The Backyard Homestead Quotes

“It’s about loving the process of creating something delicious and the joy of sharing my creations with people I care about.”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“Stagger Plantings for Better Control Even in the smallest garden, an important technique for keeping the work manageable is to plant in dribs and drabs: Plant a little lettuce seed now and a little more two weeks later. Though you’ll want to plant some crops all at one time — like peppers or tomatoes — planting small batches of many crops is a good garden habit to cultivate. Whatever size garden you tend, you’ll find that staggering the planting spreads out the harvest, and much of the attention that plants need in between, too. Instead of having a 20-foot-long row of lettuce or beets to thin on a given day, you’ll have only a foot or two of seedlings to thin. Cover with plastic soil that’s not yet planted to help it warm up, or cover it with grass clippings to keep it moist and suppress weeds. Or let the weeds germinate as a short-term cover crop and then slice them off before you plant your seeds.”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“Successful Crop-Rotation Practices”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“Garden Planning Chart”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“A Sun-Blocker Rotation Trellised tomatoes, beans, peas, and cucumbers, along with corn, can grow 8 to 10 feet tall. To avoid these taller plantings casting shade on other crops, keep these in one rotation on the northeastern side of the garden.”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“While the list of easiest crops varies from region to region, there are a few super-simple standouts. Radishes and green beans top most gardeners’ “no-fail” lists. Other easy crops include cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, garlic, leaf lettuce, snap peas, Swiss chard, and kale. Tomatoes are a bit more difficult but not by much. The newer compact hybrid tomatoes developed for patio culture are especially easy. Start small”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!

“Know Your Vegetable Groups! Brassicas cabbage, kale, broccoli, collards, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts Leafy Greens spinach, chard, lettuce Legumes peas, beans, limas Nightshades peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants Root Vegetables beets, carrots, turnips, salsify, parsnips, radishes, rutabagas, onions, garlic, leeks Vine Crops cucumbers, melons, squash”
― Carleen Madigan, The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!