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As a person with hearing issues I really appreciate your clear speaking and rhythm. Thank your!

You put on a great show with a lot of great content!!! When we started gardening in 1974 we had our parents teaching us the old school how-to's. My dad was raised on a farm in Italy before coming back to the U.S. at age 14...by himself in 1936. Mom was raised on a farm, they were tenant farmers, and in her grandmother's boarding house later on. My mom, her mother, and her grandmother had Victory Gardens during the war. My wife's parents were also farmers before they met. We were lucky we had great teachers! We started small and expanded as the family grew. There was a couple of decades that we stopped gardening, canning, and freezing produce. Then fifteen years ago we started again, first small for about five years. Now we are back to about the size when the kids were younger. Being older and retired the last five years, we found ways to make the work a lot easier. We slowly built 14 raised beds for vegetables and flowers and three years ago I started a no-till garden in the back yard...saves mowing lol. In the front yard I spread a few 12 inch by 12 inch high by about 20 foot long hills of rabbit manure for the winter squash. That takes care of about 25% of the front yard I don't have to mow lol! I was raised in a small village, my wife in the country. We bought a little over 4 acres after we were married...love the country! We give away all the extra produce to all the retired neighbors and her family. Gives us something to do lol! AND!!! We are still learning!!! You just can't know everything! Enjoyed as always! Take care!

50 year farmer/gardener here and your advice is spot on! Even after so much time there’s always something new to learn.

I'm not a KZfaqr but I have thought many times t about posting a video identical to this one. I'm guilty of all the things you brought up. Most videos talk about things that make gardening more difficult like season extention and grow big or go home and beginners wind up overwhelming themselves. This should be a must watch for all beginning gardeners.

WRT planting all your perennials in the beginning, That only works if you know what perennials you will be planting and make a garden plan as to where to plant them. One would also need more money if s/he is going to put them in as transplants. I'd recommend putting in a few perennials every year while getting the benefit of the annual plants. That way it will feel you just put plants there and, almost ignored them until the year comes that they start producing. Put perennials in as soon as possible, but a garden is an evolving thing. If you put them in all at once, you might find you put some where they shouldn't be.

Going into my 4th year of seriously gardening. If I knew then what I know now, I think #1 would be more in ground beds. Over the past couple years, feeding the soil with the proper biology has allowed me to successfully grow directly into the soil. Raised beds are great, but very expensive, especially if you are purchasing the majority of materials to fill them. The 2nd big change would to have gone directly to cattle panel trellising of my indeterminate tomatoes. 1st year I used sting, 2nd year bamboo stakes, then last year the cattle panels, by far the easiest and most effective. 3rd thing would be the over-all layout of the beds. Making a complete change to a 20' X 8' bed due to the invasion of jumping worms. Actually, it might work out for the best. I will be giving up some garden space for 2 pathways, but the addition of 2 arched cattle panels will actually increase my over all growing area. 4th thing would be pay more attention to the sun. Mostly, where it lands on my garden, and how plants end up shading each other out. Gardening to me is a journey, I'm sure I will make more mistakes along the way, but what the heck... It's a lot of fun!!!

After over 30 years, (zone 6a), should have: • Adopted no-till practices earlier. Cover pathways with cardboard and woodchips and drastically reduce weeding. Plus there is no more tracking mud into the house. • Build / buy a greenhouse. Not only will you extend your season and have a place to start seeds (exposing them to full sun from the start), but you can also have an excellent place to putter around on a cold sunny day. On a windy 10 degree day, it can easily be 75 in the greenhouse when the sun is out!

Our raised beds are too high for bunnies but the deer found the garden last year. Had to buy a motion sensing water sprayer for now until we can get some fencing built.

After 20 years, one site (zone 5b), should have: -Enhanced the soil as much as possible as quickly as possible. -Accepted I have to clear a lot of trees to get sun to my garden when I live in the woods. -Had fencing-animals can be devestating -Been starting earlier in the spring and growing later into the fall. -Been starting seedlings indoor and succession planting from day 1.

