The Asper Family Garden

The Asper Family Garden Lamplighter Guild Challenge: Horticulture Submitted by Julia and Aaron Asper May 1, 2020 Since God brought Aaron and I together, we have had homesteading on our hearts. We want to keep our (hopefully!) big family together, busy, happy, and healthy, and we believe farming together is God’s plan for our family. Since marriage, we have lived in an established neighborhood in SC with a backyard to host a small flock of chickens, vegetable garden, and a bunch of children’s toys. The three just didn’t work out well together! We prayed, saved, and hoped for our own land. We traveled between SC and PA, my husband’s childhood home, seeking but always praying for the Lord’s will, and his answer was, “Not yet.” Now, after 6 years of marriage, we have 3 children, a good church, a good job with a family oriented company, yet many homesteading property hopes deferred. Again, we prayed for the Lord’s will. I told my husband, “If God could bring us together, even though I’m from SC and you’re from PA, then He will bring the property to you.” “To the front door?” my husband replied, “That’s impossible.” Still, I encouraged that he knows what we need, so we don’t need to be discouraged. He will make it happen as He knows best. Then, it happened! At the beginning of 2020, our kind neighbors announced their son and family were moving. Then one morning, their son drove by while my husband was in the front yard and asked him if we be interested in renting their newly renovated, home on 12 acres for only an affordable little bit more per month than we were currently paying. Aaron thought about it for a while, and realized this could be a good idea. We only had to drive 5 minutes up the road to excitedly see what the Lord may have planned. Wow! It was a lovely, bigger home for our growing family, with a beautiful kitchen, fireplace, and peaceful pasture land waiting to be used. It was what we had been praying for, almost as if they were fixing up the home for us all this time! Now, with permission to farm and motivated by the Lamplighter Guild Challenge, we have put our garden plan down on paper to share. This Lamplighter project is actually being used now to guide us as we plant our summer garden. We are currently planting one section at a time as we wait to move there at the end of summer. All the food elements shown are what we plan on adding as the former horse/cow pasture has only a boundary fence, well, and shed outbuildings in place for farming. My husband dreams of transitioning from electrician work to full time farming with egg layers so we can be together as a family. Asper Family Garden 1 Head Feeding a Growing Family! The annual garden is the subject for this project, but we included other elements to feed our family and provide potential income in the future. We have a family of 5, with 3 children ages 5, 3, and 1, and we prayerfully want more! We live a debt free life, with Aaron as the sole provider. We believe God will provide for us what we need to feed our family, and we see this land as a way to his provision. If we have abundance, we would love to share with others, and sell what we cannot preserve, like watermelon, to the local stands or at our local farmer’s market. What a blessing if we can expand to having a CSA with eggs, vegetables, and bread! Proposed Layout of Back West Side of Property Property Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine boundary Pine Pine TreesLong Term Trees Trees PineTrees Pine Trees Pine Trees Pine Trees Trees fence Pine Pine Trees Pine Compost, Worm Trees Trees Trees Trees Trees Trees Tree Bins, and wood Trees Trees chips Top Bar Beehive Pine Dog- Mid Early Pine Late Pine wood Pear Pear Pear Tree Tree Pine Pine Early Mid Late Tree Peach Peach Peach Pine Trees Late Late Late Late Pine Apples Tree Mid Early Mid Early Mid Tree Black Berries along tree line Plum Plum <---More Pasture with Orchard sporadic young pines with a Tree row of pines making a windbreak and keeping Trees Tree Tree 400' pastured egg layers for profit Pine L L Trees M Pine Blueberries L M E Egg Laying Chickens with M Pine Pine E Mobile Electric Fence Tree E Elder wheat, field peas, oats, clover, turnips and mustard. Elder Suggested crop rotation: Pine Plot1 Pine Pine Pine Plot2 Trees Plot3 Plot4 Plot5 Chickens provide manure, tilling, education, healthy eggs, Tripods with timers for watering Tractor Shed and healthy meat. They live a happy, stressfree life by 50'x100' Animal Feed Garden 50'x100' Annual Garden and Tractors changing pastures to forage with their mobile design. (5 crop rotation) The electric fence and auto water and feeder helps remove stress of maintenance. Sporadic