[arctichomesteader]

I would say on any given year there's a 50/50 chance I'll have some of my garden in the last week or two weeks of April. Peas, carrots, sometimes potatoes. Stuff that handles cold temps just fine. This year wasn't one of them. You really need a greenhouse and/or some cold frames to extend your season here. I put clear plastic on the ground a couple or few weeks before planting anything to warm the soil up some. I had to do that this year as well for bare root fruit trees I was getting delivered in April, by first shoveling away the 2 feet of snow still on the ground to put the plastic down, when I realized that the snow wouldn't be gone before the trees started arriving. It worked out but it was a chore. My land is on a south facing slope that's warmer than probably the entire rest of the town. I avoid late and early frosts the rest of town gets but conversely I also get more snow due to the elevation which delays me in the spring as the soil won't really warm up until all that snow is out of the way. Micro climates are significant in this state. A north facing slope, a frost pocket ravine or valley, and your options are far fewer. I'm growing some zone 5 fruit trees in a normally cold zone 4 (bordering on a zone 3 very closely) in the NEK because of a microclimate, but only a small portion of my land has that microclimate. My land's lower portions are a frost pocket along a brook. It's taken a few years for me to figure out where I have warm areas, where I have a high water table (unsuitable for fruit trees without more work), and where the soil is best. You won't jump right into being successful growing stuff obviously. I also highly recommend you buy land with areas already open and cleared if you want to grow things. Clearing and removing stumps is work.

[tkln]

Oh yeah, I've learned so much about microclimates, it's crazy how things differ within just a few feet in places!

Re cow corn...some of that is now being replaced by hemp here.

[Phorlan]

There's a depressing monotony to urban and suburban America (one city might as well be another, they all have the same big chains and cookie cutter sprawl, just the scenery in the background varies) and abundance of aggressive behavior and crime throughout this country's more populated areas (and some rural ones too as I saw for sure in California).

I totally agree with that.
I hate to say it but America doesn't look good at all. Vermont does and that's why I'm attracted to it.
I'm not the only one to think there is a problem with most parts of this country.

[EastwardBound]

Originally Posted by Phorlan

I totally agree with that.
I hate to say it but America doesn't look good at all. Vermont does and that's why I'm attracted to it.
I'm not the only one to think there is a problem with most parts of this country.

Unfortunately, we've allowed developers and planners along with city and county officials in almost every part of this country to produce the 'planning' what we now have to live with. This includes having to get on a 4-lane strode or feeder road, usually without sidewalks, so we can zoom by multiple strip malls and parking lots to get home to our cheaply-built strip housing tract with prominent garages.

Although a large portion of this problem is obviously the fault of those mentioned above, citizens are to blame too, because most people simply don't have the sense to even realize such things are not only aesthetically unpleasing but also unhealthy as well as environmentally unfriendly. They believe the current development situation is simply the way it is without even questioning the situation.

[Phorlan]

.....citizens are to blame too....

Absolutely, they are.

[RobinG60]

[quote=Flyinirish33;55807624]I would LOOOOVE to buy a huge plot of land in VT, be a self-employed tradeswoman, and operate an organic, bio-dynamic, self-contained, sustainable ecosystem and working farm with livestock and non-GMO fruits, veggies, and edible plants where everything on the farm has a symbiotic relationship and multi-dimensional purpose!! I'd have NO commute, my heart's desires would be in sync with my conscience, I'd be continually learning how incredibly intelligent nature is, and I'd be providing valuable, sustainable resources while improving and enriching the soil quality. I know it sounds archaic and old school but it CAN be done! And without conventional pesticides and anti-biotics that poison the soil and rob it of vital nutrients

This movie --- The Biggest Little Farm --- has been life-changing for me and come hell or high water, it's what *I* will have in 10 yrs. or less (hopefully in Vermont) Granted, the VT winters are harsh but the land is plentiful and VT has such great support for organic, non-GMO crops!!

Hey Prospective Vt homesteader/natural gardener:
At 57, closed up life in Nj, moved up to a secluded 35acre southern Vermont mountainside, with my partner Alan and our 2pups.

My perennial flower gardens are ever increasing. They are overrun with bees, birds and butterflies. We have let the Milkweed grow wild and have rewarded with all stages of Monarch growth, dozens of them feeding on my wildflowers and such at present.

The vege garden was an 11 hour labor of love: shovel, old lady, lots of trips to the natural compost piles under the old trees to build fertile soil from clay. Have gorgeous tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, eggplant etc. Not a pesticide to be found on the place.

