-The Victory Garden Cookbook-really, really good. I may need to purchase it.
-Aquaponics-I Love this idea, growing fish and plants together. Would like to start it.
-How to build your own greenhouse-Meh. But I plan to convert our shed into a greenhouse this year
-The Hydroponic Greenhouse--good book, quick read. I love the idea of a pit greenhouse, where most of the house is underground to take advantage of the insulating power of the earth. I am currently in negotiations with the hubs about renting a backhoe.
-Raising Rabbits--Neat idea, I'd like to try it some day.
-Organic Gardening--good encyclopedia
I am trying to plan out what to accomplish this next year. So far this is my wish list:
-Convert existing shed into greenhouse--the shingles are coming off its roof and the siding is rotting so something will need to be done soon anyway. My biggest question is whether to try to find cheap windows at the salvage yard or go with polycarbonate panels.
-Finish fence down middle of yard to keep dogs out
-Do something with the compost pile so the mice will not find it so attractive and I can actually use it as a compost pile for kitchen scraps
-Keep working on the raised portion of the backyard to get rid of the arsenic-laced timbers and build a stone retaining wall for cheap
-Finish building the chicken tractor that fits onto the raised beds
-I found giant pots at the recycle yard that I drug home and plan to use for squash along the raised portion of the back yard, maybe the front yard, too, although the hubs is not too excited for me to expose my weirdness to the neighbors
-Find cucurbits that are resistant to powdery mildew
-Amend the soil with some peat moss, vermiculite, compost--the soil does not hold on to water well
-Get an automatic watering system going
-Get better at this whole plant raising thing and better at cooking what I raise too
-Attack pests and problems early
House projects:
-Address the gutter issue in the front courtyard
-Finish ceiling above dining room
-Cut out hole for egress window in basement and install it
-Possibly start framing for new bedroom in basement
This could be a lot, but I hope we get it all accomplished and more. The house should be paid off, fingers crossed on the economy not tanking, in 12 years and I want to be done with all the projects by then.
Did the garden save us any money in food costs this year? No. I probably used $100-$200 worth of produce out of it. But it was never about just one year. This year I will be spending some more time and money on it, but not as much as last year. And hopefully with last year's experience, I will be better at raising and already I am definitely better at using our veggies.
I tried keeping the plants going into the winter with plastic sheeting creating a low tunnel over two beds. It did not work out all that well. A book I read, "Four Season Harvest", talked about having fresh veggies/leafy greens all winter with the right wind break, plants and buffers from freezing. He talked about plants not growing in the winter but simply staying alive for you to harvest when ready. I did not get my plants in the ground early enough for them to reach harvestable size before winter set in. Plus the low tunnels are very cumbersome to take care of each day. I will need to come up with a new plan next year. The hydroponics book I read explained to me even better why this occurs. Around October 21st the sunlight simply does not have the intensity or length of time to allow plants to grow. The sunlight comes back in February and your plants are ready to begin growing again around the 21st of that month. So I will wait for then to try out the low tunnels again. Until then I will keep reading, making plans, marking my catalogues and starting seedlings indoors.
