Growing food for a large family who else is doing this?
- Thread starter Juliana
- Start date
- Joined
- May 30, 2023
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 177
- Location
- East Kentucky
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
I've not got a big family to feed but I grow all my food myself. I probably don't spend a hundred dollars a year buying from grocery stores. I've got friends who are cattle and beef farmers that I trade my vegetables for beef and pork so I never buy meat from stores.
I try to grow a little bit of everything, but my main vegetables are heirloom beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes.
The way I see it, you can't plant to much.
Whatever I have left over from canning or freezing, plus I sale a lot at farmers markets, I donate to local food banks.
Hope you have a blessed growing season!!
I try to grow a little bit of everything, but my main vegetables are heirloom beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes.
The way I see it, you can't plant to much.
Whatever I have left over from canning or freezing, plus I sale a lot at farmers markets, I donate to local food banks.
Hope you have a blessed growing season!!
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2019
- Messages
- 3,693
- Reaction score
- 3,227
- Location
- East Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- old zone 8b/new zone 9a
- Country
I've grown well over 90% of the vegetables my family consumed for several decades.
Most rewarding...that's hard to say but potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, okra, peas, cucumbers, onions, carrots, all brassicas brock, cabbage, collards, cauliflower, brussels, ...it's just too many to list but all rewarding.
Storage...I plan the garden as effectively as I can to minimize the need for storage and maximize fresh veggie availability. Stagger plant many veggies corn, beans, cucumbers, etc. etc. to insure continuous supply fresh. We can excess and/or freeze the excess and donate to the local food bank.
Planning...interesting you would ask. Those who fail to plan are planning to fail...plus they are missing out on a very enjoyable part of gardening.
Planning is really a big part of the whole gardening journey. Maybe you've seen pictures of hundreds of carrots, or whatever harvested all at the same time. That is a picture of poor planning for the home gardener feeding a family in my book. Garden veggies are best tasting and most nutritious when consumed fresh and to the extent possible our harvests are planned to happen when we need and can use fresh food.
Another very important part of planning is rotating crops, replenishing soil with green manure and cover crops, and amending depleted soils with composted cow manure we process on the farm. Its all part of a basically closed system...no synthetic fertilizers, no "cides" of any kind, and nothing brought into the garden from external sources with very few exceptions.
It's a very rewarding journey and I absolutely encourage you to take it on!
Most rewarding...that's hard to say but potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, okra, peas, cucumbers, onions, carrots, all brassicas brock, cabbage, collards, cauliflower, brussels, ...it's just too many to list but all rewarding.
Storage...I plan the garden as effectively as I can to minimize the need for storage and maximize fresh veggie availability. Stagger plant many veggies corn, beans, cucumbers, etc. etc. to insure continuous supply fresh. We can excess and/or freeze the excess and donate to the local food bank.
Planning...interesting you would ask. Those who fail to plan are planning to fail...plus they are missing out on a very enjoyable part of gardening.
Planning is really a big part of the whole gardening journey. Maybe you've seen pictures of hundreds of carrots, or whatever harvested all at the same time. That is a picture of poor planning for the home gardener feeding a family in my book. Garden veggies are best tasting and most nutritious when consumed fresh and to the extent possible our harvests are planned to happen when we need and can use fresh food.
Another very important part of planning is rotating crops, replenishing soil with green manure and cover crops, and amending depleted soils with composted cow manure we process on the farm. Its all part of a basically closed system...no synthetic fertilizers, no "cides" of any kind, and nothing brought into the garden from external sources with very few exceptions.
It's a very rewarding journey and I absolutely encourage you to take it on!
Esther Knapicius
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 5,424
- Reaction score
- 4,612
- Location
- Southern Chester County, PA, USA
- Hardiness Zone
- 4 to 5 best for success.
- Country
I have an facebook "friend" who has a dedicated very large "canning" storage area in her basement. She shows pictures of many shelves , many shelves. My additional concern for storing large amounts is ---there would possibly need some things to be frozen, thus my worry if the electric went out. So a whole house generator would be necessary or a smaller one just for the freezer etc. I guess Planning is the key here of keeping large amounts .
gary350
Full Access Member
Growing up in the 1950s grand parents had a 40 acres farm with a 2 acre garden. Grand parents, aunts & uncles, parents, cousins, brothers & sisters = 26 of us. The entire family worked the same garden. 1 years supply of food was canned in several 100 mason jars.
When wife & I started growing a garden we canned in mason jars also. The best food to grow for us is, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, peas, onions, garlic, carrots, peppers, melons, planted early spring. Now 50 years later no children at home we sold 400 mason jars now we have 3 freezers. I learned we can't do raised beds they cost more than the food they grow and they are very high maintenance. We can't grow a no till garden it is too much work. 50 years ago garden worked me to death 2 hours every day but now that I have learned correct way to grow our garden I seldom work more than 15 minutes a week in the garden.
I finished planting our garden yesterday now we wait for 2 months. When tomatoes & peppers grow taller they need to be staked. Grass & weeds don't grow if you don't water them. We save seeds to plant next year. There is not much difference in our, southern Illinois garden 50 years ago, our Phoenix AZ garden, our Tennessee garden, you need to learn what weather each plant likes to plant them at the correct time. Each plant is different they all need their own plant food.
