Planning my garden - Millet

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm going to have a garden this Spring, but just in case, I'm planning it!

For my chickens, since they loved it so much last year, I'll grow more millet.

One of my chickens, Libby, figured out that if she reached up and grabbed the top-most part she could reach, she could bring it down to the ground, let it go, and watch the millet-seeds fly! Then she'd scramble after them to gobble them down before anyone else figured up what she was up to.

She's my smart one.

Also, she's my loner. Was my runt. We were concerned that she wouldn't grow up, but she did. She prefers to be alone, away from the other chickens, but comes close when I walk nearby.

Yep, I'll grow millet. Not just for her, but for all of the chickens and especially, for us humans to eat. It's good for us to eat, especially since it's gluten-free, and me and my kid can't have gluten.

Seeds: Last year I threw down the seeds from the package I bought to cook and eat. Vitamin Cottage. 2 lbs for about $4.00. Not bad!

I think we'll probably sow 4 4x8 raised beds of this. Yum!

Self-Sufficient on 2 Acres?

As a family focused on becoming self-reliant or self-sufficient, the topic of this post weighs heavily on my mind. I've posted about this before, but things change.

We've run out of money. We're late in finishing the goat house and chicken coop... would help if the wind wouldn't keep blowing things over! We still need to build a "bank" of quail cages and rabbit hutches. (10 Coturnix quail coming on June 21). Still have more trees and bushes to order. And the seedlings and tree-sticks we need to get into the ground are sooo far behind and just got more a couple of days ago!

So... with everything that is going on ... wondering if commerce stopped tomorrow or next month or next year, would we be able to take care of ourselves (relative to food) with what we already have, or have ready to plant soon? Not just us humans, but also our rabbits, quail, chickens, dogs and goats?

Sure we have 2 acres, but we had to use the entire perimeter (in 20 feet) for windbreaks so that space is lost. Decided to use the fenced-in 1/10 acre for our "garden" (herbs and veggies) and the critter pens. Scatter the front and back 1 1/2 acres with nut and fruit trees and bushes. Fill in any space possible with various kinds of 3-sisters gardens (corn/bean/winter squash, and sunflower/cucumber/melon) and other grains.

Would still need to buy hay... but... your input? Here's what we have or will have:

Grains (gluten-free):
-amaranth
-corn
-millet
-quinoa

Fruit:
-apple
-blackberry
-blueberry
-cherry
-jostaberry
-pear
-peach
-nectarine
-raspberry
-strawberry

Nut/Legume (plant protein):
-beans, all kinds
-hazelnut/filbert
-lentils
-peas (maybe next year'll be better)
-walnut

Vegetables:
-asparagus
-beet
-broccoli
-cabbage
-carrots
-cucumber
-eggplant
-garlic
-lettuce
-melon
-okra
-onion
-pepper (bell and hot)
-radish
-rhubarb
-rutabaga
-spinach
-squash, zucchini
-squash, winter (4 kinds)
-swiss chard
-tomato
-turnip

Herbs:
-basil
-dill
-lavender
-oregano
-parsley
-rosemary
-soapwort
-stevia

Flowers (Edible):
-marigold
-nasturtium
-pansy
-rose
-sunflowers

Still intend to get:
-bees (wax, honey, pollination)
-elderberries and grapes
-solar and wind power capable
-worms
etc... see: http://vikkisverandah.blogspot.com/p/our-homestead.html .

I don't can much; I dehydrate almost everything.

So... what do you think?!?!

Chicken Coop almost done

It seems like we worked very hard today, and STILL the chicken coop isn't completely done! I mean, we got the goat pen mucked out, some dead trees removed, three cover-up hats made, and the property examined. PLUS we got the chicken coop almost done.

The above is a pic of the little area of popcorn, amaranth and sunflowers that I planted the other day. Not very big, but it's more of an experiment anyway. Never grew amaranth before and thought I'd see if I can do it first on a small scale. This is right outside of the goat pen.

This above pic shows the boxes of potatoes that I planted. On our deck. Near the blue pool with cabbage, broccoli and greens. For the potatoes, I used some of our moving boxes, and some of those boxes had the baby chicks in them so lots of poo. I noted which boxes had what so that we'll know what works and what doesn't.

The above pic shows the goat pen to the right, and the chicken coop in the middle (to the left of the goat pen). Here we obviously haven't finished it, but certainly made headway!