Come east.
Life is short.
Robin

[RobinG60]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I would say on any given year there's a 50/50 chance I'll have some of my garden in the last week or two weeks of April. Peas, carrots, sometimes potatoes. Stuff that handles cold temps just fine. This year wasn't one of them. You really need a greenhouse and/or some cold frames to extend your season here. I put clear plastic on the ground a couple or few weeks before planting anything to warm the soil up some. I had to do that this year as well for bare root fruit trees I was getting delivered in April, by first shoveling away the 2 feet of snow still on the ground to put the plastic down, when I realized that the snow wouldn't be gone before the trees started arriving. It worked out but it was a chore. My land is on a south facing slope that's warmer than probably the entire rest of the town. I avoid late and early frosts the rest of town gets but conversely I also get more snow due to the elevation which delays me in the spring as the soil won't really warm up until all that snow is out of the way. Micro climates are significant in this state. A north facing slope, a frost pocket ravine or valley, and your options are far fewer. I'm growing some zone 5 fruit trees in a normally cold zone 4 (bordering on a zone 3 very closely) in the NEK because of a microclimate, but only a small portion of my land has that microclimate. My land's lower portions are a frost pocket along a brook. It's taken a few years for me to figure out where I have warm areas, where I have a high water table (unsuitable for fruit trees without more work), and where the soil is best. You won't jump right into being successful growing stuff obviously. I also highly recommend you buy land with areas already open and cleared if you want to grow things. Clearing and removing stumps is work.

Was quite the difference in garden start time and red tomatoes this year, from last. Last year my neighbors were knee deep in my overabundant tomato crop by early August. This season the tomatoes were still green at the same point.
Swimming in the red stuff now, but that long, cold, wet spring of 2019 really set things slow...

[Phorlan]

Funny, I'm about to turn 57 myself this Fall and working actively to close my life in the DC area and looking for the same type of land you have in VT. The search has been rough. Not really finding what I'd like, but I keep looking.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I would say on any given year there's a 50/50 chance I'll have some of my garden in the last week or two weeks of April. Peas, carrots, sometimes potatoes. Stuff that handles cold temps just fine. This year wasn't one of them. You really need a greenhouse and/or some cold frames to extend your season here. I put clear plastic on the ground a couple or few weeks before planting anything to warm the soil up some. I had to do that this year as well for bare root fruit trees I was getting delivered in April, by first shoveling away the 2 feet of snow still on the ground to put the plastic down, when I realized that the snow wouldn't be gone before the trees started arriving. It worked out but it was a chore. My land is on a south facing slope that's warmer than probably the entire rest of the town. I avoid late and early frosts the rest of town gets but conversely I also get more snow due to the elevation which delays me in the spring as the soil won't really warm up until all that snow is out of the way. Micro climates are significant in this state. A north facing slope, a frost pocket ravine or valley, and your options are far fewer. I'm growing some zone 5 fruit trees in a normally cold zone 4 (bordering on a zone 3 very closely) in the NEK because of a microclimate, but only a small portion of my land has that microclimate. My land's lower portions are a frost pocket along a brook. It's taken a few years for me to figure out where I have warm areas, where I have a high water table (unsuitable for fruit trees without more work), and where the soil is best. You won't jump right into being successful growing stuff obviously. I also highly recommend you buy land with areas already open and cleared if you want to grow things. Clearing and removing stumps is work.

Two months later but...

How do you avoid winter kill with zone 5 fruit trees in northern Vermont? You see -30F overnight temps in January many years, right? Does it get enough sun that you don’t have a deep frost line?

[ben young]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I would say on any given year there's a 50/50 chance I'll have some of my garden in the last week or two weeks of April. Peas, carrots, sometimes potatoes. Stuff that handles cold temps just fine. This year wasn't one of them. You really need a greenhouse and/or some cold frames to extend your season here. I put clear plastic on the ground a couple or few weeks before planting anything to warm the soil up some. I had to do that this year as well for bare root fruit trees I was getting delivered in April, by first shoveling away the 2 feet of snow still on the ground to put the plastic down, when I realized that the snow wouldn't be gone before the trees started arriving. It worked out but it was a chore. My land is on a south facing slope that's warmer than probably the entire rest of the town. I avoid late and early frosts the rest of town gets but conversely I also get more snow due to the elevation which delays me in the spring as the soil won't really warm up until all that snow is out of the way. Micro climates are significant in this state. A north facing slope, a frost pocket ravine or valley, and your options are far fewer. I'm growing some zone 5 fruit trees in a normally cold zone 4 (bordering on a zone 3 very closely) in the NEK because of a microclimate, but only a small portion of my land has that microclimate. My land's lower portions are a frost pocket along a brook. It's taken a few years for me to figure out where I have warm areas, where I have a high water table (unsuitable for fruit trees without more work), and where the soil is best. You won't jump right into being successful growing stuff obviously. I also highly recommend you buy land with areas already open and cleared if you want to grow things. Clearing and removing stumps is work.

I live in Pittsburg NH at 2200 feet. I gave up on fruit bearing trees years ago.I get +5 feet on the ground of snow,last winter we got +230 inches. The snow seemed to help the roots of my trees ,however they never could recover from a summer of mid June to mid August.I now start tomato's in my greenhouse and move the pots outside mid June and then tent them all summer..A big deal if they get pink. .We eat lots of fried green tomatoes .lol