I am the first to admit I am not a great vegetable eater. I have yet to meet a fruit I don’t like (and tomatoes don’t count because really, they eat more like a vegetable), however my body would prefer I up my veggie intake. Part of the theory of growing our own food is that I will get the satisfaction of seeing what I am eating first hand, as well as watching it grown and prosper.
In my last post (Resurrecting A Dream) I mentioned that the first step in the #yearwithoutagrocerystore challenge was to come up with a master list of the produce I would like our little homestead to eventually produce for us. Not including nuts, which I’m still learning about, here’s my list so far:
Apples (many varieties)
Apricots
Artichoke
Asian Pear
Asparagus
Avocado (yes! The nursery tells me we have about a 75% chance of success!!)
Basil
Beets
Bell Peppers
Blueberries
Boysenberries
Broccoli
Cabbage (many varieties)
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cherries (sweet, tart)
Chives
Cilantro
Cucumber (eating, pickling)
Dill
Garlic
Gourds
Grapefruit
Green Beans
Lettuce (head, leaf)
Lemons
Limes
Mandarins
Marjoram
Mint
Onion (green, white, yellow, red)
Oranges
Oregano
Parsley
Peas (snap, shelling)
Peaches
Pears
Plums
Potatoes (many varieties)
Pumpkin (eating, jack o’lantern)
Raspberries
Rosemary
Spinach
Strawberries
Sweet Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Tarragon
Thyme
Tomatillos
Tomatoes (many varieties)
Watermelon
Zucchini
Feels like a pretty healthy (huge!) list. Of course, this won’t all get planted first year. I began working on my master list to figure out how much of each we eat. For example, I mentioned that I don’t like tomatoes. I do not eat them fresh, and really only one or two of my family members like them that way. However, I love tomato sauce, salsa, ketchup and BBQ sauce, therefore, many tomatoes and many varieties will be essential to our garden.
Lastly, most of my fruit needs to be planted immediately as they are trees or bushes which take many years to be prosperous. Currently, we have an Asian Pear, Arkansas Spur Apple, Pluerry (not to be confused with a Cherry Plum), Eureka Lemon, Meyer Lemon, and Clementine trees. They are all very small. We have decided when we buy more trees, we will bite the bullet and buy slightly older (read: larger) trees with the hopes of getting production sooner.
DH and I are working on the plan for the garden next year. I have found that it takes at least a year of planning to just get started. We have to finalize what type of planter boxes we want. Originally, we intended to grow directly in the ground, however our garden spot is incredibly rocky, and after this season, we learned the soil isn’t what it should be. Not to mention, the weeds are kicking my butt!
What are your planter boxes made of? Do you use wood? Cement blocks? We have several “decorative” boxes that line the edge of our garden to help make a fence. DH made them from corrugated roofing and redwood. They are beautiful. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to have the whole garden made from them. but boy are they beautiful! 
Until then….
Happy Homesteading
The Red Tractor Ranch 