I'd consider using 4-foot wide rows, as long as you like. You can still use the sq.ft. method, or plant more traditional rows instead. Rows work well for harvesting, so they might be the way to go.

Personally, I'd worry about what you're going to do with all your veggies. Roadside stand? Farmer's Market? CSAs? You can only can and preserve so much. If you want to go that way, I'd suggest you start small and read a lot.

I'd consider just starting one bed, 4 ft. wide, and 25-50ft long, and double dig it and work it like it's a giant sq. ft. bed. See if you can manage that much space by yourself.

Another thing to consider is setting yourself up to host WWOOFers, see the link if you're not familiar with wwoof, but basically you let people camp/stay with you and in exchange they help with gardens/farming/whatever.

The most important thing, IMO, is to plan your plantings and harvestings. Get a big calendar, decide what you're going to plant, and when. Start seedlings accordingly. Even though you have lots of space, still think about intercropping plants.

Basically, plan plan plan, and then plan some more. Read all winter long!

Here is a link that might be useful: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

I can't help with all your questions but I wanted to try where I could.

Sounds like you don't NEED to farm so this would be a hobby farm or something like it. That's great because it gives you latitide. I would start small also, along the lines of the first poster.

That way if you find the soil deficient due to depletion over time and poor farming practices, you can overwinter cover crops into a bigger area. That would also help your limited compost issue. Another compost suggestion is to talk to your neighbors about excess manure, of course you have enough for a trial bed cooking now.

Sounds like a great opportunity any you may eventually want to concider a CSA or the like.

Enjoy your farm!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!

Michael, that sounds wonderful to me! Someday I look forward to being in your position!

I would start with a small area for the first year. Maybe go just a touch larger than the area you currently are working, to give yourself that little bit more space we always wish we had. That way you can see how it works, see what kind of critters and insects you need to be prepared for.

I frequently find myself wondering if I had the space, would I continue with the raised beds or try and do rows, and to me the answer is both. I think SFG is a great utilization of space, and am enjoying the results of it this year. Like you though, I am not sold on its viability for larger scale vegetable growing. Realistically, if space wasn't an issue, I would spread out those tomatoes and pepper plants. I have an idea of sticking with the SFG spacing for planting, but having each bed be for just one vegetable. Then rotate each year what goes where. Of course, I'm also finding that some vegetables don't do as well with the square foot spacing- like broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatillos to name a few, so those would be ones I would put in rows.

Definitely take a soil sample in to your country extension to be tested. I would be cautious about simply jumping in and planting on former crop space- even if it's simply hay. I would ask as many questions as you can about the space- what sprays/chemicals have been used and when.

One thing I thought of that would be a benefit of starting with a few raised beds is that you could add a hoop system and extend your growing season by making a removable green-house of sorts. I think it would be more difficult to do so straight in the ground- although not impossible, of course.

I am envious of your opportunity! I'll be watching for other responses as well, and wish you all the best in your new endeavors!

I used to double dig, now I don't. My results are just as good, if not better. I seem to move fairly frequently, so I start a lot of new beds. You can still build nice soil without going through the hocus-pocus of bio-intensive. Just add compost, etc. Soil testing is a great suggestion.

What are you going to do with extra vegetables? Are you planning on canning them, selling them, or do you need to produce more for your family? It's easy to get carried away when you look at a nice display of heirloom tomato seedlings at the farmers' market. You can ask me how I know that....

You don't want to give yourself such a large area that you get discouraged or overworked and stop having fun with the project. 250 sq'ft will produce a lot of vegetables. You can certainly plant cover crops on more area if you still have planting fever once you get the first section underway.

I like raised beds for their looks, but since you aren't on a suburban lot, that may not be a consideration for you. You don't need to box them in with wood, they can merely be mounded, if that's your preference. I would recommend against making them 25' long since you would have to walk a long way to make it around to the other side. Either that or you will be tempted to walk across them when avoiding compaction is the whole point.

I forget what they are calling the current version of "Ruth Stout's No Work Garden Book (I'm old, but not that old, I got it out of the library as a kid), but that is certainly an option for what you want to do. Ms Stout popularized planting under a thick, permanent layer of straw mulch to minimize weeding and evaporation.

I'm going to be the wet blanket, k. :)

We have 8 acres in the middle of farming country. We don't farm for our livelihood, but we have a horse and donkey, cats and a dog, a large yard, fences and outbuildings to maintain. Quite frankly, it's more than we can keep up with - we're only two people with a two-year-old daughter and plans for another little one in the near future. Our vegetable garden is a modest 55 x 65' not including the perennial beds (asparagus, berries, etc.) and it's all I can do to keep up.