The above is a close-up of the inside of the chicken coop (hen house), with a "wall" showing on the right (that will separate this coop from the next). The hen house is 4 x 4 x 4. The bottom and back 2 feet is just open, with a brace. The two 2-feet had 2 levels of 3-section nesting-box areas. I still need to find dishpans or something to put there for them to lay in. All of that is the back 2 feet. The front 2 feet is open, except for the 2 roosts ... one at 16 inches and one at 25 inches. We still have to put the front door on this house.

This is a close-up of the nesting box area. We put a "lip" on the front of each level just in case the hens decide to lay outside of the cozy boxes. No eggs rolling onto the ground for us!

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Yes, we're still major-big-time burnt. We did have good covering hats on today, with flaps at the back for our necks, but I think it's kinda closing the barn door after the cow got out. Too late. Drinking lots of water too.

Hubby has one more day off. Hoping to finish the hen house, get the fence finished and install the gate. Still have more trees to plant, but I doubt we'll get to that tomorrow. Also need to start/finish the second hen house and coop, and re-construct the goat pen.

Yeah, right.

= = = =

Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.

Corn, Squash and Sunflowers planted

We had a busy day yesterday, here at our little 2-acre homestead. We...

-planted about 20 sunflowers
-a handful of amaranth seeds
-30 popcorn seeds
-40-50 golden bantam corn seedlings
-3 jack-o-lantern pumpkin seedlings
-4 butternut squash seedlings
-10 australian butter squash seedlings
-16 baking potatoes
-33 fingerling potatoes
-a plastic kiddie pool with lettuce, cabbage, and broccoli seedlings
-entire 2 acres mowed!

In the process, I got two big blisters on my thumbs, we all got sunburnt, and Hubby came close to heat stroke.

I'll take pictures when I get a chance.

Still.... we're not as far behind as we were two days ago! And we have lots planned to accomplish today. I really need to get the tomatoes and luffa out. Might even get some of the gourds, pumpkins and squashes planted.

Olla and other waterers

I read about olla waterers for gardens .... basically big clay pots that are buried where you want constant watering. Like a drip irrigation system. Only you need to keep filling up the clay pots.

Question 1: Is it possible to use the small (empty/clean) plastic gatorade bottles for this? Or maybe even 2-liter plastic soda bottles? Hubby drinks lots of the individual gatorade but not as much 2-liter sodas, and we don't buy gallon milk very often.

Question 2: In a 4x8 foot bed, how many bottles (assume 2-liter) would we need to "plant" in the center of the bed. Three?

Question 3: Would we need to replace them each year since plastic does (eventually) degrade?

Question 4: How big would we make the drip holes ... a pin prick? Maybe on all 4 sides?

Question 5: Shouldn't I keep the top screwed on so bugs can't get in, drown and clog up the drip holes?

Remember... I'm cheap! I don't want to spend $25 for a clay pot waterer!

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We still don't have the baby chicks. Supposedly today. We'll see. If they don't come in to the feed store, I might cancel if I can find them from somewhere else.

Yesterday (or was it the day before?), Hubby and I decided to hold off on getting more quail and a boyfriend for our angora bunny. We need to work with the chickens and goats and garden and so forth. We're still getting about 5 eggs a week from our pair of quail but still...

My hands still hurt. Started taking water pills yesterday just in case it's due to water retention but doesn't seem to help yet. Need to remember to pick up some arthritis med (OTC) before I get the chicks.

Finally finished my chocolate birthday cake and sent the plate with Hubby today to give back to his mom when he goes over this afternoon after work. I haven't done anything at all with my diet for months but I'm feeling worse so I'm gonna start back on it.

We're eating some greens from our indoor garden and they are very yummy! Sure wish the weather would cooperate so I can get the outdoor garden planted! Yesterday, before the snow, I broadcast some "green manure" over the area where we're gonna build the goat and chicken pens... hoping they will find their way to sprout from the snow-moisture and start growing for when the goats and chickens move to their new homes.

Need to remember to contact our new "handyman" ... he lives in this area. Need him to get started on building the chicken and goat pens in our dog run/backyard. Hope to move both goats and all chickens to those pens by Memorial Day. Need him to rototill the 3 areas where I'm planting (1) corn, beans, pumpkins/squash (3-sisters), (2) sunflowers, cucumbers, watermelon, and (3) amaranth. That's in the back. There's also a spot in the front that he needs to rototill for another 3-sisters patch.

