In article ,
wrote:

We're living on a minute, fixed income (health problems) so
meeting these goals would make a very, very substantial
contribution to our welfare and standard-of-living. Even
meeting the first two goals will help a lot.


Thanks for sharing your goals. I am amazed how well organized you
are. On a rare occasion of TV watching (while I was seeding a peck of
chiles), I happened to catch Martha Stewart yesterday. She was visiting
a certified organic farm (Four Season Farm) up in Maine near the coast.
Here is some information and some pics:

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jh...Type=tvradio&c
atid=cat16935&id=tvs8607

They grow a lot of "designer" veggies which seems to help their business
a lot. And they practice intensive gardening methods, claiming to
produc in one acre what regualr gardens get in six acres. Impressive if
true. I was also struck by their 8 large hoop-houses (quite large
ones), only two of which are at all heated and then just to keep from
freezing. Both owners have written books, neither of which have I read.

We currently have a cold frame but are considering a small (cheap)
greenhouse or hoop-house to extend the growing season a bit more. In
years past, we always had spinach in a cold frame in the winter and it
was always fabulous. It was also great for getting an early start too.

Our goals for the coming year include expanding our gardens some more by
making better use of the space we have and by selection of better
cultivars. Over the winter, I think we will build some demountable
trellises to aid in growing many of the things that like to climb. We
will still make yse of our tripods but will try some other methods,
especially for the peas. We might also dig a new 4 x 50 bed and do some
terracing in the steeper sections of our yard to pick up some useable
space there.