trees provide some shade Spigot Tool Herb Garden Thermo Sheds compost Playground! area Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Trees Trees Trees Trees Trees <---Woods continue along the front of Pine propetyPine Pine Pine Pine Medicinal & Trees Culinary Herb Trees Trees Trees Trees Well Pump Garden 30'x30' Old Barn Pine Pine Pine Pine Pine Back of House with Deck--Full Trees Trees Trees Trees Trees Sun for seed starting 300' *Only Tractor Sheds, Pine Trees, Pond, Playground and House are pre-existing Asper Family Garden 2 Sowing a Variety of Seeds We hope and pray for an abundance of food to cook with and preserve (freezing, water canning, pressure canning, and drying). Our annual garden will produce mainly vegetables, legumes, and grains, which are listed on the chart below. There are some herbs for the health of the garden and to protect from pests: oregano, chives, thyme, comfrey, and onion. These can be split and spread. Most of the culinary and medicinal herbs will be in the separate herb garden. Also, we will have a separate orchard with beehive, worm compost bins, and mobile egg laying hens with electric poultry fencing nearby, that will help with our compost piles and tilling needs. Asper Family Garden's Crop Rotation Plan - Rows Rotate DOWN Each Year - When to Plant: Jan Feb March Apr il May June July August Sept Oct Nov Dec Bench Flower Border Sow Annuals: Marigolds, Sunflowers, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturturium, Chives Maintain perr. herbs: Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Thyme, Comfrey Row 1 From Fall: Turnips & Mustard Red Potatoes- 12" x 2 rows, 24/b seed potatoes leftover left on Sweet Potatoes- 12" x 3 rows, 300 plants, yield: Hulless Oats cover crop are in place from fall planting the bed to Turnips- 2"x 2 rows, 1 oz seed (See Row 8) mulch Row 2 From Fall: Hulless Oats cover crop (see row 1) Bush Beans: 4" x 5 rows, soak.5lb/row; pick green, rest dry out, leaves= mulch Transplant Broccoli i 24" x 2 rows staggered to outside of rows with chives, marigold transplants; Sow Mustard 2"x 1 rows on left, first second third succession planting Kale 12"x1 on right, and turnips 2"x2 rows on inside Row 3 From Fall: Broccoli, Chives, Mustard and Turnips leftover for mulch and feed Popcorn: 6" x 5 rows, presoak .5lb seed soaked and let dry on stalk Dry Onions- "4 x 3 rows; 50 feet left in place from fall planting See Row 2) Garlic - 4" x 3 rows; 50 feet Row 4 From Fall: Dry Onions- "4 x 2 rows Transplant 50 Heirloom Tomato (det & indet); 48" x 2 staggered rows + herbs, flowers, onionsWinter legume: peas, lentils (animal feed), can trellis on old tomatoes 54' Garlic Transplant 50 Pepper from mild to hot, variety bell colors and sizes; 48"x2 staggered rows Row 5 From Fall: Winter Spring Planting: Transplant Broccoli 24" x 2 rows staggered with Collards 12" x 1 Collards 16"x 1 row in middle; Kale 2"x 1 rows on left side of collards, and spinach 2" x 1 legume cover in place row on left and Kale 12"x1 row on right, Marigolds & chives near broccoli too; Then, row on right side of collards (see row 4) spinach down the middle 6"x1row Row 6 From Fall: Collards, Mustard, Turnips Ambrosia Sweet Corn: 6" x 5 rows, soak; 1/2 lb seed leftover Scarlet Globe radish 1 row, Cosmic Carrots 1 row, Buttercrunch lettuce (1ft in middle), Bok Choy (1 ft in middle), danvers carrot 1 row, Daikon 1st 2nd 3rd 4th succession planting by blocks for mulch radish 1 row…Sow at three 2 week intervals ?": Row 7 From Fall: Greens and Roots from fall Ice box Watermelon - 36"x2rows; 2 oz seed Crookneck(Butternut)Squash: 36"x2rows 1st half Wheat Cover crop planting….Sow Radishes and anything else that 1st 2nd succession planting Spaghetti Squash: 36"x2rows 2nd half has finished in January (see row6) Row 8 From Fall: Wheat cover crop from Fall (see row 7) Jumbo Peanuts: 10" x 3 rows; 1 lb seed Turnips & Mustard Cover (feed) Bench Flower Border Sow Annuals: Marigolds, Sunflowers, Zinnias, Cosmos, Nasturium, Chives Maintain perr. herbs: Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Thyme, Comfrey 106' CROP COLOR CODE: Nitrogen Fixer MAIN SLOPE: SOUTH: SUN PATH: SOIL: Sandy, former cow/horse pasture Grains Greens and Roots Allium SECONDARY SLOPE: ZONE: South Carolina ZONE 8 Solananceae (Full sun; hot summer; mild winter with only one month (Dec-Jan) of less than 10 hour days) Cucurbits Roots WATER: Well pumped irrigation to tripods with timers Flower/Herbs for Pollinaters Heavy mulching and trenches in direction of slope in place to support water We choose T-bar fencing for protection and ability to relocate or expand since it's in pasture.

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