= = = =

Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.

Intensive Gardening

I remember a couple of years ago I read about a family in California (San Diego?) whose house sat on 1/5 of an acre, and intensively gardened/farmed 1/10 of that 1/5 of an acre. They not only fed their family (4 adults?) but also produced enough from the garden and livestock to earn money. I keep thinking about that. 1/10 of an acre. That's 4356 square feet. About the size of our dog run/backyard.

Hmmm.... From my previous posting, you know that energy and pain are issues for me. Is it possible to do almost everything I want in the dog run? Still keep the big crops (corn, amaranth, jack-b-little pumpkins, nut and fruit trees/bushes etc on the other 1 1/2 acres but raise the rest of our produce and keep our goats and chickens in the dog run/backyard?

I had planned our garden out last week on a little excel spreadsheet, but remembering the pictures from that California family .... they have only about a foot in between the raised beds. That was for walking. That brought up several questions:

-Does that mean they don't use a wheel barrow?
-Do they pick in baskets and carry to wherever they process?
-Do the chickens eat on some of the produce (if I remember, they are "free range")?
-How big is their chicken coop (if they have one)?
-How big is their goat pen and do they let the goats freely roam the area?
-Is 1 foot in-between raised beds enough for walking and picking?

Just curious. We have a weird dog run/backyard. The fenced in area includes a huge slope from the house, so until we can afford to terrace that, it's really no good for planting. Plus we're planning on 48x12 for the goat pen, and a total of 48x10 for 3 chicken coops/runs. AND that doesn't include the "lawn" area because we really want to be able to have people over and bbq and even when it's just us.... sit on a "porch" swing and visit with our garden and animals, or have dinner at a picnic table.

That leaves a calculated plantable area of:
-384 square feet (12 4x8 raised beds) for veggies (which will be rotated beds)
-112 square feet for potatoes
-6 columnar dwarf fruit trees
-6' diameter strawberry (and spinach) pyramid
-the perimeter of the fenced area for herbs, garlic, onion, asparagus and rhubarb
-2 compost bins

If we plant every inch of the above calculated area (and yes, I use square foot gardening to a certain extent), think we can be self-sufficient on that?

= = = =

Please plant a nut or fruit tree today.

Grow for Hay, Movie Review Blog and Christina Cooks

We're in the process of placing a special order for seed that we can plant in a couple of small "pastures" - just 8 x 20 plots. Maybe bigger. We haven't worked it all out yet. Will order next week from a local farm supply store.

We'll seed these in early Spring (in just a few weeks) and grow until mid-summer. A scythe or who knows what will help us cut it down, then we'll dry and put away for winter where it won't mold or get eaten before it's time. Then we'll grow it out again and let the goaties munch it all towards mid/late Fall.

They won't be allowed to eat it to the ground, tho. Most of what we'll plant is perennial, so it will grow up one more time and hopefully go to seed. That will mean more for the next year.

RABBIT: Pasture seed for Hay
(cut for Bunnies then browse ONCE for goats then allow to seed for next year. Do not rotate as some of these are perennials):
60% alfalfa
20% timothy or teff
10% orchardgrass
10% red clover

GOAT: Pasture seed for Hay
(cut for Goats , allow to regrow, goats to browse, then allow to grow and re-seed. Do not rotate as some of these are perennials):
30% orchardgrass
30% bluegrass
20% alfalfa
10% red clover
5% yarrow
5% amaranth

Assuming we let these go to seed each year, we will only need to buy seed just this first year (2010). While we usually advocate rotating crops, the best way to eliminate the need to buy seed for "hay" is to let it re-seed. These two "hay" crops are the only "fields" we plan on NOT rotating.

Again, it's our plan to be self-reliant. That means not needing to buy seed every year.

We are not under the illusion that our small plots will provide enough hay for our critters for an entire Winter and most of Spring, but it will help.

= = = =

Starting seeds tomorrow... lots of tomatoes, a couple of bell peppers, some cabbage and broccoli. Came across a neat way to do it.... at the end of last season, I had bought a lot of those peat pellets. The ones you add warm water to and they expand. I've prepared quart-sized baggies with how many seeds and of what (5 purple russian tomato, 4 broccoli, etc.). Rehydrate the peat pellets, and sow seeds. Place in baggies. Zip up tight and place in warm area (but not in sun). Check on regularly and add water as needed. When sprouts appear, open bag and place in sunny window, watering more often.

