What are you planting this year

[jargo432]

This is our first year planting.  (my wife and I are on a five year plan to learn everything we can and prepare as much as possible to retire early (at 55) by self sustainment)

I would really love to hear when you put out your plants and what part of the county you live in. (I'm in N Texas)  I've got a lot to learn and would love any advice you can give.   

We bought a jiffy greenhouse to get our seeds started and put it on a heating pad on low.  Also we've got 2 tomato plants out side that I keep putting a bucket over and three in 5 gal buckets that I move inside at night.   

Thanks in advance

[pabst79]

I start cukes,maters, peppers and melon from seed. I bought a grow light off fleabay a few years back, it works wonders. If I start my seeds end of April, they are more than ready to transplant by the end of May. Sometimes I get caught with my pants down and have run out and throw blankets over the plants, there not really safe till mid June. I also grow sunflower, onions, radish and garden beans in my planters outside, they all grow quick.
I've tried carrots 3 or 4 times, have yet to grow 1 Dang carrot >:( >:(. We put a pumpkin patch in as well, some years we get hundreds, some years we get 8  :D.

[gww]

Jargo
I am retired and I believe you will like that part.  The self substainable part might be a little harder to obtain.  It is hard to grow enough tommatoes to beat the price when you can buy spaggette sause for $1.50.  I believe the way my chickens lay that it cost more for my eggs then it would if I would stock up and just buy eggs when on sale.  I admit that I am not very proffessional and don't cull and keep young chickens all the time.  Most of the mass produced stuff can be had cheaper then doing it on your own if you really add up the cost and watch the sales.  I do however grow lots of stuff, save seed and not buy starter plants and I have no intention of stopping.  I am not sure I will ever get my money back on the tiller and wood for raised bed gardens and such but am sure that some pride can be taken when I am eating the stuff from my own garden.  The new things in a garden that my wife is pushing me to try is gensing and bamboo.  I have been getting pressure  for a couple years but having a hard time on follow through.
Good luck in your indevers.
gww

[yukon cornelius]

our aim is for self sustainability in the future. we are in Missouri. we are building our place from scratch so it takes time. our land is almost completely wooded with a small section of pasture in the far back section of our 30 acres. we have wild raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries. we are working on blueberries, strawberries, horseradish, and asparagus. we plant all the major stuff corn beans carrots tomatoes potatoes turnips cucumbers squash and peppers. more I forget about... we just got our chickens going and are feeding them fodder (sprouted grain) 50 lbs of grain makes 300lbs of fodder. we also started feeding our pig fodder. we get eggs we make our own bacon and hams and do all our own butchering. we were recently introduced to a video called "Back to Eden Gardening" it was on youtube. the full video is 5 hours or so long. we haven't watched the 5 hours but a 2 hour version. it was very inspiring and very informative. they use wood chips on the garden with great results. we are using those in our garden this year. we used them on our strawberries last year and this year we have some amazing plants. we have never had any carryover plants and this year they are many and they are all unbelievable.

is it cheaper? some things are...but we know what is in our food that is worth a fortune.  8)

[sandsawmill14]

best way do decide what to plant is look at you plate every night for a week and note what you like to eat, what you need to eat, and what you wont eat ;D  then plant accordingly we will plant sweet corn,tomatoes,squash, cukes, hot and sweet peppers,cabbage potatoes,sweet potatoes,lettuce, strawberries and some watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin. thats all i can think of right now  but if you are just learning about gardening and preserving dont overwhelm yourself make small plantings a few weeks apart instead of one big planting so its not all ready to pick at one time ;) when i stagger planting i try to put 2 weeks between them  good luck

[21incher]

We just finished up lettuce that we started growing under lights in Jan. We try and grow enough to supply us year round. I just received my first order from Baker Creek Seeds and started my tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds. We can not put them out until the 3rd week of May so they will be good size by then. If you like asparagus they are easy to start and last for years, They are always the first thing up in our garden and  you get a couple of pounds per root. We try and time planting plants that  are used together, like cukes and dill so they are ripe at the same time. Once we got started, the next step became learning how to perserve everything so it can be enjoyed year round. This is a quick little video of how  our root cellar looks every fall.
https://youtu.be/doZrvsEvdaE  A garden is a good start, but be prepared to spend days on end putting food up when it is ripe once you get used to the flavor of home preserved food.

[jargo432]

very nice

[thecfarm]

Be prepared to can,freeze and get a root cellar built. I have one,but don't use it that much.Things can be hydrated to. Some member had a BIG one. Seem like 3 foot square,head high.    ;D