How big of a (fruit, vegetable, and herb) garden would I need to plant and tend to feed myself and perhaps a future partner year-round? This garden would be my/our only source of food save some fruit trees (how many should I plant?) and the occasional fish, rabbit, or squirrel from the local lake and forest?
I intend this to be part of a homestead in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, somewhere within a mile or so of the south shore of Lake Superior, so I know that (due to the long cold winters and relatively short growing season) I'd need to do a lot of canning. Would it be worth it to build a greenhouse for the winter months, or would all the snowfall and blustery winds off the lake negate the benefits?
2007-01-05 10:10:03 · 4 answers · asked by Rat 7 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
A green house would be great in that enviroment. Cold weather plants grow well, I plant brussel sprouts, cabbage and spinach. Our (there are 2 of us) garden is about 8 ft wide and about 3x that long. Canning is good, not as hard as it sounds. Go to recipes.com and type in canning and it will help. Also, it will tell you how to freeze some of the veggies that you don't want to can. It's hard work............drives us crazy some years, but in the winter when you have fresh veggies, it's worth it. Good luck and have fun.
2007-01-05 10:22:47 · answer #1 · answered by FireBug 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can check the link below - at the bottom of the page is list of common vegetables and the yields for each based on row length. It also has lots of growing information on the rest of the site and planning info.
A greenhouse is great for extending the season, but is difficult for year round growing unless you have an economical way to heat and supply supplemental light for shorter days.
For example, I have plans for a future home with an attached greenhouse off the kitchen which will be heated with excess heat from the home (wood heat). In this way, it won't cost a fortune to heat the greenhouse.
2007-01-05 12:01:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like a great plan. I love that area in the UP. A greenhouse would be a good addition. I like big gardens so that I can get my equipment down the rows and make it easier to maintain.
2007-01-05 11:28:58 · answer #3 · answered by johndeereman 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I haven't done much farming since I was just a young pup, but my grandpa always went by Thomas Jefferson who wanted to give every family in America 1/4 section of land to call their own "making... a responsible citizen and a support to his civilization." Since a "section" of land is one square mile, evey American would have 160 acres to farm. To me, this sounds minimal but could be done with modern farming methods.
What you grow on that land depends on the local conditions and climate.
Good luck, you're going to need it.
2007-01-05 10:23:26 · answer #4 · answered by revolvur2000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