Love the thoughts. For myself ...I started my orchard and perennials early on 20 years ago but integrated pest management was not as well developed and I learned after many years of pest destruction that the Japanese plums i planted in the middle of my orchard were very strong magnets to bring plum curculio into the middle of all my fruit trees and begin their long season of 2 hatches i my MO garden, that resistant to fire blight is Not immune and that the lovely bees which are needed to pollinate also pass the bacteria around . Enough of those sad tales. I have become very fond of fruits with fewer challenges: berries have been more rewarding and less devastating overall. Learning how to keep my clayish soil covered , and the amazing transformation that consistent mulch and broadforking can make on it were too many years in the learning process. We have very heavy deer and rabbit pressure. The following is a design from a gardening friend who has tried many fences and deterrents. 7 ft deer proof plastic netting zip tied to T posts with 2 ft chicken wire around the bottom to keep the rabbits out. And a top wire to support the netting. I am now in central Indiana and your timing of indoor starts and outdoor seeding has been very helpful and appreciated. Thankyou for the great regional lessons .

Instead of reducing the area, one can choose a type of crop that doesn't require care, e.g. sun flowers - the seeds cost nothing, they practically all germinate, they have deep roots and thus break up and aerate the ground, they draw up nutrients from deep down, they give loads of compost material, they feed the wildlife, and - they're beautiful!

Jenna! A lot of valuable information I can really appreciate! I'm a Newby gardener and began two years ago as a result of covid. I've never been happier in my LIFE! 😊 I live in zone 6 in a residential area but near the Mississippi River and critters roam through the neighborhood all the time - groundhogs, raccoons, otters... So I began with an elevated raised garden bed. Last year, year two, I ended up with three pre-fab elevated raised beds, a custom built 8x3 cedar veg bed, a three foot tall 9x3 carrot bed and a 6x3 squash bed. It's true what you said, less is more so I have to limit myself and manage the varieties of fruits and veggies I'm growing because it can be overwhelming if not checked. I began small and am growing at a comfortable pace. I make my own compost, cover my soils when not in use and try to keep landscaping around the garden and my floating deck simple to decrease maintenance and workload with that situation. I understand the importance of soil health and was showing off my beautiful rich black soil to my gardener friend just the other, however, you were again correct about pH levels being careful not to overfertilize, etc. Finding that balance and maintaining soil health can be challenging.... Well thank you jenna, I really enjoyed your video, thx for sharing!

This is my first year gardening at my new house. We had at least 20 deer at a time wander through the garden last winter and we often saw deer through the summer as well last year. So my garden plan this year includes a 6' fence around the vegetable garden, hoping, as you do, that the crowded nature of my garden will discourage jumping. I really hope the fence works, because I love watching the deer wander through, and I'd like to keep enjoying that. I'm glad to see that you're getting away with a 5' tall fence!

This video was so eye opening and helpful for me right now!!! I've been gardening forever and got in a rut. We are moving this summer to our new 10 acres and I will be starting from scratch. The land hasn't been used for 20 years. So I have to do everything. This was so helpful. I had it all in my head LOL. NOW gonna draw it all out, including fencing, fruit trees and bushes, and then garden and flowers. I have a zillion things I say, oh I wish I would have.......... So Hopefully I can use all of yours and all of mine, for a great growing season 2024!. Thanks!!!!!

Awesome information as always Mrs. Jenna. You not kidding those critters will wipe a garden out. Deer try to jump in my yard but when the dogs see them at the fence they put them on the run. Only bad thing is I had to put a fence inside of my fence around each part of my gardens to keep the dogs out. LOL.. We added a new 4x16 bed that is sixteen inches deep and right off the bat our pew brained 80 lb Bulldog plowed all over it. Instead of doing a fence down that side of the yard I am trying the underground hot wire to see if it will keep them out. If not then more T post and wire welded fence it will be. Keep up the amazing work my friend! Stay safe up there!! Spring will be here soon.

Your channel is such a resource, your topics relevant and the delivery & knowledge engaging. Yours is my #1 go to on KZfaq and I thank you for it. I'm a new gardener (1 season and a bit) and I'm readying myself for a bigger piece of land by end '23, so I literally consult your channel for general and specific veggie gardening. Wishing you good health for 2023. From the UK.

Regarding "Starting Small" : Every season in the high heat of the summer I keep thinking of ways to downsize. Scale back, grow less. Then the next day I build 4 more beds. 🤠

You might have saved me a lot of trouble with this video. I’m planning to start my garden and you highlighted a handful of pitfalls I was running towards! Thanks from central Kentucky!

