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Lynn
03-15-2009, 04:32 PM
Hi All,

I'm Lynn. I've been squarefoot organic gardening for many years, small scale because of my small plot.

I'm a big fan of Mel Bartholemew, Rodale, Nancy Bubel, John Jeavons, Elliot Coleman, You Grow Girl, River Cottage and now Garden Girl. We've subscribed to Mother Earth News, Backwoods Home, Countryside, Organic Gardening magazines on and off over the years. I would love to become totally self sufficient.

We've established (6) 4' x 4' raised beds and one 2' x 10' raised bed. This year we are taking down a Wisteria that has started to devour a section of our garden. We didn't know enough about caring for it at first and now it is a monster.

I use containers when I need to. I've been growing my herbs on the deck in large containers. I am planning on the heirloom tomatoes growing upside down this year which will also free up some space. (Prudens Purple and Brandywine)

We have a small pond that's about 5 years old. We always have frogs, toads, goldfish, dragonflies and chipmunks seem to love it. They can do damage though. I grow scarlet runners on a trellis and the hummingbirds love them! Actually the butterflies do too.

Solar energy isn't very practical here but we plan to give it a try in combination with wind power.

We collect lots of rain (4 barrels) and since we use earth friendly laundry soap we 've used grey water to water the garden.

The chickens are supposed to arrive the week of 3/23. I have the brooder made and their feed ready to go! We ordered 10 Barred Rocks for eggs and 10 giant whites for broilers. Hubby is building the coop today.

In the future we hope to have a couple goats, and some rabbits.

Sinfonian
03-15-2009, 05:11 PM
Wow, you are me in a decade or so! Or where I want to be. Hehe of course my wife just reminded me again yesterday that it was MY garden, oh well, this is only year two.

Sounds like you have everything coming along nicely. How big is your space to grow? How big is the coop? This is all very interesting. Thank you for sjaring and welcome!

Lynn
03-15-2009, 07:02 PM
I thought we had 3/4 of an acre ~ but my husband tells me it's less than 1/2 :eek:

The raised beds total 84 square feet. This is the area having almost full sun. Next to the beds is a strip of raised ground that our heating fuel tank is burried under. We've had mostly flowers and herbs in there. I'm probably going to plant veggies in there this year.

Once we remove the wisteria we'll have another bed that's 4' x 8'. We're working on reclaiming some other space too by removing old pine trees on our property line. They're huge and straggly looking and create a lot of shade. We want a dwarf orchard and a much larger hoop house there.

It's always going to be a work in progress!

gardengirl72
03-15-2009, 08:43 PM
Lynn, thanks for stopping buy. It is a huge honor to be in the same sentence as some of those folks. I can't wait to see you gardens. And a garden is never finished, just in progress...

plantoneonme
03-16-2009, 04:48 PM
Lynn, welcome to the board. Do you have any pictures to share of your set up? I like to see how others are making their gardens. Kim

MoniDew
03-17-2009, 03:52 PM
Welcome! Can't wait to see some pics! You've got a lot of knowledge! And we here are a bunch of eager learners. Please pass along what you know!!

Marcus
03-17-2009, 06:08 PM
Hi Lynn

Welcome to the boards (am new here myself) you have some very interesting projects I can't wait to hear more about them

Take care

Marcus

Lynn
03-17-2009, 06:18 PM
http://www.xanga.com/primrozie

I try to keep postings of what I'm doing in the garden. This year we are making a much more serious effort at feeding ourselves from our land. The last few years have been hit or miss because of work schedules.

I realize people today have concerns about the economy, jobs, their retirement plans, etc...but I want to cut back on the amount of time I spend working for someone else and put more time in here at home doing these things that will benefit us in so many ways.

Of course, we better buy that tractor first ;)

Lynn

Lynn
03-18-2009, 06:43 AM
Thanks for the welcome folks, I'm sure we'll all learn from each other. Patti you are a blessing. I've wondered what city dwellers would do if things get much worse economically, let alone having the ability to grow great food! You're providing an answer. My daughter lives in Pittsburgh and I've told her to share your website with her friends! She's looking into getting a plot in a city lot that a neighborhood is making into a garden.

Blossome
03-18-2009, 02:29 PM
Wow! you really got it going on out there. Sounds great, welcome.

Kevin
03-18-2009, 06:15 PM
Welcome Lynn, You are gonna fit right in here. I can't wait to discuss your grey water systems and earth friendly detergents . Absolutely amazing. Kevin

gardengirl72
03-22-2009, 09:03 PM
You are so much farther ahead than me. I have just under 1000 seedlings started, but I'm still frozen up here.

landentaylor
03-25-2009, 01:31 AM
hi am landentaylor new bee to this forum just wanted to say hi to all friends

MoniDew
03-25-2009, 01:41 PM
welcome to you, too, Landen. You might wish to start an introductory thread of your own so we can welcome you properly!!