Lindsey From Western Wisconsin Amish Country Sends in Pictures of Her Garden

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other people’s pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this year. Keep them coming!

Hi Mavis,

I found you blog this morning when looking for some zucchini recipes (I still have last years in the freezer!). We are enjoying your Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies right now.

We live in Western Wisconsin in the middle of an Amish Community, my garden does not compare to theirs but they have helped me learn along the way. This is our 4th year gardening here.

This was our garden in May; the front half is mostly spring crops.

Now, most of our spring crops are done – lettuces, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower and early cabbage. The tomatoes and peppers are on the right side and potatoes in the far back with vine plants on the left.

I am still reading on cover crops for the front part. The Amish say to use Rye Grass, I am unsure what would be best for an organic garden though.

Here is a Finch dreaming of eating the few blueberries that we have this year! I used deer netting to keep them away and it is working well. Our plants are only 3 years old; started from bare roots. Our two young girls enjoy picking the “bozzies.”

Here is a picture of my girls helping me bring in more tomatoes and peppers from last year 🙂 They just love pulling the veggies that are ready to harvest.

This past Christmas I asked for a chicken coop and my computer nerd husband made this for me 🙂 I feel so blessed! We currently have twelve 3 month old hens (maybe one rooster).

We purchased the plans off eBay for less then $10 and modified them for our budget. This was under $300!

We have a few apple trees on our property, they are not bug free but we do reduce the bugs by putting wood ash on the bottom.

This is our first year starting raspberries, a few of the plants I started in the spring but just found a great deal on a bunch of full grown plants/shoots last week. A lady from my church said since I am planting them full grown in the middle of summer I need to trim them – that way they can focus on their root growth and not leaves. I hope it works 🙂 The Amish usually build a wood and twine support for their raspberries – I tried to do that with some extra plastic stakes and rope.

A few random tips that I learned:
– Our Amish neighbors say it is best to plant peas early, they do well with a bit of spring snow. They also plant them with Epsom salts and believe it improves their flavor.
– A Mennonite lady said to put a 2″x 4″ on your carrots as it will allow the plant to focus on root growth and not leaves (worked for me!).
– The Amish always put a black plastic under their melons and say that it keeps the soil warmer for larger melons. I am using grass clippings this year and hoping for the same results.

I hope you have a great day and am looking forward to seeing how cheap I can get our grocery budget!

~ Lindsey

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.