# What to plant?



## squerly (Aug 17, 2012)

I have a lot of meadow land that isn't producing anything except grass. (And no, you can't smoke it...) I'm thinking of planting 10 acres and I'm looking for ideas. 

I thought about corn as it's easy to grow, easy to store and is a component of alcohol, which can be traded or used to run a vehicle. Seems like a good, all around crop and a sensible use of the land. Also thought about fruit trees, although I can't think of any fruit that would be as beneficial as the corn will be.

Suggestions?


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

squerly said:


> I have a lot of meadow land that isn't producing anything except grass. (And no, you can't smoke it...) I'm thinking of planting 10 acres and I'm looking for ideas.
> 
> I thought about corn as it's easy to grow, easy to store and is a component of alcohol, which can be traded or used to run a vehicle. Seems like a good, all around crop and a sensible use of the land. Also thought about fruit trees, although I can't think of any fruit that would be as beneficial as the corn will be.
> Suggestions?


I would do an acre in fruit & nut trees,bushes, some trees produce for more then 100 years(my pear tree is over 50 years old).
Blackwalnut,Hickory & pecan trees live 70-100 years.
Blueberries live 25 or more years( I got 10 gallons off 9 out of 12 plant this year).
Asparagus live 20 or more years.
Brambles replace themselves every year forever.
That a lot of fruit/produce for a little labor, brambles have a little more labor then the others.

Corn, okra,squash, & snap beans all are big producers.
Corn is a little easier to plant & grow then most another grain.
But it is much less costly to harvest & can be harvested by hand with a wheelbarrow or mule & wagon.
We did 5 acres with a two row tractor(OT-10) & harvested it with a pick up truck & hand picking.
We also eat our fill when the field corn was young, before the sweet corn came in/ripen.


----------



## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

ask your local extension service and of course you need to know the runoff 
water / rain needs and soil needs to be tested if you have to augment the 
soil that can be costly if you do not have enough rain you will have to water 
depending on where you live that could be a real problem or very expensive 

ask yourself a few questions how much corn can you store 
turned into liquor could you store how many others would be 
doing the same in your area if everyone has corn then something else 
might give you all the corn you want.

how old are you can you handle taking care of a field of corn if something happens can you do it alone?

I am a proponent of the passive world if you have to work hard 
your killing yourself early if your young not a problem.
oil would be to me a very useful and expensive item sunflowers 
are a weed they are a good source of oil if you have the tool to extract it 
compare this to the large and costly area to dry and keep from vermin 
the dried and separated grains or even left on cobs. and turn the stalks into feed.

I raise what I do not have to water and does not need a lot of pesticides 
or constant attention I do keep a daily watch but I am of a time in my life 
killing myself in the heat and heavy work is not in the cards.
And it is a choice some take time like asparagus some take acidic soil
like strawberries 
no matter the soil test try a couple of things one large failure is a 
bash to moral.

I raise blackberries thorn-less these are very durable need little water 
and are a weed for all wants and purposes they self propagate I can sell the plants the berries whole as jelly jams or preserves as juice 
make wine or convert that into brandy it has a lot of good qualities.

I am no against corn I just think it has been done to death but your area may be different but first get the testing and information it is free and 
then decide hell you can have a portable chicken coops and plant clover 
and drag them around it protect the chickens and they have a new area every move.


----------



## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

10 acres is a pretty good chunk for planting, congratulations!

Is this for just you and your family? For cash crop, barter? Do you have any power equipment to work the land? Any other implements such as horses, plows...? Is there a place to store that amount of corn? Do you have livestock to gather manure from, or another source to fertilize the field? I don't mean to discourage you, but hand tending a garden is different than 10 acres.

I am no expert and never have been a farmer, I garden for personal use. Largest garden was almost 1/4 acre and that was a LOT of work by myself!! I ended up giving away tons of produce because I did not have time to process it all while keeping up with everything else in life.

Disclaimer aside... I would seriously look at breaking it into smaller areas. Mono-cropping is not the best thing for the land and if anything happens to that crop, you are sunk for the year.

Say you divide it in half, five acres each, one for long term crops and one for yearly crops. Each five acres into single acre lots. On the North side - so as not to shade the rest - I would plant nut trees in at least one acre. They are long term investments but very reliable and nutritious. You can pick ones you like and do well in your area and plant several varieties, not just all pecans or something. Another acre you could do annual fruit trees, again a variety that are adaptable to your area. You want some spring, summer and fall crops from these. It would suck if everything came in at once and you had 40 bushels of peaches to put up! Sheesh, not only put up, think about picking all them first!!! The rest of the lots plant with berries, fruiting bushes or whatever else you like and grows in your area. Maybe two acres of nut trees, or however you like. I would recommend a few Chinese Chestnut trees, if they will grow where you are. I sure miss mine! Store great, tasty boiled and make a nice flour.