When wife & I started growing a garden we canned in mason jars also. The best food to grow for us is, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, peas, onions, garlic, carrots, peppers, melons, planted early spring. Now 50 years later no children at home we sold 400 mason jars now we have 3 freezers. I learned we can't do raised beds they cost more than the food they grow and they are very high maintenance. We can't grow a no till garden it is too much work. 50 years ago garden worked me to death 2 hours every day but now that I have learned correct way to grow our garden I seldom work more than 15 minutes a week in the garden.
I finished planting our garden yesterday now we wait for 2 months. When tomatoes & peppers grow taller they need to be staked. Grass & weeds don't grow if you don't water them. We save seeds to plant next year. There is not much difference in our, southern Illinois garden 50 years ago, our Phoenix AZ garden, our Tennessee garden, you need to learn what weather each plant likes to plant them at the correct time. Each plant is different they all need their own plant food.
Last edited:
Esther Knapicius
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 5,424
- Reaction score
- 4,612
- Location
- Southern Chester County, PA, USA
- Hardiness Zone
- 4 to 5 best for success.
- Country
Over here lots of Amish live, and so do several of their Markets. If I go to anyone of them late on a Saturday they discount lots of veggies. Only husband and I, so much easier that way than to deal with an actual veggie garden.
I've been trying to get to this point of growing what we eat for years. I finally feel like I'm at the point I honestly could be doing it for 80 % of what we eat. The ones I can't produce are the ones that my soil and climate aren't good for. I do have some insights to share with you.
The battle of being able to do this really has to do with whether or not you can do FOOD STORAGE. So to do that you need a root cellar and someone in the family needs to be able to have the skill to do 'mason jar canning'. If you can do either of those with enough capacity in both then you have a chance.
And on the production end of the vegetables what really seems to be able to make it happen for us is having enough fertilizer. IF you have fertilizer in the soil you can produce vegetables. (And water too but that part is more obvious.)
I wish you luck.
The battle of being able to do this really has to do with whether or not you can do FOOD STORAGE. So to do that you need a root cellar and someone in the family needs to be able to have the skill to do 'mason jar canning'. If you can do either of those with enough capacity in both then you have a chance.
And on the production end of the vegetables what really seems to be able to make it happen for us is having enough fertilizer. IF you have fertilizer in the soil you can produce vegetables. (And water too but that part is more obvious.)
I wish you luck.
gary350
Full Access Member
In Illinois our cellar was under our house with the door outside. Most people have their cellar some where in the yard. Barn roofing metal over wood makes rain water & snow melt run off and wood is good insulation. TN cellars fill up with water few people in TN have cellars or they need an electric sum pump. My grand parents had a 4 ft wide table 12 ft long for 600 lbs. of potatoes. Every time grand mother went to the cellar to get potatoes she rolled the potatoes around all over the table. She said, if potatoes lay in the same position all the time they develop rotten places where potatoes touch other potatoes or touch the wooden table. I keep my potatoes in 25 lb. boxes, I pour potatoes into empty boxes to prevent rotting. I keep my new potatoes inside our house until cold weather then I move them outside to a shed. Last year we had 80°f weather until Dec. I could not move potatoes outside it was cooler inside the house 74° and I could not make our potatoes go dormant it was too warm, potatoes grew very long sprouts. Our potatoes were still good and I saved enough new potatoes for 600 potato plants this year.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2019
- Messages
- 3,693
- Reaction score
- 3,227
- Location
- East Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- old zone 8b/new zone 9a
- Country
Here's my list of principal "staples" grown annually in my garden not including specialty items.
* note sometimes I get two tomato crops with a fall/winter crop but not every year and usually not especially significant
| veggie | crops per year | pounds per crop | storage method on excess |
| beans, green | 4 | 30 | can |
| beans, shelled | 2 | 30 | can |
| beets | 1 | 10 | can |
| brocolli | 4 | 5 | freeze |
| brussels sprouts | 1 | 5 | none |
| cabbage | 4 | 10 | none |
| cantalope | 1 | 30 | none |
| carrots | 5 | 5 | can |
| cauliflower | 2 | 5 | none |
| corn | 3 | 50 | freeze |
| cucumbers | 4 | 5 | can/pickle |
| horse radish | 1 | 5 | fridge |
| lettuce | 3 | 1 | none |
| okra | 1 | 40 | can/pickle |
| onion | 1 | 300 | dry |
| peas, cow | 4 | 30 | can |
| peas, sweet | 1 | 5 | none |
| peppers jalapeno | 2 | 10 | can |
| peppers sweet | 1 | 5 | none |
| potato | 2 | 250 | can/fridge |
| radish | 5 | 5 | none |
| squash, green | 1 | 5 | none |
| squash, yellow | 1 | 5 | none |
| sweet potato | 1 | 50 | dry |
| swiss chard | 1 | 5 | none |
| tomatillos | 1 | 5 | none |
| tomato* | 1 | 400 | can |
| turnip | 1 | 20 | none |
| watermelon | 1 | 100 | none |