AMA I'm a former farmer and Master Gardener

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 11:17 am

Gardening and growing healthy sustainable food is my passion. My background includes spending 6 years working for my state extension service in support of growers and over 20 years as an organic farmer. I also have a Master Gardener certification and Master Food Preserver certification.

If I don't know the answer to your question, I certainly don't mind doing the research or calling an old colleague or two to provide you with the info needed.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 11:49 am

Scrabble123 wrote:

What has personally been your most difficult crop to cultivate? What are good "beginner" crops for: 1. People with larger backyards and warmer climates and 2. People with little to no backyards and a 4 season climate?

I still struggle with brussels sprouts. I either plant them too early and they get tough or too late. I cannot grow broccoli to save my life. Oh and carrots.

Easy starters are bunching onions (scallions) and garlic, rapini, escarole, chards and kale and potatoes, french filet beans, fava beans, or soy beans.

If you are in a warmer climate I would move to mediterranean crops like san marzano tomatoes (they dry and freeze well) and peppers as well as several kinds of basil. Boretta onions and spineless okra too.

For small spaces find a used gutter at a Habitat restore, drill holes every three inches across the bottom. Hang on a fence or a wall and fill with soil. It's perfect for spinach or lettuce or green onions. Interplant pole beans with a tomato in a container. The beans will provide nitrogen for the tomato and trellis up the tomato.

Buy a bag of potting soil or composted steer manure. Lay it flat and make one long incision almost to the edge of the bag, at either end of that incision make a vertical incision. When opened most of your soil will be exposed. Prick one or two holes through to the bottom of the bag for drainage. Plant a pickling cuke (kirby) and throw some radish seeds in as well.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 12:05 pm

Scrabble123 wrote:

How self-sufficient are you?

80% of my veggies I use year round come from my garden. This year I'll be self sufficient on blue berries and strawberries. I don't count what I grow in the big garden at the farm. I want to be 100% on fruit and veg in the small space I live in. I've still got gallons of dried tomatoes, peppers and beans from last year and some green beans and peas in the freezer. I pick greens and green onions all year long and often potatoes too. I ran out of garlic last month. ETA: there is still a basket of hard squash in my closet. But I spend $1.5 a week for a lb of carrots since I'm failure on carrots.

When I lived on the farm, we were very close to 100%. We bought the usual flour, sugar, oil etc but zero produce or meat.

water_bear88

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 2:06 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

For small spaces find a used gutter at a Habitat restore, drill holes every three inches across the bottom. Hang on a fence or a wall and fill with soil. It's perfect for spinach or lettuce or green onions. Interplant pole beans with a tomato in a container. The beans will provide nitrogen for the tomato and trellis up the tomato.

Isn't that a problem with kilayim (halachically)? Or is that only more similar plants? I might want to try some balcony gardening after shmita's over.

studying_torah

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 4:38 pm

How do you keep flies and animals away? Last year I sprayed a natural animal deterrent but we had tons and tons of flies , till the food was inedible. And the squirrels and ground hogs came anyway... Sigh
Also only the cukes grew, the tomatoes peppers and carrots never did. I tried to check the soil and it was full of tiny bugs ( in a container). How do I prevent infestation so my veggies will grow?
Oh and last- how impt is it to start the seeds indoors ?

granolamom

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 4:41 pm

I've got a question..one of my kids wants to live on a farm when he grows up Smile

he's totally serious and I think he may really be heading in that direction. how does he get there? he's only 11, so we'll keep that in mind lol, but he's asking me what kind of school will teach him what he will need to know, that sort of thing. he reads alot, and he's in charge of our relatively small vegetable garden. he recently spearheaded our composting project and for some reason he wants to raise pigs (?). chickens and goats, too, but he's got a thing for pigs.
he's got a real passion for the outdoors, animals and DIY anything. he's not intimidated by hard work. I'd like to keep this alive for him, any advice?

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 5:00 pm

Granolamom, he sounds like my kind of a kid Very Happy

The Jewish farm movement is much more cohesive on the east coast, if that's where you are. Out here in the PNW you have random Jews like my family interacting largely with non Jewish farmers.

I like pigs, they are highly intelligent creatures, often smarter than dogs. I love goats and raising herd goats.