For the $2 Garden Challenge:
I haven't learned how to make newspaper "pots" yet but will use the Kid's empty yogurt containers and some dirt from the yard. I'll place a couple of the rabbits poo-pellets in the bottom before adding the dirt (they don't need to compost first). I think I'll put the yogurt cups in baggies as well, to help keep the "soil" moist to help the germination. These yogurt pots are what I'll use to start the seeds for the $2 Garden. Might not get to these seeds tomorrow, as we're kinda still buried in snow here. Might be next week.

I'll try to remember to take pictures or video of the Kid and I starting seeds tomorrow.

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One more comment added at 6:40 a.m.: I was just watching "Christina Cooks" on PBS. I like watching her cooking show because she does things a little more healthy than other cooking shows. Two things bug me about it: (1) Way too much salt, justified by saying it adds depth of flavor, especially added after each new ingredient. I have high blood pressure, and very rarely use any salt. It's not just her show... I can't think of any cooking show that doesn't add a liberal amount of salt to most every dish. (2) What is the deal with that Jon Michaels guy singing during each episode? It doesn't have anything to do with cooking, and yes, it passes the time when she's doing something mundane but still... I usually turn the channel when he starts, and also usually forget to go back to the show.

= = = =

Now... my Kid wants to start a blog of his own, doing reviews of movies. It's his passion, not that we let him watch a lot of movies. He has lots of movie/video guides, and has practically memorized the books. An absolute fanatic about the rating system. He wants to write about movies, what they are rated, his thoughts about them and such. (I've told him he has to be careful to not copy the reviews in the movie guide books.) He also wants to write about movies he HASN'T seen, perhaps inviting his readers to give their own reviews.

The Kid wants to call his blog "Mark Twain Cinema", but that name is already taken by an actual cinema. Why Mark Twain? Because he's was my grandmother's uncle (she was a Clemens), and we're quite proud of being related.

I plan to give the Kid writing and creativity grades on his blog, to meet school curriculum requirements. He's excited about this but we're stumped on the name. Something catchy, that hopefully includes "Mark Twain". A little help, please?

A Special Garden Plan

With all of the Harry Potter and now the Percy Jackson and Spiderwick Chronicles and other magickal books out there, our 13 year old does indeed believe in the POSSIBILITY of magic or something more than we can see, hear and touch. That's ok.... Hubby and I do too. So in the back corner of our 2 acres, where we were already planning an herb garden, we've decided to plant a "faery garden". Interestingly enough, when I googled that phrase, it seems that these are becoming very popular. Hmmm.

Ok, I'm sure some of you are (1) thinking we're completely weird and will never enter this blog again and/or (2) .... nope, either you'll think we're weird or you'll give us the benefit of the doubt for enjoying being a little "out there". We do consider ourselves weird and wonderful, because being different is much more fun than being like everyone else! Read on, if you'd like.

About 2 years ago, when we were scavenging for wood to make 2x2 frames to hold some of our garden in our last house. We came upon a large amount, I guess about 100 of those boards. I hammered together 4 to make each frame, and used them for mini raised-beds. Very successfully too. For my first year of real gardening, we did VERY well. Only recently did we eat the last of our black turtle beans that we grew that year.

When we sold the house and moved, I took them all apart so we could stack and store the boards easier. Now I'm thinking that I'll hammer them back together, and in that back patch of our 2-acres, I'm going to create a "spiral". Well, as much of a spiral as can be done with straight edges!

In the center of the spiral will be the final 2x2 box (4 square feet) where the faery garden will be. With creeping thyme, pebbles, walnut shells, and perhaps we'll paint a ceramic fairy for the center.

The other boxes will have our perennial herbs, like oregano, soapwort, lavender, hyssop, sage, lamb's ears and much more.

Surrounding the spiral will be heirloom roses (which Hubby wants for rose-hips nd I want to make jam or to scent my homemade soap), blackberry brambles, perhaps some of the colonnade apple trees, and maybe even one of the weeping willows I really want (to make baskets).

Near that part of the back is a deep pit someone had dug and surrounded with dirt and a few rocks. No clue what they used it for, but we've decided that instead of filling in the hole and using it for planting, we're going to keep it. Perhaps make the rocks more sturdy for sitting. In the middle of the pit, we're going to place a fire thingy, like maybe an iron outdoor fire pit. Where during our annual harvest (Autumn) party, we'll have a fire going where we'll pluck off ears of corn growing around us and char them to perfection. Or bake yummy things in clay pots. So much fun!

