/diy/ - Do It Yourself

You should check out http://www.smartgardener.com/

Ive been using to plan out my spring garden. It lets you see what plants do well in your climate and map out a virtual garden. You can order seeds from there too, i tend to get my stuff locally though

>>367139

Get seed from companies that grow it in your region, not the opposite coast or deep south vs Maine. That way the seeds will be well adapted to your climate.

In Washington/Oregon I use go with Territorial Seed or Irish Eyes. In California you can try Bountiful Gardens for some extremely hippy-style stuff.

Just say no to Burpee, Martha Stewart, et al.

Believe it or not Ebay. You can get a surprising amount of variety from there.

Word of caution though. Check the sellers ratings and especially any negative feedback before ordering.

>>367157

Also you can save seed from last years crop. That gives you some assurance that the plant is acclimatized.

And yes Burpee sucks ass! Four seeds in a packet? They can fuck off!

>>367158
this, ebay has everything, even exotic rare as fuck shit.

Is marijuana a vegetable?

if so I can help with any questions

>>367166
I figured I would start saving seed from the previous year - I want to make sure that basis comes from quality stock to begin with, mostly.

>>367197

Make sure you are saving seed from open-pollinated varieties. Seeds from hybrid plants (aka F1) will either be sterile or revert to one of the two types that were crossed to make it so you don't get the same plant from the seeds.

Seeds are so cheap that I don't bother saving any except the easiest like cilantro/coriander. You have to take some extra precautions with some stuff like squash so that they don't cross in unexpected ways.

I assume you're from the US so I couldn't help you with specifics but I'd recommend trying some 'heritage' varieties.

A lot of standard varieties of plants and seeds are just grown to look good or transport easily, and you miss out on all the interesting and fun plants, plus some are just much more productive, for example tromboncino squash gives you a lot more than just standard varieties, there are heaps of giant tomatoes too which just go unnoticed and ungrown.

On this note, about how much land would one need to feed say, two people for four months roughly with a good variety? Like anyone with experience know how much the following plants would produce on average?

Zucchini
Tomatoes (Easy I know, one plant can feed a small city)
Spaghetti squash
butternut squash
Romaine (lbs? heads?)
onions(green/yellow)
broccoli
cabbage
pasilla/ancho peppers
habaneros

anythign else that stands out that I forgot?

>>367139

Look for organic seed, A lot of companies have been bought out by Monsanto and they like to gmo everything, so now a lot of their seeds are 'terminator seed" so they don't produce much, don't taste as good and don't leave you healthy seed output for next year. I've had great results with 'Botanical Interests'

>>367554

For 2 ppl,
Squashes tend to produce a ton when they get going so one per variety of squash.
Heirloom tomatoes such as flavel or Brandywine will give you a ton if you keep them sunny and watered, at least 2 plants so there's always some red ones
Romaine would be great in a few rows of 8
onions you can never have too many and they last a long time
Broccoli, at least 2 because they are hard to grow from seed without being eaten
cabbage, same with romaine and lasts longer
peppers, maybe 3-4 plants so there will be much salsa

>>367554
There's an inforgraphic for that. This is for a full year so I imagine if you do 1/4 you'd be ok.

>>353906
infograph is posted in another thread, link is here

Oh boy. Veteran gardener here. Some things to consider:

Self-seeding and perennial varieties of plants. Less work.

Companion planting. I would always plant blueberries under a pine tree, for example, because the pineneedles make the soil more acidic, which is far less work for you in making the soil productive.

Look for heirlooms. These are very old varieties grown for their flavor rather than ease of shipping. You also won't have to worry about GMOs.

Look into edible flowers. They will add some very unique flavors to your foods while attracting pollinators. Some, like Marigolds, also deter pests.