Considerations of country gardens:

a) You will be constantly battling weeds no matter how good your practices. Unless you garden exclusively in a greenhouse, you WILL have weed and tree seeds blowing into your yard from EVERYWHERE. Nice little board fences don't exist out here.

b) An acre is 43,560 square feet (roughly 209 x 209 feet in area). That's a far cry from 250 square feet (roughly 16 x 16 feet). I'm really confused as to the real area you're planning on gardening.

c) Our own yard is merely an old hay field that has been mowed for so many years that it resembles quite a nice "lawn" as long as we keep up with it. If we get behind, we get all sorts of clumps of various clovers and alfalfa. This also means that no matter how much time we spend digging grass roots in the garden, they're always faster than us. Good luck "clearing the area of grass" - it's not as easy as it might seem, given the habits of tenacious farm grasses.

d) Really sit down and consider just how much time you are going to have to spend just maintaining what is already there. Really. Unless you've maintained a farm before, you honestly have no idea. I can easily see a tree farm taking huge amounts of time to maintain (although you didn't say what kind of trees) - pruning, irrigation, etc.

So, unfortunately, I'm just going to skip down and answer your last question. Yes. Too ambitious... for now. I strongly suggest that - as hard as it may be - you take one or even two years to acclimate yourselves to life in the country and on your farm. Garden on the previous owner's plot or make yourself a new bed the same size or only slightly larger than what you garden now. Your head is probably spinning with all the possibilities for your new place and you may not be seeing the practical aspects yet.

I don't want to douse your enthusiasm. I just feel I have to inject a tiny bit of reality. Actually, I'm really jealous. ;) I'd love to have more land (and time) for pastures and hay.

Thanks everyone for your replies; I appreciate very much the insights and advice.

To clarify a few things, I am not going to be owning this farm. It is actually slated for urban residential development in three years time and the developers need someone to "house sit" the century home that cannot be demolished. Thus, my land use is temporary (2-3 years) and limited to a fairly small area around the house (total area is probably 5 acres, with perhaps 1 acre suitable for gardening).

That being said, I now see that building raised beds using wood will be too much work for something that will be removed in the next few years. Perhaps then raised beds without the wood are the way to go. I think I will start by single digging (digging out one spade depth trench and loosening below with a fork) a half-dozen beds or so as a start. I'm not sure if they have an existing bed there already, because that would help immensely.

My new question would be thus: if I am turning an existing area of grass lawn into new beds by single digging/turning over, and I am adding a good deal of compost and organic material while doing it, what other ammendments might be necessary?

thanks again for the help,
Michael

Michael,
My house is on 10 acres that used to be a farm. It hadn't been worked in about 10 years before the area was developed. I can provide my opinions.

First, I don't think I would do anything extrodinary if I was only going to be living on the property for 2-3 years. I started a 20 x 80' garden on my property the first year and the weeds turned it into somewhat of a disaster. Like other's have said, the farm grasses are very difficult to control. My garden turned back into a field by itself the first year. The second year I was able to control it better though it was very difficult. I'm sure I'll get flamed on this one, but Roundup was the only thing that helped me.

You definitely also need to think about fencing and water. Do you have deer in the area? If mine wasn't fenced it would be deer food immediately. They even stick their heads through the fence now to get at the beans. What about small animals? Will you need to water? Would it make sense to spend the time and money to run a water line? I ran one from my house a couple hundred yards.

Since it will be in a farming area you could probably find someone with a tiller on their tractor to do an initial tilling for you. I know you said you didn't want to till, but it might make sense the first year. My tractor is one of my favorite garden tools. I use the tiller for the ground, a post hole digger to put up fencing, a subsoiler to put in water lines.

Also, in a farming area there are usually easy sources for manure available. I get as much free horse manure as I can haul. It makes a big difference. I shouldn't need to use any bagged fertilizer starting this year because of all I have added.

To sum it up...I'd think that putting an extensive garden in for only a couple years would be a waste of time. You'll likely have a large amount of time and money investment to get it going. Definitely take some time planning before jumping in too deep.

BTW...my garden is 40 x 80 now and I'm thinking of expanding to 60 x 80 in the fall.

Wish you the best of luck,
Rick

m_lorne

Here's my link to the garden my mom and I raised this year. There's some info there that might help you along with many picks and two video slideshows. I can tell you if you want to do a large garden you will need a tiller. I till in the fall when the garden is finished and in the spring a week or two before we plant. I till as deep as I can, maybe seven or eight inches and then hoe the rows open right after. If you are tilling ground for the first time, you will have to till shallow (3-4") and slow. You may have to till the ground three or four times going deeper each time. You'll have fun tilling the first time...just hang on tight! lol

Here I've tilled, dug the rows and one row of tomato holes (69 total in three rows). This same ground has grown a superb garden for sixteen years.
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Here's a view from two weeks ago from above the garden. The previous pic was from down on the right above the house. The dark area between the peach trees is whats left of three pickup loads of two year old composted horse manure.
Horses don't digest seeds so you need old old manure.
Cow manure is just as good. The horse manure was close by.
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View from the opposite end.
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http://www.network54.com/Forum/616213

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Pics 2008