2014 growing 50-90% of your own food support group

[crwilson]

Hey everyone I made a post back in 2013 about trying to grow 90% of my own food for the year. Well spring is just about here besides the foot and a half of snow outside. So I figured I would once again make this post and try to encourage everyone to become more food sufficient. What are everyones plans for this year? What are you doing to try and produce more than you did last year? What was a great success for you last year that you will try and recreate? Do you have any tips of suggestion you can share with everyone so they can be more food sufficient?
We are living in pretty troubling times and would like to encourage every one to put forth there best effort yet this year.
I always have many more dreams and plans than I actually accomplish but am really trying to buckle down this year and make a concentrated effort.
I will post more about my plans and goals for this year latter but figured this would be a good opening post and get everyone thinking.

Good luck to you all

[jwal10]

I am cutting down on the daily work, less is going to be more here. Smaller gardens and more gleaning. Plain and simple foods, eat what is in season. Water as needed but cut consumption by reuse. Only sprinkler irrigation will be from a sprinkler can. Greenhouse is full until potted plants can go out for good. Hoops are full. Using black plastic and milk jugs filled with water to warm soil in raised beds, will move hoops as I can and hold temps and seed....James

[K.B.]

I've been busy swapping cuttings/scions of my plants for new varieties with other folks around the country. I've got 3 new types of grapes rooting in pots, right now. Two new types of mulberry cuttings are on the way. Scions from several types of pluots (off patent), a european pear, an asian pear and a crabapple are waiting in the frig to be grafted over the next month.

[countryfied2011]

I have got about 60 heirloom tomatoes waiting to germinate, just started them yesterday. This year I bought tomatoes for our area, I am tired of having problems because of our heat here in Middle TN. So I researched and found a type that can withstand the heat. The only place I was able to find the seeds was at My Patriot Supply... I bought xtra seeds to put up in the freezer

I also have my herbs started, everything else is just waiting for the ground to warm up. Hope to stick the potatoes in the ground next week. I planted winter wheat last fall in the garden, looks so nice and green. It will still be awhile before it can be turnover into the garden.

A few of the fruit trees look like they have some tiny buds on them. Strawberry plants are doing their thing..lol

[Dreamfarm]

this is our first year in a rural setting and we have a large garden planned. Hoping feed our family all summer and put some up as well.

[biggkidd]

I made deal with a lady in town for this years garden. First I'm going to be planting 1/4 -1/2 acre. 50 x 75 ft is the biggest garden I have had so far. Second she will split with me and can everything that doesn't get used fresh. We are going to try and feed 6 people for the year. For the first time I am also going to try planting some field corn about an acre for animal feed. We recently got chicks and should have two piglets coming in june. Next years goal is a couple cows.

This should work out for both families as I have never canned and she doesn't have any place for a garden on her small town lot. We each have a family of three.

I don't guess this counts for self sufficiency as I need her to help with what I don't know. Hopefully I can learn as we go if I have time to get her to teach me how while she does the canning this year. Bad thing is this is my busy time from April - October. So the garden is all I'll likely be able to handle.

Larry

[cfuhrer]

We live on half of a rented city lot (seriously, our landlord has two houses on a single lot).

My focus is on maintaining the skills I learned on the farm until we can get to a better land situation to be truly self sufficient.

That means continuing to make yogurt, sour cream, butter and cheese at home. Learning how to make the kinds of bread we like. In fact, I just pulled my first ever batch of english muffins out of the oven, they passed muster with the toddler who is an english muffin consoure. We participate in bountiful baskets so I work at putting up whatever tomatoes or fruit we get there, as well as dehydrating a fair bit.

My husband is going to go hunting for the first time in several years this fall and we are out fishing earlier this year than in years past.

I've never been much of a container gardner but I will try my hand yet again this spring. And I'm going to head to the hardware store and see if they can give me a hand with putting together a parts list to build a couple of these

[pickapeppa]

I like the looks of those grow systems above, but can't think of an easy way to clean and sanitize the interiors of the long tubes. Do people just run bleach water through the systems for a specified time frame, then rinse, or what?

[CurtisWilliams]

This year, I am doing a 30 x30' garden with a good mix of varieties. I have about a dozen dwarf fruit trees that were producing last year, so this year should give a decent harvest. I am doing a berry patch, everbearing strawberries, black berries and rasberries. I am planting a handful of nut trees. And I an starting the fence needed for the sheep that I hope to get in 2015. I currently have rabbits and chickens, and am getting midget turkeys this season.

My goal is to produce 25% of my food this year, 50% next year, 75% the following year. I think that hitting 100% is an unattainable goal, and will be very happy with 75%.