On the annual side, remember crop rotation so as to not deplete the soil or grow pests! Keep in mind harvesting and putting up the crops too as you plan. Corn is a heavy feeder and if you plant corn, corn, corn... You will need to add fertilizers to keep it growing. Same theory as with the permanent side, mix it up. Acre of corn, acre of beans to dry, half acre of green beans, acre of potatoes (that is a LOT of taters though!). Perhaps stagger the plantings too, half a plot of corn now, then another in three weeks kind of thing. Try to leave a plot or two fallow for a year and plant a green manure to replenish the soil.

Sounds like a fun dilemma to have, wish I did! Biggest things I would keep in mind would be harvesting and storing what I grew. Watering, not so much as for those size lots, it would be expensive to setup and maintain.


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

My vote is fruit & nut trees but you have enough room to do it all so why choose?


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

Corn doesn't make a lot in comparison to the acres it takes to produce. Think about it you can make alcohol with any starch.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

UncleJoe said:


> It's also a heavy feeder. You won't want to plant corn every year unless you can give the soil a good, heavy feeding of fertilizer (cow/horse manure). You could also rotate; corn one year, beans the next and maybe just hay the third year. Beans will replace what the corn uses and hay will give the ground a chance to rest before you go back to corn in the fourth year.
> 
> Personally, I would devote half the ground to fruit trees and berry bushes. That 5 acres will produce year after year with very little labor.


I totally agree.
I think you should use as much animal manure as you can now.
You do not know how much gas you will have ASHTF.
Soil Builders:
Buckwheat is good & honeybees like it, you can eat it too.
Clover is good, honey bees like it & you & your farm can eat it too.
Alfalfa is good, honey bees like it & you & you animals can eat it too.
Cow/Field peas are good, honey bees, farm animals & humans like it & you can plant in you corn field, when you lay your corn by the last time.
Hairy Vetch,turnips,Hulless Oats,Winter rye,winter wheat will all build the soil & make a good cover crop to feed the deer for hunting season.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

hashbrown said:


> Corn doesn't make a lot in comparison to the acres it takes to produce. Think about it you can make alcohol with any starch.


I agree, but find it funny that you would say that after you posted photos of a beautiful corn field.
The corn is an easy grain, but white potatoes would do the same thing.
Maybe a mix of the two.


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

crabapple said:


> I agree, but find it funny that you would say that after you posted photos of a beautiful corn field.
> The corn is an easy grain, but white potatoes would do the same thing.
> Maybe a mix of the two.


That is exactly what I was thinking!


----------



## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

My little patch made 25 bushels of potatoes this year. I can't imagine digging a couple of acres of them though!


----------



## squerly (Aug 17, 2012)

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions and invaluable advice. The corn was my first thought, given its multiple uses and the ease of growing and storage. I'm still going to plant some, just not as much as I had originally planned. Had no idea of the nutrient drain on the soil. BTW, below is a picture of a piece of the area I plan to use.



nightwing said:


> ask your local extension service and of course you need to know the runoff water / rain needs and soil needs to be tested if you have to augment the soil that can be costly if you do not have enough rain you will have to water depending on where you live that could be a real problem or very expensive
> 
> I raise blackberries thorn-less these are very durable need little water and are a weed for all wants and purposes they self propagate I can sell the plants the berries whole as jelly jams or preserves as juice make wine or convert that into brandy it has a lot of good qualities.


Yes, we have a local extension service here but I've never talked with them. Everyone talks well of them though so I'll make time to go and visit with them.

Blackberries are a favorite of mine as well. 



Woody said:


> Is this for just you and your family? For cash crop, barter? Do you have any power equipment to work the land? Any other implements such as horses, plows...? Is there a place to store that amount of corn? Do you have livestock to gather manure from, or another source to fertilize the field? I don't mean to discourage you, but hand tending a garden is different than 10 acres.


This is for myself and my local friends/neighbors. I have a tractor but all the other implements I own were not designed for farming. No horses either but I see that as a good thing. 

