Do you have a plan for irrigation?

Oh, yeah. lol Forgot to mention that.

We're running a deep year-round line from the well (out of the photo to the lower right) along the outside of the fence to the tractor gate on the right/west side, and then across the center path to the opposite gate (and on to an office/observatory we're building for DH). There will be a couple of shallower lines coming off of that which will be drained every fall. Those will run the irrigation, and two, maybe three, hydrants for additional watering needs.

In the beginning (i.e. until we get the water lines put in) we'll be dragging very long hoses to hook up to drip lines with emitters at appropriate places on the raised beds, run by timers. We *might* a little overhead watering for the veggie area, but that wholly depends on how we end up setting it up. Drip lines with emitters are pretty inexpensive, and we could irrigate the entire garden that way for just a couple hundred dollars. Not free, but considering the amount of time and water and electricity that could save us, it's a bargain. (We have a decently-producing well with a fairly slow dc-capable pump, and a monstrous cistern. Drip (or other high-efficiency/carefully targeted) irrigation is really a must.)

:o)

Does that sound reasonably realistic?

Everyone's ground is different, but mine has johnson grass so badly that I can't use drip tape without also using black plastic mulch. Irrigation without mulch is a weed explosion. It doesn't have to be black plastic, but mulch of some kind will help you conserve moisture.

I like your setup, but if you're feeling overwhelmed you might want to plant cover crops in some of your rows and only plant as many food crops as you think you can take care of. Cover crops will help with weed control and can do a lot to improved newly tilled soil.

I've read a lot of books on farming, joel salatin, elliot coleman, etc, but my favorite is Sustainable Market Farming, by Pam Dawling. It's very detailed and hands on, with some good info on planning, crop rotation, etc.

Good luck, I think you're off to a great start.

You've got 300 strawberries in one 55' long bed? How wide? You should put them about a foot apart if they're the runner type. Might want to consider devoting a couple more beds to strawberries if you have that many plants. 300 plants should give you a decent amount if you are selling at a small market or want to preserve some. But it's not enough to bring to market if that's all you have at the time. BTW, you want to pinch all the flowers off this year so no berries until next year.

How far apart have you put the bramble canes? They will spread too you know. Blueberries don't spread as much, and you're going to be waiting a few years to pick those (maybe get a small crop of brambles next year, but more likely 2 years on those too). Asparagus takes a few years (not sure how long, I've never grown it) too.

Too late to start tomatoes and peppers from seed now, you'll have to buy plants if you want them this year. When's your last frost date? I imagine you should be getting them into the ground sometime in the next couple of weeks (at least in a normal year, we're running a little colder than normal here).

So, that doesn't leave much for something to harvest this year except things that can be direct-seeded, or started later and transplanted midsummer for a fall crop.

What does your family like to eat? I wouldn't count on selling this year (or maybe even next, unless you start tomatoes and such early - can you manage a greenhouse if your house house isn't built by next March?).

You can still do beans, potatoes, squash (summer and winter, incl. pumpkins), cukes, carrots, turnips, later can put in brassicas for a fall crop. Might be too late for lettuce in your zone - here it's getting late, I was trying to get a jump by starting seeds last month but haven't been able to get them hardened off and transplanted so barely have time to direct-seed and harvest before it bolts in June (if this June is close to normal, which for the nightshades' sake I hope it is). I'll throw in the starts I have as soon as it gets above freezing at night.

Put in the tomatoes you have though it doesn't sound like many. BTW, go emitters on everything, no overhead watering - just contributes to foliar diseases - and the drip tape/emitters get more water to the roots where it's needed anyway.

Start by growing enough for your family, and put the rest into a cover crop.

You've bitten off a LOT already. With tending the fruits and harvesting them, and processing them, that's a huge job.

I would expected a decent strawberry harvest for you later this summer/early fall; depends if you planted ever bearing or June bearing. We planted our ever bearing strawberries last spring and had a very nice crop end of July/early August thru first frost in October. The commercial growers in our state plant a new crop of June bearing every year (on that large a scale they say it's not worth the fight with disease to keep a crop more than one season). Our 1,500 plants should be here the end of this week!

Asparagus we don't begin harvesting until the 3rd year. (except for sneaking a few spears for dinner the first and second year after planting). We tilled 1/3 an acre this weekend for the 3,000 spears due to arrive next week.

If you purchase your starts there are still plenty of things you can fill that space with. We have 7500 seedlings going right now (haven't started the cukes or squash yet) but a large portion of those will be sold.

Cover crop or mulch. The biggest mistake we made was trying to keep up with weeding. Oh my what a mistake that was : )