This marks our first spring living at the Mad County Build. Last year we planted a garden, but Paul was the only one out here everyday. The burden of tending it was left mostly to him! We're changing that up and the whole family is helping out this year! There's a special playlist on our YouTube channel that has all of our videos dealing with using your land to support your family.
When it comes to homesteading, we strive to make things manageable and simple. There are a LOT of ways that you can complicate something, and that isn't our goal. We don't have time for one! We've always had a lot of success with our past gardens, so we opted to stick with our tried and true methods once again. We also kept what we are growing very simple so that we can maximize our use when it's fresh and have time to properly freeze/dry/can it later.
Something that I am trying new for the first time is being more aware of the schedule everything is on. I added labels to the seed packets with the date that I could expect maturity, and for a few things I'll plant them in stages and add more labels. I also added all of this to my Google calendar (sounds crazy!) because honestly I get busy and forget about stuff! I figure if it's in my calendar I'll have a better chance of keeping my schedule free if we're going to have a big harvest week. I don't want anything to go to waste! I also took pics of the packets in front of their row in case I don't remember where I planted something!
For the first time we are planting some heirloom seeds too. We are going to try our hand at retrieving the seeds and using them next year. That's probably our biggest garden goal- we eventually want to save all of our own seeds! This is true self-sustainability! But we know that it's more work and takes time, so we aren't trying to accomplish it all in one grow season. We'll do a few things this year, then add to it every season.
One thing I hope we get this year is CORN! Last year the raccoons found it DAYS before it was ready and ate every last bit! Normally we freeze enough to last us all year, and so we were devastated! Wish us luck that we keep them away this year.
We'll continue to update you as the season progresses, and please comment with your questions!
https://youtu.be/R3kC_6iW0sw