I'm not going to read through all of the comments, but I'm sure I'll join many in saying "Yeah, same." And I wish I'd seen this video four years ago.

Great tips. I'd like to add one more: establishing my water irrigation watering systems BEFORE planting!

Thank you for all that you said with tip 6 - starting small!

I'm here in Arizona, we are to get a shower or two, hang over from the California deluges. I've had a 15 cu/yd load of tree service chips that they load on my big ole gooseneck for 6 months, today it gets unloaded, need my trailer. And it's going to it's locations to get another mulch blanket, my water bill sure likes it, veggies love it too, our peach, nectarines are at bud swell, ate my first asparagus spear this morning, yes I know, but 3 months in summer, it gets out of heat, let the chips keep the soil cooler.,

Best gardening channel! Thanks Jenna! ❤

Thank you! Good video. Well, I got a few things right ... I used a permaculture technique right in the beginning to determine where the water flowed when my yard flooded, by observation, then I redirected it, and captured it using cachement areas. I also planted asparagus, rhubarb, sage, fruit trees, pecan, berries first ... and they all came up and are doing great. I also used a chicken wire to protect my whole backyard from rabbits, and that worked perfectly. In terms of things I would have done differently ... 1) I also tend to try to do too much, 2) I grow things that my family won't eat .. like hot peppers, summer squash, then I'm the only one amazed by the quality / taste, 3) I also wish I had learned about soil health earlier, 4) RABBITS, rabbit tractors .. why didn't I recognize the importance of rabbits? Their manure is gold for gardens, and they eat the grass. Maybe this year I will get rabbits, though my wife will !%@$!, 5) rocket stove mass heater for the greenhouse / shed. Such an efficient way to heat, like 1/10th the wood use. 6) Frozen tomatoes! Just pick them, and freeze them in a ziploc, that's it. I use them all year. I didn't know this in the beggining, I was canning, dehydrating, salting, fermenting ... and that's all good, but really, it's just easier to freeze them.

As for problem #4 , I installed two Siberian Huskies. Works great!

a friend of mine had deer probems and he used a sprinkler that was turned on by motion and it worked good Thanks for video

I made many of the same mistakes with my garden. Space between raised beds too narrow for the wheelbarrow. Failed to line beds with hardware cloth, welcome gophers! Didn't put down 2' high chicken wire to keep out rabbits. On the positive side, I did well with amending the soil and using mulch to conserve water and suppress weeds, and the 5' tall fence plus trellises has kept out deer. I'd like to have a water source in the garden instead of running 120' of hose to connect to my pvc pipe irrigation system. Live and learn!

My heart and thoughts are with you, your family and community after the ecological disaster in your region. Stay safe.

Your videos always give me such a lift. Last year we moved from a property that had ridiculously good soil to a property with heavy clay. I was heart-broken to learn that this soil was going to be difficult to work with, to say the least. Your place looks so beautiful and lush and productive that I’m determined to figure out how to have the same. Thanks!

Jenna, thank you for this. I admit as a full time day job, starting small expansion as you go the best way. I like you peserve it all so I will say this fall was exhausting. Great tips for everyone. Keep up the great videos. What I would do differently like you soil health but also not expand too fast. I definitely don't have the space you do, but I will say I have 11 beds, grow bags, and greenstalks in every inch of my back yard with a swimming pool. This season planning diligently and using patience when seed starting. I still was a few weeks too soon last year so really holding off is a challenge. I grow thousand or so transplants for myself friends and to donate to local schools, community gardens and food banks. Patience is key all aspects gardening, restraining myself starting too soon so transplants are manageable.

I love learning from you. I watched another youtuber and they said to find someone in your zone. Thatś how I found you.

And #5. I needed to hear that! Thank you!

Wow Jenna……you really have a great way of explaining stuff, that makes people (me) truly understand. There’s a lot of channels with great advice, but your execution never misses the mark! Thanks for another well thought out video

The number one thing I would differently is not simply use the veg patch that the previous owners built but started from scratch in terms of layout with irrigation and with walking paths in mind

Yes for Green Chef!!!!

I had the same issue with my gate not being big enough. To solve it I pulled the staples that attached the fence to one side of the gate and attached it to a 2x4 and put wire loops like in our pasture fences. Now I can open up a section of the fence when I need a bigger opening.

