Rural Gardening !

[rkunsaw]

That's always the way it starts!

Maybe a few peas, a couple tomato plants, a hill of cucumbers, ...

Enjoy!

Ain't that the truth I ordered corn, okra and cucumber seeds today. I'll probably buy a few tomato plants locally. That is all I plan to grow this year. That's it, no more, that's all folks.

 

[Seeker]

It's gettin' close to that time again, I'm so ready.

Our garden gets smaller every year.

I do love to home can.

 

[Keesha]

Yup, those pictures are what I have. I added a "cradle" to the log splitter...keeps the logs from falling down on my legs/feet as it splits. We have the "middle" furnace in the picture...at full load, it creates up to 130,000 BTU's, and does a great job of heating the whole house. I have added vents in the basement to keep the upstairs in the low 70's, the basement area in the mid-60's, and the garage in the upper 50's. A load of wood lasts about 8 hours, so I go out 2 or 3 times a day to add some wood, and load it up real good about 10PM...that way the electric furnace only comes on for a couple of hours in the very early morning. I'll go out around 7 and add some wood to the hot ashes, and by the time I've had breakfast, it's back up to taking over again. We go up to the city every 3 or 4 weeks to visit the kids and the casino's for a couple of days, and let the electric furnace run, then when we come back, some old newspaper, and kindling gets the furnace up and running again within an hour or two.

Living in the country requires some planning, and a fair amount of hard work...to keep things looking good, etc., but it is sure a good way to stay in shape.

A log splitter is what we need here. My husband does all the splitting himself . I only chop wood and bring it in but I know it’s a lot of work.

Your woodstove sounds amazing. Ours won’t last that long and if we had chosen one that size it would have overheated the room it was in. I like the idea of adding new vents. I’d like to do that here.

 

[Keesha]

We live in a rural area and when we first moved here we were one of 3 houses. I grew all kinds of flowers and veggies. One year I grew geraniums from seed I started early and they were just beautiful. I never saw such different colors. As time went on more houses were built, The deer and wild life began to devour my garden. Can't blame them. This past fall I double fenced an area for my veggies. Hopefully it will work.
Your photos are beautiful.
I like pansies also but we live in zone 6 and it is to cold and when the heat hits they quit blooming. We recently went to Atlantic City and they have them blooming all over the place. Amazing how just a few hours away makes a difference.
I also raided my daughters home in DC. She had a few shrubs and plants I hadn't seen. They never made it through the winter. They are 5 hours away.
The seasons are changing though. I remember in the 50's having tomatoes on the 4th of July, now we are lucky to have them at the end of August.

How many of you start your plants from seed? I've been doing it for awhile now and there are so many more varieties to choose from than buying plants in the spring. I try something new each year.

Id forgotten about this thread.
We get rabbits and animals that sometimes chomp our vegetables but not many since we have hooligan dogs.
The zone makes a huge difference to planting. What’s perennial in some areas might very well only be annual where you live. A 5 hour drive could be a zone or two difference. We live in a 4/5 zone. Some climbing roses I bought one year were definitely not for our zone even though it stated they were.

I start a few things from seeds every spring. Now that I have the greenhouse I can start earlier which is why I got it. Cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, raddishes etc., I really enjoy gardening.

We have a similar compost area like yours. It’s a must have for rural gardening.

One if the biggest considerations with rural gardening is water. Having well water prevents you from being able to water when you’d like or you could run the well dry. Been there, done that.
Another thing is the septic system. You can’t plant over your septic system, fall trees or drive heavy equipment.

 

[Keesha]

View attachment 61035

Keesha, my house was originally built in 1920 and sits on 1/2 acre... cottage style, nothing fancy. I am surrounded by fir and pine trees so I have to deal with falling branches, pine cones and lots of needles. I have only lived here 5 years but have slowly turned part of the lawn over to make room for several garden areas. I have actually made more work for myself but I do enjoy the beauty of flowers. Right now I have 5 chickens/hens so it looks like I will be adding 2 more chicks this spring.

I live in a zone 8 and love to find the unusual plants/flowers/shrubs. My garden style has no name but if you need one I would call it eclectic.

This is fabulous. I love it. A zone 8? Sweet. I personally like your style . It’s colourful and expressive. People around here have chickens also and we’ve considered it but I’d turn them all into pets and it wouldn’t be good. :laugh: The idea of fresh eggs is wonderful though.

 

[Keesha]

That's always the way it starts!

Maybe a few peas, a couple tomato plants, a hill of cucumbers, ...

Enjoy!

Yes indeed. It’s addictive. :laugh:

 

[MeAgain]

Id forgotten about this thread.
We get rabbits and animals that sometimes chomp our vegetables but not many since we have hooligan dogs.
The zone makes a huge difference to planting. What’s perennial in some areas might very well only be annual where you live. A 5 hour drive could be a zone or two difference. We live in a 4/5 zone. Some climbing roses I bought one year were definitely not for our zone even though it stated they were.

I start a few things from seeds every spring. Now that I have the greenhouse I can start earlier which is why I got it. Cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, raddishes etc., I really enjoy gardening.

We have a similar compost area like yours. It’s a must have for rural gardening.

One if the biggest considerations with rural gardening is water. Having well water prevents you from being able to water when you’d like or you could run the well dry. Been there, done that.
Another thing is the septic system. You can’t plant over your septic system, fall trees or drive heavy equipment.

Keesha have you heard of this Canadian couple .We watch them sometimes. They use to live in a van. Now have a nice little house with lots of land.