>>Well we are so fortunate to have a 75 year old farmer (our adopted grandpa) that is more than willing to give us advice on growing locally.
That's making good use of available resources. A lot of old-timers have a certain "savoir vivre" (I don't know how to call that in English--a certain way of making their way through life) that's missing in the younger generations.
want to try peas and beans, but not sure about that. Sounds like it may be beyond my skill level.
Peas are going to be fussy in your climate, but not necessarily hard except for timing. You see, peas grow cool, and if it gets too hot for them, they stop growing, and, worse, they start succumbing to diseases such as "pea enation virus". So, you probably need to start peas very early, or very late. Now, I actually grew one called "Blauschokkers" right through the heat of summer one year--it was one vigorous pea! A soup pea, harvested fully ripe and eaten like a bean.
Some dwarf peas are ready so fast, that you have more wiggle-room for timing. Personally, I like the afilia types like "Tacoma", because I don't have to stake them.
Beans, however, you will find one of the easiest crops you could grow. I assume that you mean common beans--Phaseolus vulgaris. The kinds grown for "string beans" or "green beans" or "French beans" (many different names in different parts of the world--the green pods), or, some of them, when fully ripe, are common beans such as pinto beans, soldier beans, kidney beans, etc. You plant these when the soil has warmed up. The types with colored seeds are less picky about soil temperature than the ones with white seeds, which I always avoid because I live in a cool part of the world.
The easiest of the "green beans" are the "bush bean" type--they grow on dwarf vines so short they sort of self-support, so you don't have to trellis them. They grow extremely fast in warm weather, and are ready to harvest quickly.
However, you will get much better yields from "pole beans", which are taller, and take longer, but bear over a much longer time frame. These must have some type of support--a pole, or trellis, or a net strung between sturdy supports, or a "tepee", or something like that. Your farmer can suggest supports and how to make them.
The father of one of our members really liked this one for productivity:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?item=34I would otherwise suggest colored-bean types--yellow, purple, mottled, something like that. The reason is that it is much easier to spot the pods, which otherwise look so much like the stems they are hard to spot (green on green kinda thing going on). If the beans get over-ripe, they're not very tasty (for some reason, many people in rural areas often intentionally let them get too fat. I am a city boy and like them very slender, and barely cooked--still a little crunchy).
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?category=1&subcategory=341&item=2944Something that should do well in your part of the world, is a similar crop, but coming from a different species, a Vigna instead of a Phaseolus. They are called "Long Beans" (some people call them "yard long beans", but if you let them get that big, they are OVERRIPE), and they are what people in the warmer parts of Asia eat instead of green beans. They are tougher, and need to be "blanched" (boil water, then turn it off, and plunge the beans into the hot water for about 5 minutes) before briefly sautéing. If properly prepared, it is a fairly "meaty" bean, a little more substantial than its American cousin. They are easy to grow in hot climates with long summers.
Here is a link to a seed source for several different varieties:
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/Long-BeansThey grow on sturdy, vigorous vines that grow fast in hot weather. They love heat.
If you want dry beans, there are lots of choices. Here is a quick-bearing bush type for cranberry beans:
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/516/184My husband is disabled from several surgeries so it limits what we can do a little.
I suggest no cow then.
Chickens are easy. 90-year-old grannies have chickens. Avoid the highly-domesticated types and just stick to the old-fashioned ones that can raise their own chicks. Chickens are highly instinctual animals. They know when it's time to go back to the safety of their roost (provide them a coop where they can stay out of reach of predators), they are good at foraging for "found" food (including your vegetables--they like anything humans do!--so keep them OUT of the garden unless closely supervised), and overall are just really easy to keep.
>>Or what is the best way to grow potatoes with limited space.
Unless you're talking sweet potatoes, it's getting late to be planting potatoes. Mine haven't gone in yet either, but my climate is cooler than yours. Potatoes are weird: they are high-elevation tropicals. They volunteer readily in my climate, because the soil doesn't freeze deep enough to kill them. So, they are sort of intermediate between cool-weather crops and warm-weather. But they don't like really hot weather.
To answer your question, just about ANY way is a good way to grow potatoes with limited space; they are roughly the most productive crop you could grow. That's why they are cheap. Have a look at my home page lately (
www.mutuallyassuredsurvival.com). First article on the main page, I think.
The productivity of potatoes is mind-boggling. The Irish peasants were feeding around 20 people per acre on potatoes. Unfortunately for them, they were peeling the potatoes--a horrible mistake, as all of the protein in a potato is found in the yellowish filmy layer RIGHT under the skin. That's why we do not peel potatoes at our house, unless AFTER boiling them, and pulling off JUST the very outermost layer. Potatoes are roughly 2% protein, which is fairly pathetic, but it is high-quality protein, and because potatoes are so prolific, that's how come you can feed so many peasants!
Potatoes grow best in loose soil--a sandy loam is nice. If you don't have that you can try a bit of gypsum to make heavier soils more crumbly. They also happen to like somewhat acidic soil, but are not very picky. They are not heavy feeders, which is amazing compared to their productivity--sort of the opposite end of the scale from corn, which is a greedy feeder just for a few ears.
Potatoes, like their cousins tomatoes, are DEATHLY VULNERABLE to Phytophthora infestans (Irish potato famine disease). Just like tomatoes, it kills them in a few hours. Unlike tomatoes, they are usually harvested long before it hits. My yard is loaded with the disease, but no problems growing potatoes. The Irish had a cool wet season the year it hit.
Watch for other diseases too. Potatoes not particularly disease-resistant. Ask the farmer what potato diseases and pests occur in your area.
Among other qualities you might look for in a potato, you might want to look for colored flesh--typically yellow or yellowish--as it boots the nutritional value a bit. Contrary to popular opinion, potatoes are actually fairly nutritious, and not just empty calories. It's the sour cream, or frying them, that turns them into fat pills.
You can grow them in big tubs if you like. Several plants to a big tub. I've heard of people growing them in bags, but I don't see the point, other than to make them easier to harvest (you pull the bag down, and sift through the soil with your hands). Potatoes are usually fairly compact plants above-ground.
>>He has recently begun growing loofa.
Fully mature, with the flesh rotted out (that's how you extract the fiber), they are famous and valuable as scrubbers.
But immature, they are edible. They have a fairly typical cucurbit taste, a bit like a cucumber except you eat them cooked (use your imagination). There are two species, one usually used for scrubbers and the other usually eaten, but I think both of them work both ways.
So, it is a multi-use crop. Eat some, and make scrubbers out of the rest.