>>367600
>>367607

Thanks much that helps considerably. I've seen several other infographics, but I find people's input like "hard to grow form seed w/out being eaten" much more colourful.

rareseeds.com one of my favorites, then buy a book on seed saving, i really like this one

http://www.walmart.com/ip/15525952?adid=22222222227000628088&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=14010657670&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

teaches you how to breed your own varieties as well. The seeds you save will come from those that did well in your climate, optimum production. Many plants, like tomatoes and beans are really easy to save too

>>367607
Assuming everything you grow comes out perfectly

>>367607
That dumb twat nigger saved the thumbnail, I have the full size but it won't let me post it either. Fuckin' guy ruining it for the rest of us with his moronic bullshit.

>>367627
Just click the thumbnail it's full-size for me.

OP:
Look into trees and shrubs as well if you have land. Some trees will still bear fruit in containers provided the container is large enough and the conditions are good. Thinking of things like a tea tree shrub(camelia sinensis), bay laurel, raspberry/blueberry/blackberry bushes, might get lucky with apples, they make a nice tree even if they don't work out. The good thing is, you can start most of them from seed in your home and move them outdoors when they get older, they generally won't bear fruit indoors, but there are exceptions.

>>367554
>Zucchini

Two Zucchini plants will give you more than you will want to eat.

With a lot of varieties it takes a little bit longer before they start making male flowers, while they already have female flowers. If you plant one plant about a month sooner the male flowers of the first one will pollinate the early female flowers of the second one. It also spreads out your harvesting a bit more. Also don't let too many zucchini's develop at the same time if you have a productive plant. It will exhaust itself and succumb to things like mildew much easier. A slow but steady production of fruits gives you more in the long run, in my experience.

I myself always plant one or two, depending on the productivity of the strain. Never was there I year I didn't end up giving away surplus.

Lastly, don't let the zucchinis get to big unless you're going to use them for soup or sauce. At a certain point the plant stops 'growing' the fruit and will just pump more water into it. The volume will keep increasing but the flavor will deteriorate.

>>367554
>Zucchini
1-6 plants depending on how much you love zucchini


Tomatoes (Easy I know, one plant can feed a small city)
1-4 plants will feed you tomatoes for 10 years if you get the right varieties. Tomatoes are perennial jungle vines that never stop growing in the right conditions with the right variety. A good investment would be a dedicated greenhouse just for tomatoes/herbs/peppers

>Spaghetti squash
>butternut squash
Same as zucini. The squash family produces a ridiculously large amount of vegetables.

>Romaine (lbs? heads?)
Lettecues require a lot more care than the other plants you listed, and you really have to manage their growth with insect care and proper watering. You also have to stagger their planting so you dont end up with 10 heads of lettuce at the same time. If you only enjoy a light salad every once in awhile, you can get away with snipping individual leaves rather than taking entire heads. A good biennial/perenial substitute to lettuce is chard.

>onions(green/yellow)
Biennial plants, plant them everywhere. They are good companion plants to most things, take up little space, very easy to grow. While you may not ever use more than a handful of seeds from a package for your other stuff, you will want to dump entire package of onion seeds everywhere.

>broccoli
>cabbage

Similar problem as lettuce. The editble parts of broccoli and cabbage are basically immature flowers. You have to carefully watch them and harvest them when it's time. If you don't, they mature and are not very good to eat.

>pasilla/ancho peppers
>habaneros

You can grow these easily with your tomatoes.

>>367616
>pineneedles make the soil more acidic

Nope, common gardening myth. http://wood.uwex.edu/2010/11/18/pine-needles-cause/

Check out John Jeavons book How to Grow More Vegetables: http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-More-Vegetables-Eighth/dp/160774189X

It has some hippie shit like planting with the cycles of the moon but it does go into some detail about growing enough food to feed yourself, including a 4-year garden plan to feed a family of four.

Hey, I normally get my seeds from rareseeds.com
Heirloom, non-gmo seeds.

http://www.horizonherbs.com/
>healthiest plants I've ever got from seeds.
http://www.seedsavers.org/
>Great variety very healthy easy growers.
http://www.prairiemoon.com/
>Best selection of natives (for me)

I love ordering from horizon herbs. Ironically, I found out about them because someone threw away abunch of seed packages that were part of a gift set.

There's a few youtube videos out there related to them if anyone's interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuRJd61eIrc