I have lots of room to store whatever I grow although some work will have to go into building a room that the produce will store well in.



hashbrown said:


> My little patch made 25 bushels of potatoes this year. I can't imagine digging a couple of acres of them though!


That's a lot of potatoes bud, what do you do with them?

.
.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I really like the fruit as well, because it's a plant it and go kind of thing. Trees will require some pruning maintenance, especially at the start, but that's not hard. Berries - geez, there are so many! Raspberries of several colors, blackberries, dewberries, jostaberries, gooseberries, blueberries, currants, tayberries, loganberries, huckleberries, cranberries, lingonberries, honeyberries... To me one of the nicest things about the fruit is that I can choose to harvest it, or I can leave it alone. If something happens and I can't 'get the crop in', it's okay, the wild critters will gladly take care of it. But it's there if I want it. Or need it. 

As others said about corn being a heavy feeder, you could rotate in sections. Let's say you put four acres to fruit production. That would leave six acres for corn et al. You could plant two of those six to corn, two to alfalfa or buckwheat, and two to beans or field peas (some sort of legume). Then you could keep rotating the three. Heck, if you get your corn in early enough, you could plant buckwheat in the same season - it's a short season crop and good green manure. You could also plant oats for a cover crop.

Trying to figure out what to do with ten acres sounds like a blast.


----------



## Ozarker (Jul 29, 2014)

Variety is the spice of life! Look to the nutritional value, fruit, berries, beans, sweet spuds are better than white spuds but both are good and filling. Corn isn't too high up the nutritional scale but love it. I'd also be growing what costs the most, you can find out at the grocery store, ask the produce manager what they pay for what from truck farmers....you may want to get "approved" and sell some crops.

You have a really nice place there too, I think honey would be a great venture and it could go back up there in the trees, doesn't take much space.

I'd rather trade a couple gallons of berries than try to make my own corn mash. Berry wine is much easier.

As for fuel, I have no idea but my reasoning says that 10 acres wouldn't yield enough fuel to run the tractor and lawn mower with each crop. 

Grow what you like, what's good for you, what costs you the most and save those dollars and buy the booze and gas. I'd buy a few (3/4) head of beef, put 4 hogs in a pen far from the house (LOL) 8 chickens don't mind being close to hogs, get a decent horse and shed and still have the garden. You have enough room there to be self sufficient with some planning


----------



## squerly (Aug 17, 2012)

Ozarker said:


> Grow what you like, what's good for you, what costs you the most and save those dollars and buy the booze and gas. I'd buy a few (3/4) head of beef, put 4 hogs in a pen far from the house (LOL) 8 chickens don't mind being close to hogs, get a decent horse and shed and still have the garden. You have enough room there to be self sufficient with some planning


And soon I'll be allowed at farmersonly.com


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

goshengirl said:


> I really like the fruit as well, because it's a plant it and go kind of thing. Trees will require some pruning maintenance, especially at the start, but that's not hard. Berries - geez, there are so many! Raspberries of several colors, blackberries, dewberries, jostaberries, gooseberries, blueberries, currants, tayberries, loganberries, huckleberries, cranberries, lingonberries, honeyberries... To me one of the nicest things about the fruit is that I can choose to harvest it, or I can leave it alone. If something happens and I can't 'get the crop in', it's okay, the wild critters will gladly take care of it. But it's there if I want it. Or need it.
> 
> As others said about corn being a heavy feeder, you could rotate in sections. Let's say you put four acres to fruit production. That would leave six acres for corn et al. You could plant two of those six to corn, two to alfalfa or buckwheat, and two to beans or field peas (some sort of legume). Then you could keep rotating the three. Heck, if you get your corn in early enough, you could plant buckwheat in the same season - it's a short season crop and good green manure. You could also plant oats for a cover crop.
> 
> Trying to figure out what to do with ten acres sounds like a blast.


What she said!


----------



## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

squerly said:


> I have a lot of meadow land that isn't producing anything except grass. (And no, you can't smoke it...) I'm thinking of planting 10 acres and I'm looking for ideas.
> 
> I thought about corn as it's easy to grow, easy to store and is a component of alcohol, which can be traded or used to run a vehicle. Seems like a good, all around crop and a sensible use of the land. Also thought about fruit trees, although I can't think of any fruit that would be as beneficial as the corn will be.
> 
> Suggestions?


Plant what you are going to eat, canned, preserved, barter with, in other words for the foreseeable future, to feed your animals is another good reason. Maybe you even can make money from your hard work.
Good luck.


----------

