Garden re-imagined....

[Ontario Chick]

Last years garden yields had sent me on a mission to start reducing my garden in a logical and economical sort of way,
"Logical and Economical" are my middle names

there are 6 beds aprox. 4'x12'
I am thinking of scrapping 1 bed a year, which made me rethink what I actually want to grow ?
The most work with the least economical return are potatoes, so I am thinking that it's going to be the first bed to go.
I have some several raspberry canes gifted to me last year, so seriously considering planting 3 or 4 in the first decommissioned bed, possibly surrounded by peas for the first year.

Depending on how that works, I would decommission second bed next year, possibly replaced by other fruiting shrub, or more raspberries.

I am assuming I will actually last long enough to decommission the whole garden which may be a bit optimistic :)
Any input by imaginative gardeners is appreciated, the goal is less work since I am IT in the veg and landscaping gardens.

Forgot to add there was one bed decommissioned few years back, turned over to perennials (rhubarb, lovage, chives and parsley)

[WLLady]

Which potatoes do you grow? My yukon golds are so little work for the piles we get... They would be virtually the last thing i would get rid of. But we have sandy soil... So harvest is literally reaching into the dirt and pulling out the tubers. Not much shovelling needed unless we want to.

[Ontario Chick]

Unfortunately here it's a backbreaking job to get those suckers out of the ground and they have to be washed after, and I figured for a total value of about $ 20 simply not worse the effort.
I think the last thing I will get rid of is garlic, lots of work, but well worse the effort.

[labradors]

I think the first thing to do is to make a list of veggies that you really enjoy growing/eating and go from there.

For me, peas are a waste of time, but I love beans. I'm a tomato addict, so will never give them up. Peppers are great in the winter. I chop and freeze them, and they are so handy that way. Eggplants are great and I dehydrate a lot. Cilantro is wonderful. We eat a lot of chard and kale. Kale keeps going through some of the winter.

Mulch is a wonderful thing! I use black plastic on the tomatoes. It's a pain to set up, but it not only keeps the weeds down and moisture in, but it also makes clean-up easier in the fall.

I know what you mean about cutting back, and I should do it too. I think gardening in stages helps. For example, I might plant 6 tomato plants (one row) one day. No need to kill my back getting everything done on the same day!

Linda

[Ontario Chick]

Yup, great minds think alike, list is done, have been more or less the same for several years now, on a 4 year rotation, I actually have a garden schematic, so just insert next year rotation in to it, since garlic is planted in the fall.
bed # 1 Garlic
bed # 2 tomatoes
bed # 3 cucumbers
bed # 4 mixed root veg (carrots, parsnip, kohlrabis)
bed # 5 Swiss chard (star veg of last year) and beens

things are somewhat complicated by the fact all beds have to be covered because otherwise all will be harvested by deer :)
so eventually mixing and matching as there are fewer available beds may become too difficult.

[labradors]

Your gardens look lovely! Having to cover them to keep the deer out would be a real pain!

I forgot garlic and cukes. I love cukes and they are so prolific and easy to grow, but cucumber beetles have made my life miserable. I tried growing under Reemay one year, but found it too much of a chore to keep lifting and then re-positioning the Reemay every day. I may have to try neem oil.

I'm having a proper fence installed around my veggie garden this year. I used to have a makeshift low one, just to keep the dogs out, and nearly killed myself a few times, stepping over it, getting a foot caught, and tumbling. Now that rabbits have discovered my garden, I will have to have something sturdy at the bottom.

I always thought that carrots were a waste of time, especially in clay soil, but I'm growing a few different varieties this season, and will amend the soil in the row for them - and parsnips too.

Linda

[Ontario Chick]

I hear you on the low fences, I am pretty sure when we had them they were a breeze for the deer, I on the other hand did a daily obstacle course with many inelegant tumbles.

I find now one row of carrots brings us thru the winter, so since I know carrots are used to clean fields from unwanted chemicals coz they are so good at absorbing them, happy to grow a row for us :)
Lately I noticed that when we ran out around May I bought a bag and they sat in the fridge until our crop came in and then I threw them out, so stopped doing that too :)

[labradors]

OMG thanks for the info about the carrots! I had heard that they are one of the worst as far as nasty chemicals goes, so I usually buy "organic" for what that's worth, but some organic bags turned out to be huge and nasty-looking so I was tempted by some lovely bags of good-looking smaller, non-organic ones - eeek! No wonder I'm feeling grungy these days!

I tend not to use carrots much in the summer because there is so much choice for salad goodies :).

[Ontario Chick]

Had a moment in the garden this morning, almost all the beds are free of snow, hard not to plan all sorts of wonderful things, until reality sets in
Got my seeds from HH $0.99 per package, combined with last years William Dam seed leftovers, I even splurged on Jiffy pots, which I never used in the past, so we shall see.
Now that the barn is empty, seriously considering using the largest sunniest pen for a green house, after the seeds have sprouted, not sure if it will be warm enough at night.

[Killerbunny]

And on this note DH and I just had "the yearly potato discussion". Apparently because of poor yield he is thinking of upping it this year back to our 3 sacks because "it's cheaper" by the sack. I didn't scream, loads of restraint there. I had noticed he almost bought potatoes the other day and I stopped him. I had to show him the few remaining russets and the 20+ 4 cup portioned out freezered YGs & Russets because he thought we were out. No visitors last year and we don't eat that much there are loads left LOL. Also gnocchi ready to go.