hsifeng | Entries tagged with no work gardening

Reading through the last bits of Ruth Stout's "No Work Gardening" book and thought I should start listing the vegetable types that she is suggesting (since she is nice enough to mention the varieties by name on occasion, and why she likes that type):

Giant Green soybeans (stays green longer)
Sweet Spanish onions (better flavor)
Baby Blue Hubbard (her favorite) & Buttercup squash
North Star corn (matures quickly, she recommends the miniature variety for closer rows)
Butter Crunch Lettuce (withstands frost)
New Zealand Spinach (withstands frost)
Fairfax strawberries (better tasting)*
Lincoln peas (better tasting)

And:

Carrots
Asparagus**
Sweet Peas
Tomatoes
Parsley
Parsnips
Turnips
Bell Peppers
Potatoes
Cucumber
Kale
Brussels Sprouts

Regarding prepping your garden in winter:

Put down a layer of as many leaves as possible. Cover this with as many cornstalks (cut to 1' lengths) as you can - to prevent the leaves blowing about - then cover with loose hay. She recommends either "spoiled" hay, good hay or salt hay. Make the hay in the area where tomatoes will go thick. Make the hay cover in the area for the asparagus bed with about 8" of loose hay. Cover the rest of the garden in a lighter layer. Come spring, you will add more hay/mulch again once you have planted and the seeds have sprouted.

When dealing with strawberries, keep the mulch light until the first frost, then cover in 10" of mulch/hay if the thermometer drops to 20 degrees.

*She uses portable cold frames to regulate the temperature on these during frosts (rather then mounding and removing mulch each day). She does not recommend the 'ever bearing' varieties and says they do not produce enough berries to be worth the time.

**Ruth recommends using the 'manufacturer's' method for initial planting, and then simply mulching the rows with loose hay (rather than covering and uncovering depending on the season). Instead of cutting off the shoots for harvest, she simply breaks them off where they snap on their own - this prevents possible damage to nearby shoots.

Well kids, I think it is time for me to look into this more seriously. We wanted to wait until we put in the garage (so that the solar panels could go there instead of on the house) but I don’t know if that type of esthetic consideration is realistic anymore. I only hope they can put them on the BACK of the house so that they aren’t so nasty looking in the front.

Our friggin electric bill was over $450 in the middle of the summer this year and over $650 in the middle of the summer last year. Nach.

I understand there are companies in my area that are doing solar leases as well. Other ‘off grid’ items I would like to look into.

1) Home gardening: Seems we might be doing a bit of a ‘community garden’ since we have oodles of yard space tristinmorgan and saoirse42 are interested in pitching in.