Posted on 03/08/2022 8:46:33 AM PST by orsonwb
Some things like peas dont care so much. My grandfather used to try to get the peas in a little earlier than most. Every year the kids would worry that the snow would wipe them out but grandpa insist that a layer of snow after planting was as good as a layer of manure and during those years where there was a final snow storm over the planting they had better yields.
Thank you!
Is that they type that has 4 doors?
I hang red Christmas balls on the trellises in early spring. By the time the tomatoes are ripe, most birds have decided that the shiny red round things are not worth it. :)
Bugs. Spray plants with Dawn, if that don’t work make a tea using chewing tobacco and spray it on the plants.
Slugs and snails. Place a saucer level to the dirt and fill with beer.
Most animals don’t like the smell of mothballs.
Plant marigolds around your tomatoes to keep out nemotodes.
YW
Look for lamb’s quarters if you can - they grow wild, or you can buy the seeds and plant them yourself. Seeds and leaves are edible, but one of my favorite things about them is that they don’t LOOK like vegetables. They’re weedy and tall and spready and nobody thinks twice about them. So I like them as a fallback.
Look for David the Good (yes, that’s his author name) on Amazon. Practical, inexpensive, cheap, and amazingly funny. “Grow or Die” is a particularly good starter, and opens with “If you’re reading this among the ruins of your neighbor’s burning house, here’s what you need to know...”
I’m also looking at hydroponics.
Those come out of the side of a lawn mower, right? ;-D
Fertilizer, too.
You put some peanuts inside, but also (most important) you put a small trail of peanuts, 3-5, leading up to the door of the trap.
Once he's inside, he trips the door closed.
Good luck...
Great, thank you!
" Rick Bickling, The How Do Gardener, describes how inflation, rising fuel costs, and the Russia/Ukraine conflict
will cause food prices to rise dramatically and how many items will just not be available.
See what the experts are forecasting and see why you must start a garden now."
DuncanWaring :" My last frost day will probably be in May.
I’ve already started some tomatoes "
China, which has frequently had food shortages, has purchased enough food, grains, livestock, etc., to answer their food needs for 1 to 1 1/2 years.
They bought so much grain and other foodstuffs so as to affect the world market.
Similarly, Russia has purchased grain for storage, and has instituted an embargo on all their internal fertilizers, also, China has an embargo on all its fertilizers.
This embargo of fertilizer by Russia and China has never occurred before (!!); all this during the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
which has been called the "Breadbasket of Europe".
Currently, nitrogen (for green growth) has tripled in price, while potash and phosphorus for flowering/ fruit set) has doubled in price, and it isn't even planting season yet !
What happens when the civilian population and farms and farmers of Ukraine have been ethnically cleansed and eliminated during an invasion ?
Who is then going to provide the food and grains that Europe and the Near East have counted on for generations,
after a barbaric scorched earth, ethnic cleansing policy during the Russian invasion ?
Now, ..consider growing food crops without fertilizer, or fertilizer that will bankrupt the small farmer,
but will benefit only the mega-agriculture conglomerates who will pass along the additional expenses.
Grow a "Victory Garden" on your own, even on small containers if need be; or see how England prospered during WWII, or even how those overcame the "Great Depression " of the 1930's.
Buy seeds that are 'indeterminate', so that you will have food growing and harvesting during the entire growing season, or just grow 5 Zucchinis plants.
As FReepers, we even have access to our own "Gardening Forum" every Saturday, with Dianna in Wisconsin which is open to everyone from 'rookie', or "black thumb'
all the way to Master Gardener, where there is no question about gardening that won't be helped, or answered.
Start your on "Victory Garden" to cut your food expenses and develop an additional survival skill.
Also, encourage your neighbor to go for survival gardening, because it makes sense .
And Remember above all else :" Let's go Brandon !"
OODA Loop !
Know what your average 'last frost date' is, and then for long term growth crops (like tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc.)
start the seedlings indoors about 30-45 days before setting outside in the garden, to assure good growth.
Frost sensitive plants out in the garden can be protected from frost with sheets or blankets, or even plastic sheeting.
For seeds, staggering the plantings will also give a continuous harvest.
And for a more sure food supply, look for heirloom varieties or what is known as open pollinated, so you can save the seeds.
Hybrids either don’t produce viable seeds or they revert back to the parent plant, which may not be what works best for you.
Some crops are also less prone to being bothered by vermin of all kinds.
Try growing those instead and look into container gardening stuff more likely to be eaten by rabbits or wood chucks.
One means I found rather effective to protecting plants from being munched on is to put a tomato cage over them and then wrap a piece of chicken wire around it to make individual cages. I also scavenged an old bird cage someone had in their trash pile and figured if I took the bottom of it out, I could put it over the plants and anchor it down for pest control. I will be trying that this year.
I planted snow peas today. A little late, but January and February were unusually cold.
I agree completely.
Sounds good. I’m ready for winter to end too.
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