking I would be ab

  3. spendnation Avatar
    spendnation

    A.H. I love your garden. You should check out the https://growfood.com/ website. They have been experimenting with a spray fertilizer that cuts down significantly on the amount of fertilizer needed.

    A couple years ago I was experimenting with growing pumpkins (you can trellis them on a cattle panel hoop to save room. The “Long Island Cheese” pumpkin stored for over a year. I like the taste of the “Luxury” pumpkin a bit better but it only stored for about 5 months – side by side, same cut date and storage conditions as the Long Island. This is where I buy my seed. They are out but I’m sure I have some seed hanging around I can send you. https://shop.seedsavers.org/long-island-cheese-organic-squash

    A friend of mine were talking the other day and he said he found a great way to extend the life of potatoes. He gets a container and very clean, fine sand. He lets his potatoes harden with dirt on after harvest. Then he stacks them in the moist (but not wet) sand so none of the potatoes are touching. Put them in a protected from freezing and sun, dark, cool spot. He said this year the potatoes were good for months and months.

    “In her book, The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, she advises four garden crops for subsistence gardening; potatoes, squash, beans, and corn.” and she also advocates for duck eggs. If you ever want to try corn as you are in a climate known for corn, I like Mandan Bride. Here is my favorite flour corn. And of course I’d be happy to share some of this seed with you too. https://shop.seedsavers.org/mandan-bride-organic-corn

    Reply
  4. MamaGrizzly Avatar
    MamaGrizzly

    Oooops my bad wrong variety of broccoli.di cicco makes lots of small shoots, we didn’t like that as well, the calabrese is a rock star.

    Reply
  5. MamaGrizzly Avatar
    MamaGrizzly

    …p.s., we also love the crucifers….broccoli (de cicco is a great one), cauliflower, cabbage(we make lots of sauerkraut which is super good for you and way to keep it)

    On Wed, Mar 20, 2024, 6:01 AM A.H. Trimble – Emergency preparedness informati

    Reply
  6. MamaGrizzly Avatar
    MamaGrizzly

    Wow what a great garden! Boy do you like your tomatoes!!! Here’s a few thoughts, fwiw….

    Don’t know if this plan is what you’ve already done, but just a thought on your winter squash…. We’ve learned we have to try to plant different varieties of winter squash as far from each other as possible or they will cross pollinate and yield all sorts of weird mutant squash that aren’t very good. Melons also will cross pollinate, but looks like you’ve got yours separated pretty good.

    A variety of cucumber I really like is Nokya, they have a very thin, edible skin like the English cukes you get in the store that come wrapped in plastic. We’ve also had really good luck with the Armenian cukes. Also Johnny’s sells a really really nice cut and come again lettuce spring mix called All-star that we love, Chuck sells it to Miraval resort here and to a farmers market guy. it’s super popular.

    Have you ever grown potatoes or sweet potatoes? Super great “survival garden” storables, packed with energy, food. Sweets are super nutritious and you can even eat the greens. Jerusalem artichokes are a super productive, perennial source of food (and pretty sunflowers! Well bring some up with us for you to try, we’re coming up on Sunday. 🙂

    Looks like an awesome garden, will keep you plenty busy!! 😁

    Mercy

    On Wed, Mar 20, 2024, 6:01 AM A.H. Trimble – Emergency preparedness informati

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Designed with WordPress

Discover more from A.H. Trimble - Emergency preparedness information for disasters and grid-down

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading