Now that we’re moved in and feeling settled in (mostly), it’s time to turn our attention to the land. Since it is only August, we also thought that it would be nice to put in a small garden so we could enjoy some home grown produce this fall, maybe even green beans!
We made a trip to Shipshewana, Indiana to make our first big purchase for the farm – a two wheel tractor.
For our first garden plot, we worked up an area in front of the pole barn, 50 feet long by 24 feet wide, to accommodate six 30-inch beds. In the future we’ll extend this by another 16 feet to add an additional 4 beds.
On the property are some very old peonies that I plan to move and split. In the fall, this plot will be their new home. Next year it will be home to additional perennial flowers for a cutting garden. Since the plot is located between the house and pole barn, I thought it would be nice to be able to enjoy the flowers from the back porch. This area also used to have an old barn, so the soil is quite rocky in places with old gravel and chunks of concrete from the foundation. Not a good place for root crops like carrots!
For this summer, we plan to put in some green beans, carrots, lettuce, turnips, green onions, kale, chard, and radishes. Most of these seeds are leftover from last year, with the exception of the green beans. Hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy a little farm fresh produce this fall!