I enjoy all of your soil health videos SOOO much! My favorite playlist you do is on amending clay soil. You are an amazing gardener ❤️

If you get a Chest Freezer, you can make success at storing food MUCH easier. It's a great backup if you get too exhausted canning.

Soil health is such a Key 🔑 especially when growing giant pumpkins which need very great soil

Jenna - such good advice - you were talking to me about taking on more than I should. Expectations can take a person down. The amount of guilt we put in ourselves is too much and destructive.

I got rid of a groundhog by walling off just the slicing tomatoes and he ate like 12+ green cherry tomatoes, whole. Never came back, and I know where he (still) lives lol.

Exactly the list I would've made of what I wish I'd done/known . . . Great Job!

Those canned candied jalapenos living in the pantry since 2020 would go great on a ham sandwich. Does anyone else like a sandwich setup that way? 🥪 Excellent job on the video, Jenna!

Omg preach with the space issue 😂 I’m an idiot and put my raised beds close together, which is fine for when I’m walking around but my poor dad gets his pants hooked on stuff all the time.

I agree that space to maneuver garden carts, etc ., is so important. I have to hand carry things into my garden space---it's just too tight for even a wheelbarrow. I curse my set-up frequently, yet lack the energy at my age to fix the problem. Sigh. Gotta say--I LOVE LOVE LOVE your jacket and hat. You look amazing in it.

Thanks for the comment about hardware cloth under soil to hinder moles and burrowing critters. Don't get me wrong. Critters are cool, elsewhere! Also, thanks for mentioning elderberry, a good berry I had left out of my plan.

Mrs. J - many good tips here. I will add one. When I bought my house over 35 years ago, I was not a gardener even though my father grew up on a farm. Both of us worked, the kids were, well, kids, and there was no time for it. So, when I bought my house, it was in a subdivision, and the yard was not flat and covered in trees. If you are young, even if you don't think you like gardening, buy a nice piece of land and see to it that it is flat! As you get older, you will want the space and if you age well - you will want to garden eventually I plan my beds and garden area with the idea that I need to get my lawn mower in there and a wheelbarrow. Your point on the progression of what you plant at the beginning is right on. Many of us jump in willy-nilly. Out of all your points, knowing your soil was the best for me. I have struggled mightily with my soil composition and amendments. I have progressed to raise beds filled with a product called SOIL3 - an organic soil from Canada. This has worked very well in the raised beds. For my in-ground areas, I am still amending and experimenting, with some success of late. I have planted comfrey and nettles recently and am excited about these additions. Carry on, Northern Elf...your videos are much appreciated!

I believe the landing spot theory to be true with deer. I did not have problems for years then decided to "clean up" my orchard garden and boom deer jumped in.

The pantry part almost sums up🤣

With regard to your deer fence...I have done some research since we bought some land and see deer almost every time we are out to the property. We're building and I have set up an initial garden area. The very first thing I planted was asparagus and for a long time the deer didn't touch it, then suddenly they nibbled every bit of green off of the stalks, forcing me put up a fence. I wish I could give credit, but don't remember who I watched simply use fishing line. He said pretty much what you did, they don't have good distance vision and if they don't have wide open space they will not jump, further if they get caught in something (like a fishing line) they will stay away because they don't see anything and cannot make sense out of it. Rather than press their luck they will avoid the area. I found this to be true so far. They broke the fishing line once and have left the garden area alone. Even some space that I have created beds they haven't walked over at all. Crossing my fingers that this last as this spring will be the true test of whether it holds them off. Obviously this doesn't address the rabbit issue, but a very low cost way to address deer vs putting in a full fence.

I did try to focus on perennials first, roses, macadamia, lemon, cherry, blueberries, raspberry... I was going to say I ran out of money and didn't get far but looking at my list I can see its actually not too bad. That's the trouble with perennials- they are way more expensive than annuals so don't feel bad! I just destroyed my entire garden for a clean slate restart without critters. My dog cleaned up the massive nests of rodents and I think we are good to go.

Thanks for your video, Jenna. Great job! You can’t imagine how further your content can be useful. Paulo, from São Paulo, Brazil 🇧🇷

One of the things I love about your channel…besides the fact that you’re in the same state/region as me, so that the weather you deal with is the same as mine….is that I love how you approach gardening as science. It’s fascinating. I teach my kids that everything comes back to math and science, even things like cooking and literature. Your videos always speak my language. This will be year 3 for my garden. And I got a canner for Christmas. I’m going to start small. Grandma canned strawberry jam, which I miss. So going to just start there. I don’t have the room in the house to store and preserve ALL the things.

