Moving toward sufficiency with a prepper garden

[SavedByGrace3]

Some pics from our developing garden. 2nd year garden. Much of it is new this year. New projects and new vegetables being tested.
Thanks for dropping by!!!
I encourage you to do a garden if you have the space. We are retired so we have a lot of time to dedicate to the garden.

 

[Tom 1]

No pics? I love this time of year. Everything coming up green.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Tomato fort. Stink bugs and Horn Worms hit us hard last year. The fort is made from good old tulle fabric. Same as what is used for weddings. Very light and virtually zero light blockage. Three 54 inch bolts glued together with hot glue. Next time I will use spray adhesive. The glue gun is so hot that it wants to melt the polyester fabric. Those are 6 foot fence posts topped with plastic bottles to prevent the fence posts from tearing the fabric. Also some plastic ground cloth and a soaker hose for watering. Works very well. No bugs or bug damage. We already have tomatoes showing in the first week of May. Better Boy and Rutgers. A couple Roma in there too.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Yep... here they come. Better Boys.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Rhubarb. We had them in northern NY. Massena. This is SC and I doubted they would do well. I do not remember the leaves getting this large.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

About a dozen grape clusters on our first year vine. Planted last July.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Mystery Veggie came up volunteer. We had the compost pile here last year and just tossed ruined fruit over here to compost. A year later and this squash-like plant comes up and we really are not sure what this is. About a dozen plants. Last year we had Yellow, Zucchini, Butternut and Sweet meat (which did not make...dern vine borers!) Any guesses?

 

[Tom 1]

Mystery Veggie came up volunteer. We had the compost pile here last year and just tossed ruined fruit over here to compost. A year later and this squash-like plant comes up and we really are not sure what this is. About a dozen plants. Last year we had Yellow, Zucchini, Butternut and Sweet meat (which did not make...dern vine borers!) Any guesses?

View attachment 256262

Zucchini?

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We are eating new potatoes! The flowers say it is time to dig a couple inches down for the wonderful new potatoes. About 75 plants. Yukon Gold, Kennebec, Red, and White.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Our largest Potato patch ever...
12 by 24

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Barb is running the Spinach crop. Last of the year. Did well all winter. We are zone 8 so winter crops do pretty good. Barb ran the Spinach, Rutabaga, Lettuce, Cabbage, and Broccoli. These did so well that we will double our efforts on the winter crops. We are excited about the winter garden!

 

[SavedByGrace3]

No pics? I love this time of year. Everything coming up green.

Working on it bro. Yes, we love this time of year. Planting is so full of hope and promise. Love it. Thank the Lord for giving us this gift.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Sun Chokes. 2nd year. Some are close to 6 feet tall already. Developing flowers.
We are fighting with moles/voles. I dug up the entire bed, took out the soil, laid down chicken wire fencing, and filled in the bed. Been good so far. Only one of the little beggars got in and ate the seed tuber before the plant could develop.
We also have 5 Chinese Artichokes in there somewhere. They are much smaller than the Jerusalem Artichokes and we will separate them out next year.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Beans. Rattlesnake Snap Beans. Yellow Wax Snap Beans. Not a big bed. We are digging a 10 by 10 foot bed for (BIG) Lima Beans. Love the Lima Beans. $2.60 a pound at the grocery store. We prepped at least 50 pounds over the years. To expensive now.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Zucchini?

That is what we are thinking. They are green and have the beginning of some stripes and strange ridges(?).
They are not getting longer like Zucchini. We shall see. Someone suggested a cross with another species. Adds some more fun to the garden.

 

[Tom 1]

That is what we are thinking. They are green and have the beginning of some stripes and strange ridges(?).
They are not getting longer like Zucchini. We shall see. Someone suggested a cross with another species. Adds some more fun to the garden.

Nice.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Last of the Broccoli. Worms got to them until we hit them with soap and neem oil. Stopped them dead.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Second year using the grow bags. Good for some things... not so much for others. Barb is heading up the grow bag project. Specialty Squash and Tomato plants that require extra attention. Grow bags are good as they automatically ward off root congestion. They do require extra watering because the water will essentially go right through them.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Building the Sweet Potato plant slips. Got some good ones. Again... this is a Barb project.