[Vosey]

I like the 50 - 90% goal, the 90% goal last year intimidated me! We eat too much meat and only have chickens, so while we can grow a lot of veg, the meat makes up too large a percentage.

Anyway, this is year 3 here, with high hopes. We are still eating last years yield, I've just started picking up a few veggies at the store, but overall we've done really well eating all our own vegetables since last August until now. We're very much eating with the seasons. We just found a few parsnips today we missed on December!

Kale seeds are already jamming under the grow lights. Just started spinach, celery and few others. Arugula and lettuce that we overwintered is wanting to bolt. Next year am hoping for no extreme cold snaps as we lost a lot of our winter kale and gardens.

Actually, if we hadn't given up on the kale and let the chickens go at it we'd have some now. Kale they ate to nubs is coming back, some of it not even in the ground, it's growing without roots! I think kale might be engineered to take over the world...

[BobbyB]

We made it to about 70% last year.

This year I have doubled the size of the garden to 1/2 acre. Almost 1/4 acre is in potatoes right now. The rest will be in sweet corn, beans, black eyes and cream peas, squash, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes with some greens and turnips.. The Fall garden will be much better this year as well.

Karla picked up some turkey poults a week or so back, so we will have our own turkey for the holidays. There is a steer on feed that will be ready about the first of the year, a just butchered hog in the freezer now and more on feed to go in the freezer when that one is gone.

Unless things just go to hell in a hand basket, this should be a very good year for us.

[siletz]

We've got a little over 7000 square feet of garden space with one greenhouse. We also have a young orchard with various fruit and nut trees that are beginning to come into production. This year we have plans to build a second greenhouse. We have buff orpington chickens for meat and eggs and are trying out some Narragansett turkeys. I like the idea of connecting with others out there striving to grow more of our food each year.

[spblademaker]

We are building a greenhouse this year for crops thru the winter.

[gweny]

I am trying 'square foot gardening' in a raised veggie bed this year. We are building a tractor coop and getting chickens. I have expanded my compost bin to 3 bins. I am planting 2 almond and 2 cherry trees to go with the plum and apple we've already got.
Biggest project is the privacy hedge going in around the back yard. I will make a small room for a future bee hive in the hedge too!
Working on more canning now that I've got a pressure canner (b-day present from my hubby)
Ripped up my quinalt strawberries since I was underwhelmed by thier performance. Putting in giant strwaberries in thier place.

[JillyG]

I typically raise 90% of our vegetables. Freeze and can, eat what's in season.
I get a 1/2 steer from a friend so to me that kinda counts. and I trade for eggs from a neighbor.
As long as I know where it comes from and that it does not come from the stupid market I am OK with not growing/raising all of it.

[ronbre]

other than raising animals I do attempt to grow all my other food..i have a neighbor who gives me free range eggs for babysitting her chicks when she is gone, and I always have more than enough of them. As for meat that is trickier but there are locals who have grass fed beef, etc. I grow fruit, nuts and vegetables here...and always add more..I plant at least a few new fruit and nut trees every year..also we have a pond and I might put some fish in it..but right now it has no fresh water inlet/outlet which we might add this year by digging a well.

[where I want to]

My problem is not growing as it is in getting everything preserved timely. I need to develop a garden plan that includes storing in the plan so the everything doesn't come at once.

[Maura]

We are in the process of moving into a fixer upper, so I'm not sure what I'll be able to do this year. Last autumn I planted 3 hazelnut bushes, which I hope survive this winter. It will be a few years before they are producing. I'd like to put in grapes, so I can probably set up the area this summer and plant in the fall. I'll plant green beans, of course and a couple of tomato plants, and sunflowers, probably Jerusalem artichokes, but it's hard to plan when you are painting kitchen cabinets and getting the bathroom tiled. We'll see. The sooner the house gets finished the more garden I will have.

I can buy pastured beef and lamb locally, so even though we are in town I'll be able to to have meat regardless.

[Callieslamb]

I can grow enough of anything that we want. The problem is getting them to eat what I grow. So far, they eat the salsa and as many onions and I can plant. We have a long ways to go. I can 100's of bottles every year....and then I eat it. So I can say I grow a lot of MY food, but DH and DS...not so much. I have 100's of strawberries and except for jam, they don't eat them. 100's of raspberries and blackberries....same. Blueberries...same....asparagus, corn, tomatoes, beans, carrots, beets, lettuce...same old same old. Girls, before you get married, check out their taste buds...your kids are going to inherit them.

[cfuhrer]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

Girls, before you get married, check out their taste buds...your kids are going to inherit them.

Quoted for TRUTH!