Great video and food for thought! Thank you 🌻

Great info as always. Funny stuff when the video is sped up at 9:07- (kids and dogs at high speed ). I am learning to start less seeds because I have limited growing areas.....last year I gave away half of my grown from seed tomato plants. I have been following your tips on improving soil and I am looking forward to better soil each year. I always had gorgeous flowers and now more and more growing food. Will be trying potatoes in a new raised bed this year-(great pointer on hardware cloth on the bottom.). TY

Great information. We are looking to move so I can have more space. I’ll keep this video saved. Your garden is amazing and your parents garden is wow!

Love this video! Story about your dad is hilarious! Much of what you say reiterates what I've learned from James Prigioni's channel, so thank you for reminding me of the most important things!

i had squirrels eat my sunflower seeds, never thought about it…so now i plant them in water bottles with the bottom cut out, as they get big i continue the side cut on the bottle and pull it out. i landscape garden mostly with some vegetables sprinkled in, that is the reason i planted the big stuff first, and ordered large junipers, large spruce…i didn’t wannabe to wait years, i’m grateful for that decision…but i’m way older than you, after seeing people plant little juniper’s i knew it would be an imbalanced landscape for years, and i wanted the privacy now. What I regret was planting a magnolia tree for privacy and to be a focus, it drops its leaves in winter, does not provide any privacy…so soon after it got moved, but then i picked something that didn’t make it through the freeze, so my regret is not figuring out how to solve the privacy holes, last end of summer i planted elaegnus, and cleyera to fill all the holes, plus perennial sun flowers, clematis, hollyhock, and many mid size flowering perennials….the holes are going to now be over filled with something for shade and flowers in front. i had a crew dig out the planting beds, all this yard had was grass and 4 trees, but they didn’t dig out grass according to my specifications, so last summer i dug out more grass to give the plants room.

Such helpful information - thank you! I agree with your list completely. I have often been guilty in the past of setting myself up for failure with unrealistic expectations - starting way more seeds than my little garden can support! This year I'm thinking about going backwards somewhat - moving my garden boxes so that they get more sun and are more accessible for my gorilla cart. Great tips!

Beautiful garden!

Love the coat and the hat too. I won't tell you how much I bit off when I started. Ohh boy.

Love #4!

Wonderful tips.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with your garden. Tonight I just filled 11 milk jugs with 7 veggies and 4 herbs for the winter sowing method. I have 4 more jugs to fill but ran out of potting soil. I look forward to your awesome posts and suggestions for gardening.

Great advice!! I can relate to a lot of the hindsight stuff!!

As usual your video is packed with excellent information that is well presented. There IS one thing I would disagree with you. Perhaps disagree is too strong. ;-) You mentioned that perhaps people with small gardens would not want to make those paths and gates bigger. In that I disagree. Those paths and entry points need to be sized to allow easy access. I THOUGHT I made my paths big enough this first season here in my new garden but by harvest there were no paths, things grow more here than they did back in Ohio and everything went crazy. Okay, I will have to admit my choice of plants to grow in my tiny garden wasn't the smartest choices. That's what is so great about gardening, living and learning. I'm encouraged to focus on those perennials as you suggested now, so thanks for that. I was planning on fruit trees this spring already, but now I will branch out and consider what others I can put in sooner rather than later. That is a great idea.

You have had a powerful positive influence on what I now do. My winter rye (first time) is up. I use tremendous amounts of shredded leaves /grass clippings as well as chicken poop compost. The one thing I did use on my fruit trees was kaolin clay (surround)...what a game changer. No codling moth or apple maggot. One disappointment...Bt and Spinosad are no longer effective in New England for Colorado potato beetles. I still till, can't stand the dandelions coming up year after year. Kind Regards. Craig

I totally feel you on fencing. I have a neighbor a few houses down who fenced in their garden, and I wish I'd taken that as a sign. My first year at our current property I had deer and rabbits chowing down on most of my plants. I even had shrews eating tomato plants. I don't have the ability to fence currently, but I'm in raised beds and utilizing domes, chicken wire, & insect fabric and it's working well enough while I get the yard to hopefully be fence-able next year.

