Gardening

[old_anorak]

I like beets either pickled or roasted. I'm thinking about doing some turnips as well, but I might wait until the fall for those so they can go right into the root cellar. I mean they could in the summer, but I don't know if the texture or taste would be affected at all due to the heat. It stays pretty cool in the cellar though.

 

[Danil54grl]

Just found a place to pick up some rice hulls and horse manure for free and he will load. Looked on a local classified ad. Awesome! I have wanted to expand my garden and horse/donkey manure does not "grow" what they eat. I have clay soil so the manure and rice hulls are great to break it up.and also break down into nutrients

 

[Danil54grl]

I think you need to hold on to your seed for turnips. . heat will compromise the taste unless you harvest when very young. Not sure on your climate, but around here They turn bitter quickly.

 

[old_anorak]

I wonder if adding some sand would loosen your soil up a bit? We have that heavy, red clay here in a lot of the area, thankfully we've got fairly good dirt and where 2 of our plots are, we had the goats for a few years so we have nice black dirt there.

 

[old_anorak]

I'm going to agree with you on the turnips. I'm going to wait until fall.

 

[Danil54grl]

We added sand to the original garden spot, but I am now trying to do it without adding anything that cost us money. I have so far put my donkey manure and compost to it, but it is still hard to work. I am just trying to remind myself of my first garden. Even after adding sand, manure, and peat moss, it was hard, but it did grow nicely. Once you can get it to grow. . .

 

[old_anorak]

I wonder if ashes would help?

 

[Danil54grl]

Ashes do help. We save them from our fireplace over the winter months to add to the garden, and this year added to the expansion. It will just take some time (as in a few years), but it will happen.

 

[Davmy]

We've got 3 garden plots and a few raised beds. All are fenced and in our backyard which is also fenced and holds very large, cranky dogs. I've had problems in the past with a woman that used to live up the road, she seemed to think that my garden and chicken house was a public food distribution point. Caught her leaving my chicken house one day carrying a dozen eggs, and she couldn't understand why I was angry. We extended our yard fencing to encompass the chickens and gardens and she didn't come back because she didn't like the dogs that would stop her. She had the gall to complain at the little general store about me, said I wasn't neighborly since she couldn't go get what she wanted whenever she wanted to, the people there told her that she was lucky to not have a backside filled with rock salt.

As to easy vegetables to grow. Try summer squash, I think that stuff would make it through a nuclear holocaust.

Nothing a good boobie trap couldn't fix. That woman is certifyibly crazy.

 

[old_anorak]

She moved a while back, didn't like living in the country. Those folks were just a little on the 'different' side. The people there now seem alright. I got a pack of big dogs between the outer fence and the chickens, rabbits, and gardens, so I'm not terribly fussed. If I needed to, I could enlarge the chicken and rabbit area and put my goats in there too.

 

[Chicknladee]

Allen and UrbanArchR, our temps here in MN are pretty different than yours but where we have what hubby calls sugar sand...very fine sand. For years we grew GIANT pumpkins on our property and the lesson we learned was that you need to water a little often. We water every other day for a short while...the water drains so fast in the sand that you don't need a lot but you should do it often. We've grown pumpkins that run 50-100lbs with just a little effort. We also use a lot of liquid fertilizer early on and then lightly throughout the season (as appropriate for the stage of growth). For tomatoes, I've always trimmed my tomatoes up so none of the branches touch the ground (or get water splashed up on the leaves). Also, plant the tomatoes DEEP. I pinch off up the branches up to half the height when planting and bury the plant as far as I can.

 

[Davmy]

sucks to be the hulk.

but i have a big enough back yard to grow some stuff. would like to try peppers, orange tree, lemon tree, lettuce, beans...

Before you add ashes directly to your plants check the ph level of your soil. Something like blue berries like a ph between 5-6.5. When the ph gets out of this range the plant starts to slowly die. Many veggies are also ph sensitive. Ash in a compost pile works very well in adding minerals but directly on plants may kill them.
So here are a few things I have tried in Southern Louisiana that work;
Make a critter fence out of natural material such as downed trees on your property, vines and branches can be woven between posts. Helps to keep out rabbits and such. You can make as high as you think you need to and still will not stand out too much.
Box gardens are easy to maintain but they need lots of fertilizer because the water washes the good stuff down. Usually boxes tend to be nitrogen poor because of that. I have had a ton of success with this method. I have to say that I also raise poultry so I have a cr@pload, no pun intended, of nitrogen rich fertilizer readily available. Tomatoes, cucumbers, several types of beans, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, asparagus, carrots and potatoes.

A really easy crop to grow in ground is corn. If you have animals this is a necessity. You will get about 3-4 heads per stalk. They are very hardy and after the season the stalks make very good fire material. You can keep as much as you need to and dry it. Use this dry corn for seed for the next season and food for the animals.
I grow all my herbs in a bricked in bed. The ones that like shade I grow in buckets. I grow way more than I need and dry a ton each year. After the shtf I want my food to taste good.
Bucket potatoes. Get a five gallon bucket and drill some holes in the bottom to let water drain out. Start your seed potato in about 6 inches of dirt. When they grow to about 6 inches tall add more dirt until only about 2 inches of green are still showing. Keep repeating this until you get to the top of the bucket. Then let row for about another month to month and a half. When you are ready to harvest just dump the bucket over. There will be a bunch of potatoes.
Old Tires;In northern climates you can use old tires to help get a longer growing season. The tires help to keep heat in the soil which will extend the length of your season.
Citrus is pretty easy depending on what climate you are in. In S. Louisiana you just get a local species and you are all good. I have oranges, lemons, and limes on my property.
Dont forget nut trees. They are a great source of protien and can harvest every year. Pecan and almond grow great in the south but you will need to do some research to see what grows best in your location.

 

[jeepgirl]

We just bought potato seed. I'm going to try the bucket thing and see how it goes.

 

[Mightypugs]

We just bought potato seed. I'm going to try the bucket thing and see how it goes.

I have potatoes sprouting in my fridge and I plan on doing the bucket thing as well once the weather breaks.

 

[jeepgirl]

yea, it will be interesting to see. I have a screened porch so I can put the buckets out during the day and bring them in to hide from the little predators

 

[Mightypugs]

let me know how yours works from seeds. I never even thought about potato seeds before reading this.

 

[Davmy]

When I said potato seed I meant seed potato. You get a bag of good potatoes, let them sit until they start to sprout. You cut the eyes out, leaving about a quarter size piece attached to the sprout. The carbs in this piece of potato is food for the sprout for the first few weeks until it developes a good root system. Sorry if I confused by saying seed.

Also, if you grow from season to season you will no have success if you use your old potatoes for seed. I dont know the biology behind this but you need to rotate the ones you plant from season to season.

 

[jeepgirl]

thanks for explaining that..I was just getting ready to

 

[Davmy]

No worries.

 

[Danil54grl]

Already planted my peppers and tomatoe. Tomorrow will work on the zuchinni, squash. We doubled the garden already this year, but plan on doubling again. Still need to plant my melons and corn