Hi Diana! Hi Greeneyes! I think we are in for a rough patch!
I don’t think you need these but others new to gardening might want to check them out!
I have this book. Its for people gardening in limited space with limited resources. It does teach you a lot about growing vegetables and composting organically. (Good to know but I think If you have space and fertilizer, use it you will get larger vegetables and yields.)
“How to grow more vegetables in less space than you ever imagined” John Jeavons
https://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-More-Vegetables-Ninth-dp-0399579184/dp/0399579184/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
“Gardening when it Counts. Growing food in hard times.” Steven Soloman. (Founder of Territorial Seeds.)
https://www.amazon.com/Gardening-When-Counts-Growing-Mother/dp/086571553X
“Whizbang Gardening!” Herrick Kimball
https://whizbanggardening.blogspot.com/
I am using some of his ideas.
“Four Season Harvest;” Elliot Coleman.
Good luck and check out the Weekly Gardening thread!
Okay, since you brought it up, here’s a pic of our pre fab greenhouse we installed 2 or 3 seasons ago on the basement patio in back of the house.
Post #17 shows the view looking out of the green house. On the other side of the retaining wall is about 72 sq. ft of raised beds. To the upper left you can see one of the big round pots that I set out side the raised bed for a cherry tomato plant.
The dirt for the upper retaining wall in the left hand side of the picture is great-almost zero bending to tend that bed:
Inside the GHouse:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3667189/posts?page=17#17
ANOTHER view of Ghouse - post 65 shows the view from the other side of the greenhouse and you can see more of the raised beds as well as the greenhouse. The raised beds are stair stepped down the hill.
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3667189/posts?page=65#65
New extended Patio - since we took up so much patio space with the greenhouse, hubby added a small area for table and chairs using pavers. The garlic harvest - a regular June activity. On the lower left you’ll see a corner of one of the 2 additional raised beds (right outside the greenhouse)which gives me a total of 100 sq. ft. :
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3669028/posts?page=60#60
On down the hill, I have another 100 sq. ft of raised beds, but due to a walnut tree in close proximity, it has limited use. Hubby has about 700 sq. ft. of gardens and fruit trees and berry bushes.
Pic of Back Porch idea - This is a sample concept of the project we planned for the upper patio behind the dining area-only it was going to be quite a lot wider:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3603640/posts?page=20#20
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of agreeing to build the “shed” with root cellar basement on our side lot first-big mistake.
Hubby doubled the size that we agreed to without consulting me. So all the money we had for the enclosed porch concept is going into the “shed”. As consolation, Hubby put in some big windows and a patio door on the back/southwest side of the shed.
So I can insulate an area, and grow a few plants there in the winter, but I’ll have to get out in the cold and trek down the hill and have the expense of running yet another heater- versus having a room upstairs, that would be toasty warm from the heat of the fireplace, and would have had a faucet in it that a hose could be hooked too for watering plants. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and get that too. Ha.
Ok I have several books and booklets from Ecology Action -starting with John Jeavons “An Experimental 33-bed Grow biointensive Mini-Farm: Growing Complete Fertility, Nutrition, and Income. Then there’s others
Learning to grow all your own food - a one bed model for compost, diet, and income.
The smallest possible area to grow food and feed.
Food for the Future Now - Survival Garden Plan
Growing More Food with Less Water
How to grow more vegetables.
Several survival type wild plants to eat books.
Some of the “lost ways” books, and back to basics how to do stuff like the farmers used to do before industrialization.
Several big Encyclopedia of Heirloom Gardening etc. At least 20 more titles-too many to list. More than I can even remember I have. Whew! 🤣
Great suggestions, Pete! I have ‘How to Grow More...’ and a number of the Elliot Coleman books.
Both are excellent. Will check out your other recommendations. Thanks! :)
I’d like to recommend Carol Deppe’s “The Resilient Gardener”, as well as her book “How to Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties”.
Even if you don’t intend to take up plant-breeding, she has excellent advice about how to save seeds in a way that minimizes inbreeding depression, and how to select for plants that do well in your particular area.