I've gardened in this spot since 2008. If I were to start over, the first thing would be to start composting.

I would have not made any raised bed more than 4 feet across.

I used the metal T-posts as boundaries and drove the wheelbarrow around and probably looked just like you zipping it around empty to be sure it would fit! I have a very small space that gets sunshine and isn't standing water. The main problem I have is the groundhogs, they ate more spaghetti squash than I did last year and I had to go buy some from the Amish. They don't like acorn squash though? I picked over a dozen and still have two or three!

So helpful!

Jenna = The best 👍

I completely agree with ALL 6 changes. I'd do the same thing. Great list !

Hi Jenna, Great tips and wisdom! Best, Albert

Your lists was spot on. My number one is no fence. The deer in eastern North Carolina are everywhere and I mean literally. They destroyed my entire watermelon crop last year. I almost (did) cry over it. I had grown the plants from seed in my small loop greenhouse. I had both seedless and seeded varieties. What is so crazy is that 10 years ago it was not a problem. Excellent video.

Great tips! So helpful for us as we just moved to 10 acres. We have ordered our fruit and nut trees and berry bushes in the New Year. Can't wait to plant our perennials in the spring!

Can highly recommend fruittrees yes, they also provide shade where you need. Just make a garden design first, I had to relocate 8 fruit trees 😅 what a nightmare.

If Deer are your only or primary garden predator then a simple electric fence will work. You can get solar controls for around $100.00 that will last many years or if your close to elctric a plug in controller is best. Wire and step in post are not expensive. It can be taken down easily or modified easily. We are rural and I realize this may not be a good fit for smaller lots, but when you have acerage it's great. Now it won't do a thing for the smaller critters, but the deer will learn to avoild it. You can even string trim under it. I put up two strands, one at approx. 18" and one at 36" and that works for us. Be sure and ground it well. We protect two 1/4 acre gardens (one flowers and one large veggies ) with it every year. Our raised bed complex (16 beds and 1/8 acre ) however has a 7' high chicken wire fence around it. For raccoons and small varmits we live trap. Raccoons will climb any fence. I also like Kaolin clay. It seems to deter the critters, big and tiny.

Great video!! Looking forward to following early season

Thanks Jenna. Great breakdown. Enjoy your in sight and look forward to your video on butchering your own meat birds and canning the meat. 😉😂. You have a great set up. Like how you did the commercial 60s style. Reminded me of the commercials while watching Brady Bunch. All good points. Take care

EXCELLENT information!

Love your videos and this is a great one. I've been gardening for a couple of years but want to get more serious with my setup. Will be fencing in an area as soon as I can (I'm in central Ohio) Have an area that I started last year that I'm going to expand. Going to be starting with soil health for sure! Had planned for some of these but not all. Thank you!

Great video, just getting started on my grandparents farm. May have jumped the gun by picking up a BCS tractor. Thank you for the sound guidance.

Sadly not all of us are allowed / able to add fencing. I would love to see more content on managing pests (the bets we can) without ring fencing. Even an idea that helps 10% is worth trying.

I’m building my large garden now in Ohio 5b and at a loss for a design. Spray painting is an excellent idea!

I ripped out the last of my 3 foot fence and will be replacing it with 5 foot. Also, im going to start pulling all the dirt out of my raised bed, line with hardware cloth, and fill the bottom with sticks before replacing the dirt.

Got your western outfit. 1) You should always give viewers a heads up. 2) I've learned lots of things that feeds the plants also 👍 ? Maybe number 1 should be no stress 3) Make my do more help Thanks for improving me as a Gardener

What a great video!

Excellent and useful video.

Good stuff!

I second the fencing

Last year the critters really escalated their assault on my backyard beds. The low wire fence I put around the main bed was doing nothing to deter our local groundhog, and my carrots and bush beans were constantly being munched. So my first item of business when the weather is warm enough to work outside will be to put in a real fence around everything. Unfortunately, my layout is a bit odd because it has grown piecemeal over the years in one corner of the yard, wrapping around my tool shed. But I think I have a plan worked out for fencing.

Very helpful!

Thank you.

