Low Maintanace Crop... Suggestions?

[Keger]

I have a chance to farm about three acres a guy has. It is cleared, has water, and has been planted before. Its like 30 miles from me so I cant be there all the time.

I was thinking of something to plant that might work in a situation like that. Maybe cowpeas or corn, cantalope.

Any suggestions?

[Redbaron]

If you can spend the time to paper and mulch it properly to start with, peppers are almost care free. Especially hot peppers. Few fatal pests or blights. Few insect pests. Even very few animals like the real hot ones. They handle heat about as good as anything, and many peppers are usable either green or red/yellow etc..., and typically keep on the plants well. That's what I would grow. 3 acres is a lot of work to get started properly, but after that, just pick em.

[habitat_gardener]

Do jerusalem artichokes grow there? Here, they grow like weeds and can be harvested in the winter whenever it's convenient. They keep better in the ground. People at the community garden give away bagsful, but I didn't find a way to prepare them that I liked in previous years. This year I cooked them with onions, for a sort of thick potato-onion soup, and loved them. Still, it's an acquired taste.

Fairly carefree crops for me have been garlic, potatoes, winter squash, malabar squash, popcorn, herbs. Shell beans work for me if they mature before the fall rains come and if I can pick mature pods before they get moldy.

I've been reading about different varieties of great-tasting corn for flour, polenta, and parched corn in Carol Deppe's book The Resilient Gardener.

Added -- I just noticed it's the market gardening forum! So I guess it'd have to be crops that people in your area are familiar with. Perennial herbs are easy to grow, but for a market you'd have to pick them day-of or day-before. Maybe some flowers? I don't know what grows well there.

[Cole_Robbie]

The deer are a huge problem in my area. They eat everything that isn't fenced in or guarded with dogs.

What's your irrigation plan? Is it city water? You can hook up city water to drip with a timer, but the risk of not being there is not seeing a leak or malfunction until you've run up a big bill.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

The deer are a huge problem in my area. They eat everything that isn't fenced in or guarded with dogs.

What's your irrigation plan? Is it city water? You can hook up city water to drip with a timer, but the risk of not being there is not seeing a leak or malfunction until you've run up a big bill.

There are ways around that I will get into when the time comes.

What do you plan on doing with the crops?

Worth

[John3]

I would think Okra would not need much tending.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by John3

I would think Okra would not need much tending.

When a large patch of okra starts producing it needs picked constantly, trust me.

Melons, corn, winter squash, peppers, root crops and dried beans would be my choice.
Maybe a nice blue or red corn you could make cornmeal and corn flour from.

Worth

[saltmarsh]

What is the ground suitable for and what do you have a market for.

[Cole_Robbie]

Yeah, the deer don't eat the okra, but it does require daily picking. And it is an itchy job.

[stonysoilseeds]

i cant think of many cropa that font require regular weeding... maybe winter squash and pumpkins

[Worth1]

How about kudzu.
Worth

[dustyrivergarden]

Garlic and its planting time lol very low maintenance

[Barbee]

If I was going to grow a crop for market that was low maintenance and pretty much pest free and liked poor ground and didn't care too much about regular watering........I think I'd look at Lavender. I see you live in Texas so I'm not sure if that would work for you or not.

[Keger]

Thanks for the help guys.

In reply to some of the questions, it is well water, and fence. Some fence is broken through in spots. Deer and hogs may or may not be a problem. Artichokes wont work here. There is a kid that goes by a few times a week I can pay part time to water and so on, he is in ag in school and that would be a fun deal for him. As for what sells, after tomatoes, squash, cukes, melons, corn, and southern peas do well. For whatever reason, peppers not so much.

[saltmarsh]

Based on this past season, I'd plant snap beans. They were selling for $40 a bushel here and selling well at that price. (If you have labor to pick them.)