We're excited about this! This plan will cut down space we could use to grow grains but we'll figure out something.

Seed/NurseryCatalogs - Tree Plan

I got 2 more seed/nursery catalogs over the weekend... now up to 5 (Baker Creek Heirloom, Burgess, Farmer, Starks and RH Shumway's. Although I've already bought much of the seeds we plan to grow, Hubby still needs to pick a second corn (for the front "yard"). While he was looking, he found other things he wanted to try. I do believe this coming year will be a hodgepodge!

We still need to decide the fruit and nut trees, and fruit bushes and brambles to get. Obviously we won't purchase until we have the property, have moved in, and marked where things can go. Meanwhile, I can look, right? Here's the plan for nut trees:
-1 heartnut
-1 butternut
-3 pecans (2 of 1 kind and 1 of another)
-3 english walnuts (1 of 3 dif kinds)
-3 almonds (2 of 1 kind and 1 of another)
-3 chestnuts (2 of 1 kind plus a pollinator)
-3 filberts (2 of 1 kind and 1 of another)

We want the "orchard" in the front of the house ... along the driveway. There's about an acre, but still... sure hope we have room! Some of these trees get 30-40 feet tall. PLUS we need to fit in the following fruit trees:
-4 5-in-1 dwarf apple trees
-4 apple trees (2 yellow delicious, 2 other)
-3 5-in-1 dwarf pear trees
-3 pear trees (2 bartlett, 1 other)
-3 fruit-cocktail (plum, nectarine, peach, apricot)

Fruit from the fruit cocktail tree is pictured.

Then there's the columnar "colonnade" trees that I have had good experience with. These are very narrow 8-10' trees with full-size fruit. Because they don't get wide and can be planted about 4 feet apart. These will go closer to the house for easy picking! From Starkbros.com...
-2 crimson spire apple (red skin w/white flesh)
-2 emerald spire apple (green skin w/golden blush)
-2 ultra spire apple (tart red)
-2 crimson rocket peach (yellow flesh)

Can you tell we love fruit? I'll be making a lot of applesauce, plus we'll put lots in cold storage for livestock fodder. The pears will be canned as my kid could eat several a day! We decided on the fruit cocktail trees because those are fruits that we eat sparingly - after we eat our fill of fresh and bake/can them, they'll be dehydrated for winter-cooking! (We'll also dehydrate some pears and apples.)

The house that we have the offer on faces the west, with the driveway from west to east. We'll plant the taller trees along the north-side of each side of the driveway, and the shorter (probably fruit trees) beside them on the south side. We also want to line the outer edges (perimeter) of our property with elderberry bushes (which can grow up to 8-10 feet tall) and cherry bushes. Gonna have to figure this out because at the moment, I can't remember how much room is on each side of the driveway.

Then, we still need to find room for 2 weeping willow trees, which grow VERY tall. My plan is to use them to shade the workshop and house (which divide the front and back yards) and also so I can weave the willow slips into baskets.

I have a separate place for the fruit bushes and brambles and vines, like grapes, blueberries, kiwi, raspberry, blackberry, cranberry and... ok, I know I'm forgetting something!

Nope, still no news on house. Hopefully, any day now!

Growing the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, Squash

I hope this picture isn't too confusing. It's the best I can do.

The Three Sisters is growing corn, beans and winter squash as the Native American people did for many centuries. Each plant has it's own job, and not only work well in the garden, but when eaten together, are excellent nutrition and complete protein.

How to plant: Plant your corn seed in blocks of 4 feet, 1 corn seed every 12 inches (1 foot) each way. At the same time, plant your winter squash seed, one in between every 1 corn seeds. Water well, and tend. Be careful when weeding as you might pull up a corn or squash seedling!

When the corn seedling is about 6 inches high, plant 2-4 bean seeds (that's the green "B" in the pic) around each corn seedling. You want to wait this long because if not, the quick growth of the bean will outstrip the corn, and the corn will never get to it's complete full height.

Make sure you don't plant just 4 long rows. You need to plant in blocks of at least 4 feet x 4 feet so that the wind can pollinate all of your little corn tassels. And do you need to plant lots and lots to get a little corn? NO! In our first garden, we planted about 40 corn seeds, and about the same of beans and, well, don't get me started talking about our mistakes with the squash. But the corn was cross-pollinated excellently. We pulled about 60 ears that were pretty-well pollinated. Many we ate right there in the garden... just pulled back the husk and munched it down!

