people food.....

[Boeing]

I remember my father loving to "garden". He would plant every spring; corn, beans, tomatoes, squash, cantaloupes, carrots etc....we lived in suburbs of a city. He would spend every evening hoeing weeds and sprinkling water...later carrying a pot to pick his spoils. OK, here I am at my fathers age...with about 3 acres surrounded by forest and being there about a week every 5 weeks. Is there anything that I might grow, leave unattended for weeks. weeds, deer, and drought and expect it to live and possibly yield something for us people to eat? I did trench out two rows, dropped shriveled up corn kernnels bought from the coop into. They did NOT grow....none of them...maybe more was required????? BTW, my clover, rye, alfalfa is growing fairly well:anyone:

 

[milkman636]

The hard part will be finding something that will be ready for picking during the one week out of five that you are there. Potatoes, carrots and other root crops are what comes to mind as possibilities. They'll keep in the ground until you are there to dig them up. You'll still need to tend them during the times that you are there to keep the weeds and crittters at bay. Taters would also require occasionsional hilling. Fencing the area would help too.

 

[JDgreen227]

Not sure if you enjoy gardening enough to make it worthwhile to grow something at such a remote location, I am home all the time and can fuss over my fenced garden plot all I want and it still seems more bother than it is worth to grow veggies for two of us. Without a fence and if it doesn't rain frequently enough I question if you will get any kind of a harvest of anything to make it worth the effort.

 

[Bird]

Many years ago, my parents lived about a hundred miles from us and Dad always had a big vegetable garden. So one summer they went to Alaska for about 6 weeks, so I went up there each Saturday to try to take care of that garden. Never again would I mess with a garden just one day a week, much less once every 5 weeks.

 

[DKCDKC]

Before I retired to my land 12 years ago, I did try to grow a few things with but weekly or monthly visits to a weekend place on the property. I live just an hour north of you, so the botany should be the same. Potatoes do well if you have suitable soft ground. You plant them with some mulch, then remulch and mound on subsequent visits. Not too many Virginia critters go for them. Likewise carrots, but they do attract rabbits, woodchucks and such. You can lay logs next to rows to give some protection. A good choice is also Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes. They are native to Virginia, and most predators hate them. I now use a hedge of them to screen my garden from deer on two sides. They produce wonderful flowers on 7 to 8 foot stalks, and fat roots that are a good substitute 9 re healthier - than potatoes. Once you plant them you will eventually have to control them with RoundUp. The roots can be sliced ad sauted and are a great snack too.

 

[paulemar]

You can give it a shot to see what happens. I would absolutely, positively, for sure, start small and fence it in to keep out the groundhogs, rabbits & deer because they will clean you out. You will be amazed at how much you can get out of a 25 X 50 ft garden. If you get rain soon after you plant, you might see more weeds than crops when you return.
There are ways to overcome most of the challanges you will face, for instance, use black plastic to conserve soil moisture and control weeds. keep surrounding areas mowed so weeds don't go to seed. Use roundup or a generic brand to keep fence lines clear and spot weed. If you eventually want to have a larger garden, you can prepare the future garden areas by building your soil and diminishing the weed problem by planting cover crops and plowing them under. Install your fence so that you can just add to garden size without having to rip out everything and starting over. Gardening is not easy and requires a lot of work. If you garden smart you can at least have some success, maybe a lot as you solve problems that you will face. If you don't, you will spend every minute you are there trying to maintain a garden and will hate it, fail, and give up. As I said in the beginning,"start small", experience and planning will be your best teacher.

 

[Bluegill2]

Almost everyone I know grows a garden. It's good for the belly and soul...

One week out of 5 ain't goin to cut it.

 

[JDgreen227]

The ONLY way I can keep the weeds down in my plot is to use that black landscaping fabric over the soil and then I cover the fabric with a layer of grass clippings. It isn't too hard to grow things like tomatoes, peppers, etc and keep them weed free but when you grow squash, cucumbers, and other veggies that sprawl out you can just forget about keeping THOSE weeded unless the fabric is down and all the windborne seeds from quackgrass, etc. cannot germinate.

I HAVE to have a fence, deer are everyplace, raccoons, groundhogs, wild turkeys, rabbits are EVERYPLACE out here. My fence is only 5 feet high but so far in 15 years no deer have tried to jump it.

 

[Bluegill2]

I mulch heavily with old hay and straw, weeds are not a problem. Like said also, a fence is a must!

 

[Boeing]

Thanks for all the input, guys. I think that 1 week in 5 is not feasable so I'll just go to a farmers market.....
I would LOVE to see photos of "sunchokes" mentioned by DKC.
Thanks, Rob