A Garden to feed 9 for a year. Hallelujah it is planted!!!

The weather here in Arkansas has been absolutely CRAZY, I mean really??? Snow on May 3rd???  So my garden is later getting set out than usual.  Yesterday evening we got the last of the seeds planted.  I have left to buy some herb plants and get them set out but other than that it is done.  I still have room for about 4 more rows and my friend wants some mustard greens so that may get set out if she brings me the seeds. (we do not eat mustard greens).  I may also plant a couple more rows of dry beans. 

Between my daughter and I we have 9 mouths to feed.  Which means we have to have a HUGE garden if we do not want to go to the store.  I also have many critters to feed  and some of it to is for them.

We still have to get the rest of the mulch down.  We go to a neighboring town and get mulch.  It is chipped up wood and here is the great thing.  It is only one dollar for a truck load!  Good Bye weeds!!!!

Between canning, root cellaring, freezing and dehydrating we should be able to preserve enough to last a year, God willing.  If there is no drought, floods or grasshopper plagues we should be good.  My ducks will be sent to the garden to eat bugs as soon as all my seeds and plants are well established.

Here is what we have (remember each row is about 70 feet long):

7 rows of potatoes
1 row of garlic
4 rows of green beans
1 row of peppers
1 row of tomatoes
1 row of sweet potatoes
1 row of dry beans
1 row of cucumbers
4 hills of zucchini
1 row of okra
1/2 row of honeydew melons
1/2 row of cantaloupes
1/2 row of Acorn squash
1/2 row of butternut squash
1 1/2 row watermelon
4 rows of corn
2 rows of radishes
2 rows of sweet peas
2 rows of turnips
1 1/2 rows of beets
1/2 row of rutabaga
2 rows of carrots
2 rows of lettuce
2 rows of spinach
2 rows of onions
1 row of broccoli
1 row of cabbage
1 row of pumpkins
5 hills of yellow squash
1 row of sunflowers

I think that is it!!!  Anybody want to come and learn how to can and preserve everything in a couple months???? LOL

All of these plants/seeds are heirloom non GMO.  This means that they are healthy and we can save the seeds for next year.  This way our garden will cost much less.  Right now to plant all of this we have about $75 invested plus we will have about $15 invested in mulch.  Last year 1 row of potatoes produced about 100 pounds of potatoes we have 7 times that and are expecting about 500-700 pounds of potatoes.  Enough for both families to have potatoes all year.  Since we do not have a root cellar we will be digging cairns to preserve them.  We will do the same with the winter squash.

Savings on potatoes alone: Yukon Golds are $4.96 for 5 pounds at Wal-Mart.  I spent $10 on 100 pounds of Yukon Gold seed potatoes.  If we get 500 pounds of Yukon golds that would be about $500 to buy them at Wal-Mart savings is $490 dollars.  More if we end up digging more than 500 pounds of them!!!  I think that is a BIG savings myself and that alone makes the garden worth it!!!

My oldest daughter has been an immense help.  I could not have done it without her.  But this garden feeds her family also.  This is how families are supposed to be.  Instead of bickering and fighting it is much more productive to get together, work together, pray together and love each other!