Regarding the fence. I have 4 foot and never had an issue. And yes you're right... if the landing area is sketchy they won't jump. This is why 4 foot works for m. I've seen some place a fence a few feet next to the original fence to make it undesirable to jump.

If I were to start over, I would plant the Fall Sweet squash since it is now my favorite. I would also like to have planted the Seascape strawberry but it wasn't available when I started. I now pick a gallon or two every 3 days from 500 plants all summer starting Aug 1

Wow! So much content here! Great stuff. Yes, to all. Gradually start the large garden, But a Huge yes to start those perennial plants Right away! I wish also that I would have added my fruit, but I had failure starting raspberries and a peach tree 3x’s. There were other things in life that get in the way like money and time. I should have still tried other fruit. Now I’ve improved the soil more and last year added apples and we are trying blackberries, raspberries, honey berries, grapes and blueberries. I want to order the rest of my mini orchard, but wished I could know if everything will live. We have wild blackberries growing so I’m trying Again. I think it’s a water issue-not enough, so we will figure that out this year with some PEX line. Ah, Fencing! When I said $$$ was an issue in starting to enlarge, Well…Yes, the cattle (DEER) run through our property nightly! Then there’s the rabbits, coon, possums and thankfully only 1 groundhog that has left. Everything I plant has to have a fence! There is nothing worse than going out to see your expensive plant ate! And it’s getting more expensive every year!! The other night I looked out and a rabbit was looking right at me as if to say watch this, and he jumped through a spot I had loose wire fencing as I didn’t finish it yet. He was now in with my precious perennial flowers (roses, etc). So here I am out in my PJs chasing rabbit and mending fence 😂. I mean 6 deer and countless rabbits in one night can wreak havoc. I use 7’ 2x4 wire fence and T-posts. I know they can clear up to 12’ at a run, but it is true if they feel the other side is confining they won’t jump. They are starting to nibble at maples that are not native to my immediate area and find them a delicacy, so I wrap the lower limbs with cheap bird netting-hate the stuff, but it works. They even were checking out a shrub they never mess with. They ate all my day lilies last year and normally leave them alone. I never did get to see the lilies bloom that were gifted to me. THEN a Rabbit built a den under one!! Have to figure something out for them yet. I wish I could view my gardens without all this fence. We are at the point that we were thinking of doing the whole acreage as we seem to be close to enough fencing, but then they would know it’s not a small space and jump 7’ anyway, I’ve seen them do that at a standstill at neighbors while I drove by-it was amazing! Yes to leaving a large opening to enter. We have a gate, but we leave an area in fence we just unclip the wire to enter with trailer. Lol, all your helpers were burning up energy on the trampoline 😂 So for me it’s time, as we get older and realize it can take several years for fruit and nut trees to produce you wonder if you will ever see them. So my advice is start with those perennials and keep adding and expanding as you can afford annually. I’m feeling pressured to get the rest of the mini orchard plants this year-I have to and it won’t be cheap. If I don’t get the order in the varieties will be gone that I need and another year gone. I don’t get out to shop much so I have to forego any chance of a sale on a variety that will survive here. I’m getting keen on realizing I need late bloomers for are low frost/freeze microclimate. And this 40-50*F with RAIN weather isn’t helping in JANUARY IN WI! It’s not GOOD! The plants could break dormancy and bugs will survive and all the weather people think it’s great until they find out they won’t get their favorite apple this year.🙄😏. My soil is like the pic of the sand below the top soil-Of Which We Have NONE! I haul in everything I can get my hands on. If I get up to 10 worm sittings this year it will be a record. I have grubs though-go figure. I have no lush grass and a lot of oak leaves.🙁. I’m too cheap for a soil test, but have a basic home test. I think the soil needs boron because beets and carrots seem to struggle. I grew up playing and gardening in the sand, but this location is a challenge because of past usage of previous owners. Don’t fret over not restocking pantry. If you can put up 2 or 3 of your favs your good. Simple to freeze most and buys time to process later. We are getting chickens again after not having them for decades, wish us luck. We decided on the Rhode Island Reds. Starting with only a dozen as we use to get 50😂. I said let’s start small right now to cover the eggs😅. Now watch the price drop😂😂 Keep up the good work and remember my grandma always said, Fun on the Farm! 😂

I'm doing soil testing this year, I should have done it 4 years ago after I put raised beds in. Very informative channel.