Newbie!!!

mommahanks10 · #1 03/09/15, 10:10 PM

Hi everyone!! I am thankful to be in this lil group! I am just starting out this whole homesteading thing and although I have had a little experience in several fields I have never taken this on alone! So far we have pigs (in the barn cuz we had them given to us in November), I just ordered chicks (35 for multi purpose) and I am just starting my seeds in pods and mini milk jug greenhouses. I have many questions!!! the biggest one right now is how many plants do I need? we have 10 kids, only 3 live in the house now but frequently have several here. That also means I want to can a lot of what I grow and use fresh of course too so what formula does everyone use to guess? tomatoes= tomatoes to eat, sauce, salsa, soup etc... hard for me to figure what I need and tomatoes are just one example!! anyone have any insight and guidelines? we are in northeast Washington in a higher elevation so I have a bugger of a grow season too, trying to start everything asap! thanks in advance everyone!

am1too · #2 03/09/15, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mommahanks10

Hi everyone!! I am thankful to be in this lil group! I am just starting out this whole homesteading thing and although I have had a little experience in several fields I have never taken this on alone! So far we have pigs (in the barn cuz we had them given to us in November), I just ordered chicks (35 for multi purpose) and I am just starting my seeds in pods and mini milk jug greenhouses. I have many questions!!! the biggest one right now is how many plants do I need? we have 10 kids, only 3 live in the house now but frequently have several here. That also means I want to can a lot of what I grow and use fresh of course too so what formula does everyone use to guess? tomatoes= tomatoes to eat, sauce, salsa, soup etc... hard for me to figure what I need and tomatoes are just one example!! anyone have any insight and guidelines? we are in northeast Washington in a higher elevation so I have a bugger of a grow season too, trying to start everything asap! thanks in advance everyone!

For this year make a best guess. Keep a record of what you eat. Do you fix 15 or 30 oz of corn or green beans for supper? You get the idea. How big is a canning mater? You buy them in the store as Romas.

mommahanks10 · #3 03/09/15, 11:37 PM

thanks, I figured I would log what I plant, and what I use this year, I was hoping there was a secret formula that people use lol. I am sure this year will be a big learning year!

Tricky Grama · #4 03/10/15, 06:10 AM

Welcome! You'll love it here.

myheaven · #5 03/10/15, 11:28 AM

I have 9 children ranging from 16 to 10 months. First make a list of what foods your family eats and how. Are they canned are they frozen? How many convince foods do you eat? How can you replicate them?
The old saying grow what you eat, eat what you grow applies. If you don't eat eggplant don't grow it. I do have to add though grow one new thing a year. You have to try new things.
I have a big list for you but I have to finish grinding my steer before and laundry before for the one it get too warm and the other the sun goes down.

Nimrod · #6 03/10/15, 01:56 PM

You can not grow too much if you are prepared to can the excess. Canned food will last for years. It's actually a good idea to have a one or two year supply in the pantry in case there is a crop failure next year.

All tomatoes can be used for salsa, tomato sauce, and soup. They can all be canned. Roma, Italian Paste, San Marzano, and Amish Paste are all for making tomato products and have done well here.

Fresh eating tomatoes can be hybrid or open pollinated. Open pollinated taste better but hybrid produce more fruit. I have had good luck with Cherokee Purple, Bloody Butcher and Amish Orange open pollinated. I love Mortgage Lifter but it's a bit too cold to grow them here. Early Girl, Better Boy, and Beefsteak are good hybrids you can find at the big box stores as seedlings. Cherry tomatoes make a great looking salad. Warner's Yellow and one of the red varieties are good. Yellow Pear don't have much flavor.

Try the ones mentioned. They should work for you since I doubt your growing zone is as cold as mine. Plant ones that will ripen at different times, especially early ones. If you want to save seed from the open pollinated ones, you have to grow them at least 50 feet away from any other tomato variety.

RomeGrower · #7 03/10/15, 02:11 PM

Welcome. We lived in Northwest Washington for a while. It's beautiful there. We have 6 kids, though not all at home now either. I don't think you can grow too much. I am able to sell some of our overage at work all summer long. Plant the most of what you like the most that will grow well for you there. Green beans are loved in our family.

Homesteader · #8 03/10/15, 02:19 PM

There are some sites that tell you exactly how many pints or quarts you need to feed X amount of people, and how many feet of xyz plant you need in order to create that amount. I had that in my favorites in the old computer that crashed, but I know there are folks here who probably have those links.

I did a rough estimate the first time, by just seeing everything as a jar. In my case (2 of us), I use pints except for apple slices and dried beans (like pork 'n beans or molasses beans). You would probably need to do quarts.

So I looked at dinner, lunch, breakfast. How many jars of meat do I need per day, how many jars of veggies, how many jars of fruit? When the first garden came in, I was able to judge then. I guessed, a lot, put in about 2 x what I thought would be enough. In some cases, like potaotes, it was just right.

For others, it wasn't enough. But you learn this a lot as you go. So now I know how many feet row of spuds to plant, to get 100 pints, which is my goal (it's a year and a half's worth for the two of us).

I know I need about 40-50 tomato plants. I need about 100 foot of carrots, 130 pepper plants (DH is a chili head, our pepper harvest is half sweet, half hot peppers).

It came as a surprise actually, that we need way less in the amount of plants than I thought we would!

Your climate will have a lot to do with your success too of course! If it's iffy, plant way more than you think. We are blessed with a long growing season and few major pests (which I attribute to being almost organic, we do have to spray BT some years for the hornworms).

Welcome by the way, should have said that first!