I think you will enjoy this link, it has some hyperlinks to other good sources.http://www.jewishfarmschool.org/

granolamom

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 5:54 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Granolamom, he sounds like my kind of a kid Very Happy

yes, we are on the east coast, in NY. although his Big Dream is live on a farm in Israel Smile

thanks for the link, that will keep him busy for quite some time

mille

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 5:57 pm

When will winter be over so I can finally plant my herb garden? Sad

No real questions, but this is awesome, thanks for doing this! My mom is currently in the process of planting her entire property with lots and lots of fruits and veggies and such (a bit over an acre of land). She's considering getting chickens next and maybe a goat. I'm just in a tiny apartment so there's not much I can plant (other than my herb garden and maybe one or two other things!), so I live vicariously through her! And sometimes she sends me dried herbs from her garden which is awesome!

It's my dream that when I own a home, one day in the distant future, to plant much much more.

amother

Pearl

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:02 pm

I just moved to the PNW. What can I plant between my house and my neighbor's (not even veggies, any kindo f plant)? It's moss and mud. Sad

Also, which vegetables will grow in shady areas that only get an hour or so of sun? Galic? Kale?

I feel like I'm doomed for gardening here, and I would like to start!

(I'm so glad my amother color isn't brown. Wouldn't that have been ironic?)

Raw

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:05 pm

Wow Magenta Yenta, I am very impressed! My dream has always been to live on a farm and to be responsible for my own food supply.
I've just moved to a 1,5 acre property in upstate NY but have no clue how to start the planting process.
Do I hire a gardner to show me the ropes and then just hope I don't have a black thumb?
I read a lot but feel that it's all kind of useless until I actually go through the trial and error process on my own.
What do you think about greenhouses? Any tips?

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:34 pm

Raw wrote:

Don't jump into anything. Call your extension service Master Gardeners program and have someone come out to visit your property. Find out a bit about your climate, microclimate and soil. Talk to the master gardeners and find out what works locally. Ask them where you can visit and see good gardens at work locally. If you are near Cornell, there are a major quantity of classes for the home gardener, often very inexpensive or free. Ithaca also has a great garden community, Rochester as well.

Where I live greenhouses are only good for getting an early start on plants if they are heated. Cold frames are easy to build and close to free if you are willing to use recycled materials and work everywhere. My climate is often temperate so I can use row covers with hoops. I garden in box beds that are as deep as my arm. Different people have different needs.

Drop me a pm after you get some info. I'd love to hear about your progress.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:40 pm

amother wrote:

I just moved to the PNW. What can I plant between my house and my neighbor's (not even veggies, any kindo f plant)? It's moss and mud. Sad

Oh you poor dear, you will need more sun than 1 hour to grow food. But living in the PNW you have some wonderful options for shade gardening. Hostas and lady ferns are lovely in shady places, with bleeding hearts and maybe some native plants like trilliums. (Trilliums are protected so only get them at nurseries and don't dig them in the forest.) Find some nice rocks for a pathway. Everything I mentioned will make for a low maint. shade garden. Best of luck!!

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 6:48 pm

water_bear88 wrote:

Isn't that a problem with kilayim (halachically)? Or is that only more similar plants? I might want to try some balcony gardening after shmita's over.

I discussed this in depth with my LOR many years ago. Simply put, it was to prevent plants from cross pollenating and also to indicate to your neighbors that the field was intentionally planted and not just a random scattering of seeds in a field.

A cuke is in a different family than a tomato, they cannot interbreed.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 7:06 pm

studying_torah wrote:

Gosh it sounds like you've got a whole bunch of stuff going on. What climate zone do you live in? Are you gardening in rows, beds, or boxes? Is it deer fenced? What kind of soil do you have?

Have you called your Extension Service? I'm gonna be asking this a lot since your tax dollars pay for this service, it would be great to benefit from it. They can tell you if you can get any fencing subsidies for a home garden and give you plans on building an adequate fenced enclosure that would keep out squirrels. The ground hogs are a new one to me. We have moles out here and I merely attach hardware cloth to the bottoms of my box beds when I make them. The moles cannot penetrate it.

I'm clueless on the flies. I wonder if they weren't attracted to something you sprayed. I've never seen an infestation in a veggie garden.

Tiny bugs are meaningless to me if I can't see them, I'm a gardener, not someone with a crystal ball. Next time you find a bug look at it, make some notes and attempt to identify it online based on your observations. Is it really an insect? Do it have the correct body parts to identify it as an insect? How many legs does it have? Does it have jaws or suckers?

granolamom

Wed, Apr 01 2015, 7:29 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Is there a halachic issue with planting different plant from the same family together? How close is 'together'? We have a square ft garden, are two neighboring squares too close? I never realized this could be an issue.