Here’s an interesting article.........
http://www.forexhound.com/article.cfm?articleID=124917
Poised for a Comeback
Michael J. Panzner
Published 02.06.2009 11:41 GMT
During World War I and later in World War II, food shortages and difficult economic conditions spurred efforts that encouraged the public to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs at home to help supplement traditional supplies. These gardens were known as war or victory gardens.
With hard times making a comeback, will we see a resurgence of such activites? If the following Financial Times report, “Seed Merchants Benefit from Urge to Dig Deep,” is anything to go by, the answer is “yes.”
Americans are turning in increasing numbers to their back yards to save money, with leading US seed merchants reporting a dramatic surge in early sales of carrots, tomato and pepper plant seeds.
Snip~
another........
Here’s a month-by-month vegetable-gardening calendar for central Pennsylvania on what to do when: [I think those in the south can move up the planting schedule 1 or even 2 months]
JANUARY: Plan what crops you want to grow. List them by types to grow from seed vs. those to grow by plants to help organize buying. Hit the garden-center seed racks or order from seed catalogs. Best seed selection is now.
Five good catalog seed vendors: W. Atlee Burpee Co. (www.burpee.com), Park Seed (www.parkseed.com), Territorial Seed (www.territorialseed.com), J.W. Jung Seed Co. (www.jungseed.com) and Pinetree Garden Seeds (www.superseeds.com).
FEBRUARY: Early in month, start seeds inside of cold-weather transplants: cabbage, broccoli, leeks, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, parsley. Bone up with a book (try Mel Bartholomew’s classic “Square-Foot Gardening” or Edward C. Smith’s “The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible”) or visit Lower Paxton Twp. gardener Kenny Point’s excellent online veggie site at www.veggiegardeningtips.com. Buy supplies you didn’t get for Christmas (fertilizer, plant labels, nifty new trowel, etc.).
MARCH: Start seeds inside of warm-weather transplants. Start slow-growers (peppers and eggplants) early in month, fast-growers (tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and basil) later in month. St. Patrick’s Day is traditional outdoor planting date of season’s first crop: peas.
Late in month, February’s transplants can be gradually adapted to the outside and planted. Direct-seed other cool-season crops: spinach, carrots, lettuce, radishes, mesclun, orach, shallots, onion sets, leeks, parsnips, turnips.
APRIL: Early in month, plant remaining cool-season crops: cauliflower, Swiss chard, collards, kohlrabi, potatoes, red beets, celery, endive, radicchio, pak choi, mustard and more lettuce, radishes, carrots and spinach. Scatter granular organic fertilizer over beds. Examples: Espoma’s Vegetable-tone or Hoffman’s Super Manure. Lay 2 inches of fresh straw as mulch in paths to prevent weeds.
MAY: Around mid-month (or when you think frost is done), plant warm-weather transplants: tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, melons, eggplants. Direct-seed into the garden: okra, beans, lima beans, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins, Malabar spinach, sweet potatoes, squash. Harvest radishes, lettuce, spinach, mesclun, parsley.
JUNE: Keep plants damp. Best time to water: early in the morning. Second best time: early evening. Pull weeds. Be alert for bug and animal problems that need to be addressed. Harvest peas, broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, orach, radicchio, parsnips, turnips, Swiss chard, collards, kohlrabi, endive, pak choi, parsley, mustard.
JULY: Harvest potatoes, cabbage, carrots, red beets, corn, celery, collards, onions, leeks, garlic, shallots, Swiss chard. Continue to keep garden and paths weeded and plants consistently damp. Stay on guard for bug and animal woes. Fertilize tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other fruiting crops with fish emulsion or similar liquid organic fertilizer.
AUGUST: Harvest tomatoes, okra, peppers, eggplants, melons, cucumbers, basil, beans, lima beans, corn, Malabar spinach, squash. Plant crops of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, spinach, carrots, red beets, rutabagas, turnips, collards. Continue to weed, water and monitor for pests.
SEPTEMBER: Harvest sweet potatoes. Continue to harvest tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers, basil, eggplants, squash and other warm-season crops. Plant fall crop of quick-to-mature radishes, spinach, mustard, mesclun and leaf lettuce. Build a compost bin if you don’t already have one or more.
OCTOBER: Harvest squash, pumpkins, the last of the tomatoes and peppers before frost, and the August-planted fall crops as they’re ready. Columbus Day is the traditional time to plant garlic. As the garden empties, begin topping all bare soil with an inch of compost. Dig it in if the soil is poor. Otherwise, let it on top.
NOVEMBER: Harvest anything that’s left. Pull and compost frost-killed remnants, except diseased plants. Toss them. Stow away stakes, cages, fencing, ornaments and such for winter. Jot down successes, failures, ideas and top-performing varieties to help next year’s planning.
DECEMBER: Sort through your seeds. Toss old ones unlikely to germinate another year. Clean and sharpen tools. Give them an oil rub-down. Accidentally “lose” list of next year’s garden needs where spouse will see it before Christmas.
http://blog.pennlive.com/life/2009/02/over_the_garden_fence_growing.html
Hey, I was at WalMart yesterday and they had some packets of seed for 20 cents. I haven’t seen that in a long time. Even though I started buying open pollinated a couple of years ago I picked up 6 packets just because you can’t find seed at that price! Figured I’d grab it while I found it.
Americans are turning in increasing numbers to their back yards to save money, with leading US seed merchants reporting a dramatic surge in early sales of carrots, tomato and pepper plant seeds.<<<
Interesting and dangerous too, as it points out that we are going to have a seed shortage this year and next.