My first garden

[porcupine kate]

I'm looking at planting a garden or 2 with Little Minnesota and possibly using some of Maineshark's land
The first location has a lot of semi shade and the other is nice sunny farm land. 
I'm looking for ideas of things to grow that would do well here in New Hampshire.
Neither location has fencing to keep wild life out.
We are planning to use heirloom seeds.  We are going to start the seedlings in doors due to a short growing season. 90-100 days

Does anyone know what are good options since we want to can, freeze, dry, and pickle a lot of this stuff to use all year.

[EJinCT]

Squash, beets, tomatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, turnips, cucumbers, radishes, cabbage, garlic, broccoli, green beans. 

[kola]

I do not mean to discourage you but it will be quite a challenge to keep critters away without fencing.

Kola

[EJinCT]

Isn't that what Bill is for?   

[yonder]

Border your garden with insanely hot peppers.  The critters tend to browse the outside edges of the garden before heading for the interior.  I've found having hot stuff on the perimeter discourages quite a bit (but not all) of the mammalian invaders.

Nothing short of an 8' tall fence will keep out a determined deer.

[kola]

I had some of those damn deers eat my jalepenos!!

I think they were mexican deer. (are they the ones with the antlers coming out if their sombraros?)

jeeeeeeesus

umm...garlic and onions were spared.

kola

[yonder]

Jalapenos are extremely mild.

Crank it up several notches.  Try habeneros (not the hottest, but pretty hot!)

You can also get a spray made up of hot peppers that will drive away many pests.  You just have to make sure to rinse your crops VERY well if you use the stuff, and don't use it at all when it gets closer to harvest time.

[kola]

how about Thai?

those guys are little, but holyshit, they pack a punch.

they should rename them "bowel-cleanse 100".

[Tom Sawyer]

We've found that the deer don't like to cross pumpkin plants.

Also instead of fencing the entire garden you can make cages around plants.

Urine can also keep them back.

From our experience it seems that they often leave the garden alone until later in the summer when the other foliage gets tougher and less palatable.

[Ron Helwig]

We had pretty good luck by just keeping Otis' kennel door open 

I have no problem with fences being put up, I just don't have any now.

[kola]

Everyone should have a garden, big or small. If you do not have land, plenty of folks will let you use theirs. In return you can give them some of your harvest. and btw kids just love to plant things and watch them grow and then best of all THEY EAT IT!

I just got 100 mason canning jars with lids and seals for 35 bucks on Craigs List. Thanks Kat. Next year I will can approx 500-600 jars.


Kola

[MaineShark]

You just have to make sure to rinse your crops VERY well if you use the stuff, and don't use it at all when it gets closer to harvest time.

Why?  It would save me from adding habanero powder to the food I cook with those veggies!

I wonder if there's a market for pre-spiced vegetables?

Joe

[Beth221]

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/default.aspx?source=google_johnny_s_seeds_e&gclid=CLLJ0tir05ACFQdEFQodLDBAWg


i reccomend a sugar snap peas, which can be grown directly into the ground, early in the season. 

above is a link for a great seed comapy, has a lot of good seeds, the master gardiner I work with, uses only this company for her seed needs.  Squash, pumkins, and melons work real well for first growings.  They store well, and get sweeter with age off the vine, and most squahes freeze well.  The can handle being planted on "raw" compost or manure, so if you know someone who wants to give you cow poop or horse poop for free, it wont burn the plants. 

[RD]

With very few exceptions, I have not had problems with critters and have never put up a fence.  I'm usually very successful with tomatoes, bush beans, cukes, squash, zucchini, carrots, and radishes.  The only one I have to start indoors are the tomatoes in mid-April.  The rest can be direct sewn at the end of May.  I always use seeds from Johnny's Seeds; they have an awesome selection and you can choose varieties that are better for our shorter growing season.

Oh, and I always plant determinate tomatoes ever since my first garden experience with the sprawling, pruning nightmare of indeterminates.

[srqrebel]

What a cool, informative thread you have here, Kate... gardening is so much fun! 

My plan is to grow a vegetable garden next year, too... though I'll first have to find someone willing to let me use their land, and it has to be in a mostly sunny location, of course.  Perhaps we can compare notes, or whatever

Will you be using raised beds?  Is it going to be an organic garden?