very local food

[chhotii]

Here's a list of stuff to work on growing in our yard. It's sorted, roughly, according to how much output I expect, per unit of effort, based on my limited prior gardening efforts, and what I hear about other people growing around here. Topping the list, with least effort/most output is rhubarb; nothing needs to be done and we get more rhubarb than we know what to do with.

Rhubarb
Mint
Basil
Concord grapes
Blueberries
Raspberries
strawberries
Peaches
Cherries
pears
zucchini
Butternut squash
Cherry tomatoes
Other tomatoes
peas
Cucumbers
Brussel sprouts
Spinach

Feedback, or other suggestions, fellow gardeners?

Comments

[tb]

Peas are at the top of my list for really easy and productive. Three things: plant them early (mid-April), give them something to climb up (doesn't have to be pretty or elaborate), and protect them from woodchucks (but you know about those). They don't need fertilizing and don't seem to have pests around here.

You're right about basil. You can start it indoors, but these days I just direct seed it when I transplant the tomatoes and I get more than enough to keep me in pesto until the next year. Tomatoes are also easy once they're planted and staked/caged; the main determinant of how productive they'll be is weather, which you can't control. Even in a bad year (like this one), there's nothing quite like a fresh tomato, and the Sungold cherries are doing just fine.

Cucumbers are easier and more productive than butternut squash, which has a long season and needs a lot of feeding. Zucchini and other summer squashes beat them both of course, but the bushes can take up a lot of room; cukes can be trained to go up things.

Fruit trees can be tough to get started and are an exercise in delayed gratification. Blueberry bushes require soil acidification, as quietann mentioned. I was "lucky" and started with sandy acidic soil, and have been able to maintain it just by mulching with oak leaves (lots of tannin) in the fall. It still took several years before I got enough berries to be worthwhile. Saint Lawrence Nurseries is my favorite source for blueberry bushes and general fruit tree info. Fedco has good pointers too.

Other plants: I like garlic. It has no pests (even the woodchucks leave it alone) and is on a different planting/harvesting schedule than most things. This year I tried sage, and it's doing well; lots of herbs are easy once you get past the constant-weeding stage. Green and wax beans are easy too, and chard is good for greens.

Hmm, I may just need to make my own version of your list.

[chhotii.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, peas. I should put peas back into the list. Every time I've tried peas, the plants have been eaten down to the ground by something. But perhaps if we can do a better job with the fencing this time around the peas will be worthwhile.