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Re: First Catalog has Arrived



>On a note related to non-hybrid:
>
>I asked about six months ago about survivalist self-sustaining farming:
>Anyone out there doing SQ-FT for the coming years?
>
>Thanks for all the other replies...you folks are just wonderful.
>
>bernie///
>
>
Bernie,

While I don't consider it "survivalist" gardening, I have been moving toward
being more self sustaining.  We live in an old farmhouse (~1820-1840) on the
last remaining 4-1/4 acres of the original homestead in central Maine.  I
have an orchard with plums and apples, about an acre with bramble fruit:
raspberries and blackberries, currants, grapes and several asparagus
patches.  Additionally, I have put in raised beds (1054 sq ft) for
vegetables, and will be converting one of the flower beds to an herb garden
this year.  We have 27 ducks (Khaki Campbells) and two chinese geese which
supply us with eggs and an occaisional duck l'orange.  I have been
converting the basement of the attached workshop to also house goats. (right
now the ducks and geese have the run of the 36' by 36' room.  The ducks and
geese free range during the warm weather and I've several small fields
between the apple trees growing with oats, vetch, and timothy which will
feed the goats for most of the summer.

We froze and canned quite a bit from the garden this year and I've enough
winter squashes to last well into spring.  I stockpiled some of the extra
zucchini and summer squashes as an extra treat for the ducks.  Most of the
varieties I grow are open pollenated and those that aren't supplement OP
varieties I do grow.  I save seeds from many. Isolating specific cultivars
every year and saving only the seeds that I hand pollenate.  This next year
I am expanding the garden to include strawberries and wil be putting in some
blueberry bushes along the back edge near my wood lot.

My wife is planning on using the goat milk for cheese (both soft and hard)
and yogurt.  Once we get to that stage, we figure we can feed our family of
five for about $10 to $15 a week (that includes the cost of extra feed for
the animals.)

If you are interested in trying more OP varieties, let me know.  Most of the
ones I save are geared towards short growing seasons and have been selected
for that reason.  I have several types of tomatoes, beans, squash, and some
asparagus seeds in surplus if you'd like to do a swap or sample some.

Cliff Parker
Holden, ME
zone 4

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