Farming

[n2ize]

I am going to try my hand at some backyard farming this year. I like to grow everything from seeds and this year I got some hot habanero seeds and some hot giant Thai pepper seeds. I did this a few years ago and I got some really kick ass hot peppers. I don;t have a lot of sun and noit much room but hopefully by the time the year is up I'll have some hot peppers. I'm also going to plant some parsley and some pole beans.

[KC2UGV]

A lot of it has to do with picking the right thing for your location, so you need to look at things that don't require too much sun.

How much space are you looking at? That also determines your strategy. I've seen some awesome porch gardens too.

[WØTKX]

Don't forget yer gun to protect yer crops from varmits...

[NQ6U]

I was gonna try some backyard farming but there wasn't enough room to get the tractor in.

[n2ize]

A lot of it has to do with picking the right thing for your location, so you need to look at things that don't require too much sun.

How much space are you looking at? That also determines your strategy. I've seen some awesome porch gardens too.

Very little space actually. There are very few places that get much sun around here. This house is shrouded by trees in summer. Even when I looked at an aerial view of this place on Google the house is not visible from the air due to the dense tree cover. Now there is a large Zelkova tree that overtaking the yard. It is so dense that you can stand under it in a thunderstorm and not get wet.

So, I basically have to plant in spots on the very edges of the property where cracks of light peek through the trees. I might have better luck planting in the front because last year a large oak tree that was dying was removed. I am also thinking of growing the peppers in containers that can be moved to the sunniest spots during the course of the summer. I have grown peppers, beans, parsley and even some flowers here before. Not the best yields but some nice crops nonetheless.

Would really like to take down that Zelkova tree. Or at least trim it. It's overtaking the house and the whole yard. When my folks first bought this property back in the 1960's they were like hippie tree worshippers and they planted trees all over the place, in addition to the huge trees that were already present. They used to become livid if a neighbor even hinted at the idea of trimming even a tiny branch off a tree. They didn't pay any attention to the problems that result from overrunning a small property with too many trees. Their idea was that we should live under a dense forest.

[W3WN]

I was gonna try some backyard farming but there wasn't enough room to get the tractor in.

That thing is bigger than my back yard!

Seriously... when we bought this place, the side yard between our house & backyard and the neighbors was nothing but mud and weeds. Almost inaccessible between the two sets of backyard fences.

Now it's terraced, with steps leading down into it from the backyard. About 1/3 flower garden, 2/3 vegetable garden. I may make change that ratio a little bit this year; I've been asked to move the herb garden down to the other end, though I almost hate to do it since the oregano (both Italian and Greek varieties) has been doing so well.

Usual fare: Several varities of tomatoes and peppers, broccoli, zucchini. My sister-in-law asks for lettuce, my son for eggplant. If there's room, a patch for corn as well. Plus whatever else I can find room for; tried pumpkins one year, and it overran it's patch into the walking path...

The one end where I'm planning to move the herbs gets shaded in the summer by a wild black walnut growing in the corner of the property. I'm going to do a little branch trimming on that guy soon, which should brighten up that corner.

Shady areas shouldn't be a problem; there are varieties of veggies that do better with shade.

Oh, and when I terraced, I added cheap top soil (the original ground is mainly clay). What I now do each spring is move some of that around to be filler in the yard, then mix in fresh. That and "crop" rotation seems to be working out very well. Also, I use my grass clippings as a mulch as well to keep the weeds in check.

[KC2UGV]

Very little space actually. There are very few places that get much sun around here. This house is shrouded by trees in summer. Even when I looked at an aerial view of this place on Google the house is not visible from the air due to the dense tree cover. Now there is a large Zelkova tree that overtaking the yard. It is so dense that you can stand under it in a thunderstorm and not get wet.

So, I basically have to plant in spots on the very edges of the property where cracks of light peek through the trees. I might have better luck planting in the front because last year a large oak tree that was dying was removed. I am also thinking of growing the peppers in containers that can be moved to the sunniest spots during the course of the summer. I have grown peppers, beans, parsley and even some flowers here before. Not the best yields but some nice crops nonetheless.

Would really like to take down that Zelkova tree. Or at least trim it. It's overtaking the house and the whole yard. When my folks first bought this property back in the 1960's they were like hippie tree worshippers and they planted trees all over the place, in addition to the huge trees that were already present. They used to become livid if a neighbor even hinted at the idea of trimming even a tiny branch off a tree. They didn't pay any attention to the problems that result from overrunning a small property with too many trees. Their idea was that we should live under a dense forest.

Not so fast:
http://organicgardening.about.com/od...adeveggies.htm
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=897

Lots of stuff grows in low sunlight conditions. And, don't forget your porches! They might get a little more sunlight and the ground.

[N8YX]

I left my farm on the freeway.

[KG4CGC]

I left my farm on the freeway.

Did it fall out of the truck on the way home from the Feed & Seed?

[KB3LAZ]

Pvc and plastic work wonders and are cheap. I started my first greenhouse that way. Some things I start from seeds but I have moved to plugs these last few years.