Weekend Homestead November Project 1

Scheduled projects taken from Anna Hess' Weekend Homesteader

Since not a whole lot of growing can be done during these colder, brown months, the first project for the month of November was to assess your garden and plan for the upcoming season's garden rotation. I recalled this term from high school agriculture discussions as a way to prevent the nutrient depletion of the soil. A very fuzzy memory regarding damage done by years of growing cotton crops here in the south... the Irish Potato Famine... but those brief conversations were about as far as my knowledge went. The Weekend Homesteader presents the topic as a method of staving off disease and insect infestation by rotating plants and plant families. This project is a mental one - taking the time to compare your previous garden, and redesign your area to keep from exposing your new vegetation to conditions that might stunt or kill them.

Since I had no garden last year, this project was very informative, but not yet relevant. Instead, my 4 year old son Jack and I sat down to figure out what we wanted to grow, where we wanted to grow it, and based on Mrs. Hess' advice, how to lay it out in the garden area. I am very sure that after a season, I'll change up my layout and choices, hopefully a bit more developed strategy in mind.

One of the bed structures I am considering