Need Lots of Advice

[benjamin]

lasagna, mulching, and raised beds with lots of compost are all great methods of gardening even if you have the equipment sitting idle. The dog might be your best weapon vs the critters. It also helps if the garden spot is near the house and in the open, away from any cover. For deer you can spray rotten egg but you have to do it every time it rains or every couple of weeks and even then the deer might get used to it. I use old mayo jars, don't rinse them, put the cap on, set in sun for a couple of weeks, add water, slosh around, spray on fruit trees, it works great.

A parking spot next to the road is a good compromise if you want to avoid the hassle of a long driveway.

 

[Dingeryote]

Dottie,

Congrats on moving away from the lunacy!!:D

You have a bit of a learning curve ahead of ya, but it sounds like you'll do fine.

On the saw, I'll just suggest you find a local shop with a personable staff, that will take the time to support you, and be available to provide knowlegeable advice when needed.Husky, Stihl,Dolmar,Echo dosn't matter as they all make good saws that will fit your needs. The only practical difference will be the dealer themself, and thier relationship with you.
Skip the box stores. They are not a dealer, and any problems you may have will result in them pointing out the warranty, or telling you to go to the website.

If you do go the Tiller route, I'll give a vote for the Stihl MM55 Tiller with the wheel Kit and depth kit. We use one for cultivating between young blueberry plants and easily put 100+ hours on it in each of the last 2 seasons without problems other than wearing out tines, that are easily replaced. Stihl also has the easy start version out now. Prices might be a slight bit higher than the Mantis though.

Critters are gonna invade now and then.
Deer can be a a pain but can be managed a bit with making your Garden and yard unattractive to them.
Miller chemical makes a repellant called "Hot sauce" that actually works. It's based on capsasinoids (Think Habenero juice) and makes vegetation unpalatable.
The stuff works and isn't a noxious chemical.
Rabbits and woodchucks hate it as well, but they will learn to attack the garden right after a rain unless you educate them properly, and keep thier numbers down.
Coyotes do a good job on the varmints, but when you stop seeing Rabbits and chucks, they will start getting bold and need educating.
Larger Dogs last longer with Coyotes around, but keep an eye on them regardless, when the 'yote numbers are up.

I'd tell ya to skip the snowblower and all the seperate gadgets, and just get a good small tractor and impliments, but tractors are another headache in themselves at times.
Lawntractor attachments are an absolute PITA compared to a real tractor though so it's a wash.

How big of a garden are you going to put in?
If it's big enough, a Tractor makes a lot more sense, and with the right one, will cover snow removal, tilling and mowing.

Some of the new Compact utility tractors are not bad at replacing what used to be called a "Garden tractor". They are just ridiculous expensive.

I wish ya luck!

 

[Dottie]

Thank you all for your advice. I can see what you mean about even little garden tractors. I was pricing one at Sears, a small one and by the time I got everything that I thought was useful (snowblower, cultivator, weights, carts, chains, hitch, etc.) it was about $8,000. I think I'm going to have to think that through. I don't think I'll live long enough to eat $8k in vegetables, although the lawn and the driveway still have to be mowed and cleared of snow. Well, in one of the first post there was some advice to go slowly and not rush into anything, I believe that's very good advice. I think it's great of everyone here to give me the benefit of their experience and I value it.

As far as coyotes go, they are a new thing to me in Virginia, I've lived here all my life and I'd never heard of them (except in Westerns) until the last 10-15 years or so, and as I have two cats and a small dog I'll really have to keep an eye out. I've heard some people who live out that way also talk about black bears getting in their trash cans etc. It's kind of funny, but the day I was going up to do the final walk-through of the house before closing, I was taking a different road (a little more winding and wooded), and saw something barreling across the road, I did the same thing that I do when seeing a fox (dog?cat?, no fox!), except I did (big dog?, pony?, no bear!). I was excited. I haven't seen any since, but I thought it was a sign that I was actually moving into the country. To be really honest, I would be less than thrilled if I saw one near the house. As far as "educating" the varmints, I guess that would be another post in itself about the best "educators" to buy!

I don't know how big a garden I'll put in. I would like to start smallish just to see what sort of wildlife it attracts and build from there. There's a nice open field that gets plenty of sun close to the house and I think that it would make a good garden spot (depending on if the soil is too rocky or not). It's really large and if I had the money I could fence it in and plant fruit trees, vines, berries, etc. as well as having a huge garden. It all depends on the wild critters, the expense, and my stamina. I'm developing a huge wish list to go with my fairly large necessity list of things I never really thought about before. In any event, I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to be able to finally move to the country and I'm lots more excited than apprehensive about it.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer.

Dottie

 

[muncybob]

Good luck Dottie...I agree with starting off small with the garden. Consider how you will store any veggies that you don't quickly consume. If you have enough room and windows you may want to start some early seeds soon.

 

[bboulier]

I am not a fan of a tiller. As others have mentioned, you might want raised bed gardens. You can additional beds as you go along. Strongly recommend books for high yields in a small area: Mel Barholomew's "Square Foot Gardening" and "All New Square Foot Gardening". I have had tremendous success with this approach.

 

[phatfarmerbob]

Just a thought , how about a 4WD SUV with a small trailer.. then you could just drive over the snow insted of plowing it then use the trailer and rent the tiller from town for a day or two...

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Hi Dotie, congrats on the property. I have 23 acres and a 1000 foot driveway, but actually close to everything else. Chainsaws, you cannot go wrong with Stihl but you could go cheap to get started. I found a source on Ebay that is a Northern Tool dealer that gets all their rejects (usually just UPS shipping box damage). You can buy a Poulan for as little as $50 or use craigslist for a used saw. Echo is supposed to be decent and I have an old Husky that is great. Some of the newer ones from the box stores use alot of plastic now. If you are spending $350 you can get a Stihl.

On the driveway a 100 ft is not bad, but if you could swing it an ATV with a plow is great and makes short order of the work. You can also get alot of other attachments as well as a trailer to haul your wood. Many of us wood guys with property consider an ATV a must.

On the garden you can definetly buy a used tiller on Craigslist. Probably just rent one the first time or hire somebody. They are for sale all the time because people have them and rarely use them.

 

[soupy1957]

Moving to a place where independent living is more the "norm" than the exception, means having the tools necessary to take care of business yourself.

Buy what you need, and get'r done!!

-Soupy1957