We also planted a couple of different kinds of corn... Blue Hopi, Bloody Butcher, and Early and Often Sweet Corn. They had somewhat different maturing dates, so there was only a little cross-pollination. Those that did were hilarious to look at! We found an odd blue kernel on a sweet corn, and finding the red kernels were great fun.

= = = =

Okay, back to info. Be careful when choosing your seeds. Get corn where the stalks will be sturdy enough to handle the winding of the beans. The new hybrids didn't seem to have stalks thick enough. Be careful with the beans too: you need beans that won't strangle the corn stalks.

For our next growing season, I chose Black Aztec corn (good when young to eat as sweet corn, and once it dries, it is good for making cornmeal and good for livestock).

For beans I chose Missouri Wonder Pole Bean (see: http://rareseeds.com/cart/products/Missouri_Wonder_Pole_Bean-1244-119.html )as they didn't strangle the corn when we grew them last. Experiment. These beans make a good fresh string bean, but also a good dried bean.

For squash, grow ONLY winter squash - those that vine! I made the mistake our first year of growing all kinds of squash, including summer squash like zucchini, and believe me, it was a mistake. The zucchini just pushed over the corn stalk to make room for it's own self! If you don't care about pollination and keeping seeds, you could plant all kinds of winter squash, like spaghetti, butternut, pumpkin, acorn, and more. If you do prefer to keep varieties separate, carefully chose to keep from cross-breeding.

I hope this wasn't too confusing. Vikki

Our Pasture Rotating Plan

We hope the house we end up with will have at least half an acre that we can split into 6. oops, 7 equal pastures. We know that rotating crops is important, and since we plan to have 4 goaties (and once a year, their kids), we need 2 of those pastures to be their browse-land. To fit our needs, and after much research, here's what we've come up with:

Area 1
Three sisters (corn, pole beans, and winter squash). Plant the corn as soon as the soil is warm enough. I usually wait until at least Memorial Day. Since we do the 3-sisters, we plant the corn 12-inches apart, with 1 winter squash in the center of a corn-square (pic coming!). When the corn is about 6 inches tall, plant 2-4 pole beans around every corn. The corn will be the strong pole for the beans to climb, the beans fix nitrogen into the soil for the corn, and the winter squash provides the ground cover for moisture and fuzzy leaves that many critters don't like. Let the corn and beans dry then harvest, allow the winter squaash to finish growing and hardening up for winter storage. After all is harvested (store the corn stalks for winter feed), then we'll let the chickens and goats in to eat and scratch to their hearts content. When they are done, till in remainder, and plant a winter crop like timothy hay. Rotate to Area 2 the next Spring.

Area 2
Plant alfalfa and timothy hay to grow for winter feed. After harvesting, let the goaties and chickens in to eat/scratch. Rotate to Area 3 the next Spring.

Area 3
2 rows of buckwheat (gluten-free) around perimeter, quinoa or amaranth (both gluten-free) the next 2 rows in, then several rows with tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, okra and basil. These plants love each other. After all has been harvested, allow the livestock in to do their thing. Rotate to Area 4 the next Spring.

Area 4
Goat pasture. Plant miscellaneous grasses as early as possible, and toss in old (organic!) Christmas trees and other yummies. Allow goats and chickens in for a week at a time. During the off-week, they go to Area 6. Rotate to Area 5 the next Spring.

Area 5
Plant sunflowers, cucumbers, and watermelon, with squared-frames of potatoes. These love each other and are great companions. After harvesting, it's livestock time. Remember to keep the sunflowers for the livestock's winter feed. Rotate to Area 6 the next Spring.

Area 6
Goat pasture. See area 4. Rotate to Area 7 the next Spring.

Area 7
Just added this one: gotta grow oats seeing as we have 2 gluten-free people. Rotate to Area 1 the next Spring.

This plan should take care of most of our grain needs, and those of our livestock. We don't know yet the size of our property, so we don't know the size of these area, but we should have room for each area to be at least 100 square feet. Should we get more land than expected, or a neighbor lets us use some of theirs, we'll grow even more oats, and another area of the Three Sisters (corn, beans and squash.

What is YOUR rotation plan?