Growing a large family garden

In many ways, our move was hard. Although geographically closer to my work, the commute seems longer much of the time. The new house has quirks; the toilets require a lot of plunging, the kitchen is a poorly thought out layout, the electric bill is ridiculous in the winter months. However, one benefit is that we are on 2.77 acres (sadly, rented, but we're thankful nonetheless). There is a mature orchard, with apple trees, plum trees, pear trees, cherry trees, surrounded by huge thickets of blackberry bushes, a few maple trees, and a greenhouse built onto the side of our home.

Since we make a concerted effort to eat organic and non-GMO food as much as possible, we find benefit in the idea of a garden. Despite the fact that I grew up on a farm, we only raised livestock; we never had a garden, so this has been an extremely fun learning experience for me that I will continue to share as I learn more.

A couple weeks ago I planted my first seeds, and a couple nights ago I sat down with my kiddos to start the first round of our vegetable garden seeds. They did awesome, and they are all so excited to watch for the first sprouts.

Will this be enough? I have no idea. I have read every homesteading book and blog that I can lay eyes on; but until you actually attempt to grow your own food, harvest it, and preserve it, I think that there's no way to know how well it'll work. I have a lot to learn - best to learn it here where the grocery store is close in case I fail.

My plan is to plant some more every 2-3 weeks, since we started pretty early. However, it comes to mind that I likely won't have enough room in the greenhouse. We'll see how it goes.

There it is - 720 cells of soon-to-be delicious kale, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, leeks, beets, radishes, turnips, parsnips, carrots, and other species that I just don't remember. 

And the radishes I planted a couple weeks ago? Yeah, they sprouted!

Super fun!