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So far today I’ve transplanted 40 alpine strawberries i’d started from seed back in January. Transplanted 25 ‘cayenne blend’ peppers from totally tomatoes, planted out 300 rice seeds i’d soaked in warm water for 24hr, planted out 50 okra seeds i’d soaked with 1tsp of bleach.

To go I’ve got 20 ‘Kung Pao’ cayennes to transplant, 150+ other sweet peppers and hopefully start some more Jicama and plant out the 200 asparagus seeds (purple passion, mary washington and jersey knight) i’ve had soaking since yesterday. IF I have time this afternoon/evening I have 300+ tomatoes yet to transplant. This isn’t transplanting into the garden yet, still having lows in the low 40’s right now (very unseasonable, must be global warming/etc). I’m putting stuff into the el cheapo plastic drinking glasses (5oz and 9oz).

This weekend hopefully we can start laying papers and mulch in the garden in preparation for planting (peanuts, beans, cowpeas, corn, sorghum, millet) and transplanting all the stuff in cups right now.

This summer i’m going to be making an herb garden as part of a front yard landscaping bed so I’ll be starting those seeds and cuttings next week sometime.

Then, if I’m not incapacitated on a heating pad, I’ve got to transplant all my citrus into 15gal containers.

We’re going to be trying SRI method of growing the grains and legumes in the garden this year. I’m going to keep track of yield/sqft for the first time to have an idea of how we’re doing productively.

So here’s some more info on the booklet. They have done a great deal of research to ensure a diet complete in all the nutrients that humans need, and enough compost to replenish your garden beds, and grow some things for a little income.

In addition, they have a 100 sq foot starter garden lay out so that a person can start small, and learn. Then, if needed they can expand that to the size of garden needed for each person. One acre can provide for 5 adults in colder climates. That doesn’t include forage crops, or crops grown as secondary crops, or winter crops.

Since we can grow bush beans for example after a lot of the spring, cool weather crops and can grow winter wheat or winter rye cereal, we could actually provide the space for more people theoretically.

In addition we have the nut trees, fruit trees and bushes, and will be adding the grains that naturalize as I mentioned earlier.

I did learn in my reading that tree collards can provide the calcium etc typically provided by dairy.

So here’s what they are show in their sample garden:

Corn, Sorghum, Winter Grains, Pinto Beans, Fava Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Zucchini Squash, onions, Rutabaga, Winter Squash, Leeks. Extra lettuce and garlic etc. for income.

Of course, this can be changed to suit your own personal taste. It’s just an example.

With the biointensive method, they start the crops in seed flats primarily to save on the water and the space in the garden. Therefore the garden space is more fully utilized for the more mature crops, and less water is needed during the early period of growth, since they are in flats.

They plan for 60% of the garden area to provide compost (food for the soil) as well as food for the family. Hence, the big emphasis on grains, beans, and leeks.

They have several of these sample booklets available, each with slightly different crops, and some even discuss the alterations needed to support a dairy cow for example.

The whole idea is to provide the food needed in the smallest possible area, and be able to avoid depleting your soil, or needing to purchase additives such as fertilizer etc. to provide good soil for crops to be fruitful and nutritious.

I found it to be an interesting and quick read.

Planted my Conlon two-row barley in the mud on Moday. On Tuesday, it snowed. It should be fine now that it’s climbing into the ‘70s. Should see a shoot or two maybe even this weekend. All the tomatoes are now being hardened off outside.

The 3/8” rebar pins for anchoring my low-hoop tunnel ribs have been cut and I’ll start the layout of the tunnels this weekend. I hope to have over 200 feet of bed under tunnels this season. The insect-free greenhouse conditions really turn out prime veggies. Also hope to put in some nursery stock in the new orchard wing and more grapes. Cane fruit and strawberries when their new beds are prepared.

Finally, we eskimos can begin to garden.

First, a not so nice guy said I would rule half of America and Kartographer would have the other half when TSHTF. He said I would rule with “queenish tyranny”. When that happens, I will institute a TAX on all you garden people. You must pay me 1/8 of all you produce. Kart and I have not discussed the division of the country yet, who would have which half, therefore some of you won't be under my queenish tyranny.

Until that happens, I will continue to try to grow food. There was a bad storm here yesterday and this morning I went to the little garden to see how the plants are. My cherry tomato in the potting soil bag, was leaning over. I propped it up. I don't have gadgets like you gardeners. I know there are tomato “cages” but I don't have any. I wonder if there is something other than cages, something cheap, to keep tomato plants upright.

I have Roma tomatoes growing on two plants and the others have blossoms. The two cherry plants have tomatoes all over them.

In the planter on the brick wall, I've got the bunching onions up, about three inches tall. Leaf celery is also there and those are up.

Lettuce is growing in the ground planters. If sweet peppers are up in one of those, I can't define them yet.

Kentucky Wonder bean plants along back lattice wall are up and healthy looking and at least 4 inches tall. I have two places I planted something in the middle of the garden and that is up and I don't know what I put in those two places. (I don't have anything to write on and stick in the ground telling me what I put there.) I hope one of those is the wild tomato. Squash is also there so maybe that is one of those. Whatever those are, they are at least 4 inches tall.

There are three or four more places where I planted more of the wild tomatoes and squash and nothing is coming up.

I have more seed in that I ordered and that is an onion that makes slicing onions and green cucumber and jalapeno peppers, and “Little Finger Carrots”. I think I'll buy more bags of potting soil and put those in the garden and plant these new seed in those.

The wild strawberry seed said to freeze it two weeks and I have done that so will plant two in a very large pot sitting in the garden and put some in potting bags. The thing is, these don't die out, so they really need to be in the ground. Have to think about that.

I've done this using as little “bend over” as I could and not staying out there in the heat any more than I have to.

I know I need “stuff”, like something to help tomatoes stand up and those tag things to write what something is to stick in the ground. If any of you use something simple to help your tomatoes stand up, I'd like to know what it is.