How Many Seeds Will We Need?

I remember being in 4^th grade.  I can still see where I sat in the classroom and my teacher introducing the “Farm” unit.  Now that was something I could get into.  We learned about crop rotation and soil etc and then we got to map out our own “farm”.   We were to place the crops and then project what the next rotation would be.  Then we got to use color pencils and color it all in.  I was in heaven!

Who would have thought that a Southern California Girl would 1. have married a guy who grew up on a farm but 2. Get to really farm my own acre? So, yesterday I got out my paper, pencils and ruler and tried to plan out my acre.  This is going to be fun!

1 acre equals 400 beds 25 ft x 2 ft.  So if you cut the acre into 6 equal parts that is 66 beds each part.  Now you need to figure out which vegies grow best together, this is called companion farming.  So I figured that out.  Now to figure out how many seeds for each vegetable we are going to plant.  If you put 3 to 4 seeds in each hole and space them, now mind you each plant is different,  10 inches apart, and you have 25 ft of 2 rows  and you have 33 beds how many seeds is that? 

WHOLY CRAP! That’s just like if train "A" left the station at 1:00 from LA and train "B" left the station at 3:00 from NYC when and where will they meet?  I HATE MATH!! Wow, dad was right I should have paid attention in math class.  UT OH!

Getting Started

We have decided on most of the crops that we will plant this season.  The obvious, tomato's, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, squash, carrots and herbs.  What we are trying to figure out is what to do with the second acre, if we choose to take it.  We don't want to get too over our heads, so it needs to be a low maintenance crop.  Meaning we don't want to grow an acre of weeds.  Is there something that any of you know of that grows "like" a weed?  Strawberries I heard is good, but will it over grow weeds?

Going organic means no chemicals.  I have been researching the natural way of spraying weeds.  Vinegar!  Who knew what a revelation vinegar was?  I knew you could put it on the icky stuff that grows on your fridge where the water comes out, or the coffee machine of it's gunk (common now you all know what I mean)  but it also will kill weeds.  Now you can't use household vinegar as it only has 5% of acetic acid. But, by distilling, a 15% concentration can be obtained, and a 30% concentration can be obtained by freeze evaporation. These concentrated acetic acids, if they are derived from plant sources and not from chemicals, are acceptable for agricultural use by the organic community. Vinegar will decrease the pH of the soil somewhat, but within 48 hours the pH balance is back to its original state. It is also a biodegradable product.

I plan to try this by spraying some of the dandelions that dare to come up on my lawn.  I will use the household vinegar though as I am impatient and want to see if it works now! Studies show that it may take a couple of applications so I will try and let you know.. Yes, I am still a photographer at heart so I will have before and after pictures.  I look forward to hearing your suggestions and advice on the second acre and if you want to pass on any advice on large scale growing....

Finding the Land

As I am on the south side of 40, I believe it is time to get healthy. Steve and I have decided to go back to his roots, he grew up on a farm, and go back to the basics.  We feel that growing local, chemical free produce is the future.

So where do we begin?  If you know my husband, then it begins with A LOT of research.  Reading other bloggers and following the principles of SPIN farming.  Me, I just want to grow what I like and get to it.  So maybe between the two of us we will be able to get something started.

We have found a place about 2 blocks from our home.  PERFECT!  We can walk there!  No carbon footprint coming from our farm.  I have contacted the owner of the land and he is willing to rent us an acre or two.  We will meet with him this week and hopefully get to preparing the land this weekend, weather permitting.

Steve did mention last night at dinner that he felt we should test the soil so we know what nutrients will need to go back into the land.  Good idea!  So, this week we will meet with the owner and plot out the acre, test the soil, and till.  Piece of cake!