The Survival Garden: How To Start And What To Prep.

Discussion in 'Gardening' started by DirtDiva, Aug 30, 2021.

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  1. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    This is the time of year that many are doing pruning as shrubs and berry bushes emerge from their winter dormancy. While I was cutting back any frozen or damaged wood off my black currant bushes I ran across praying mantis egg sacks. I left the sacks on the bushes and am thrilled to see the natural eco system healthy. These young mantis will hopefully hatch and move out into the garden helping to control bad insects in my garden. So be on the lookout for good predatory insects in your garden. I found lots of toads and even a large king snake in the gardens last year. I put out lots of bird feeders and bird houses. Along with my ducks all of these animals help to reduce my use of any sort of insect control or at the least very little.
     
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  2. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Winter Sowing

    Many people think that they need heating mats and fancy light systems to start seeds. Since downsizing into a smaller house my favorite method of growing off my spring transplants is winter sowing. Usually done from the first to the middle of March in milk jugs saved over the winter months. Some of the benefits are no electricity or large plant light stands to take up room and I honestly think I get healthier plants that require no hardening off. This all happens on my sunny back deck. The plants pictured above are broccoli and cabbage seedlings planted directly into milk jugs that germinated in full sun right there on my deck rails. These will be planted out after April 15th which is my approximate last frost date. I will simply take a table fork and lift the plant and roots out and directly plant in boxes. Already acclimated to the temperatures and full sun they require no electricity and if I do get a late freeze I will set them in the shower overnight. This is how I produce seedlings throughout the spring planting on 3 week intervals to insure a successive harvest throughout the season. A great way to produce small amounts of healthy seedlings throughout the growing season.

    Growing on my back deck this morning are cabbage, broccoli, bok choi, romaine lettuce

    I will attach several links to more information on winter sowing.

    https://growitbuildit.com/illustrated-guide-to-winter-sowing-with-pictures/

    https://empressofdirt.net/winter-sowing/

    https://forksinthedirt.com/using-the-winter-sowing-technique-with-vegetables/

    https://www.motherearthnews.com/org...-your-vegetable-garden-the-lazy-way-zbcz2102/
     
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  3. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Separating Rhubarb

    Early spring and the rhubarb is just emerging. I have some overgrown crowns that need thinning. I have to thin my rhubarb crowns about every 3 years or they get so thick the middle of the crowns start to die out. The plus of thinning the crowns is that you get more crowns for free. So with warm weather yesterday my husband and I dug the largest of the rhubarb crown. Lord that thing had some roots.

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    The crowns were dug and broken into pieces each with several small leaves and sufficient roots. A machete was necessary to cut some of the roots apart. Lots of help from my web footed friends.

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    Each smaller piece was then replanted into a planting hole and backfilled with soil amended with compost, worm castings and soybean meal.

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    And at the end of the day that one crown became a row of 7 planted in front of my blueberry bed. These 7 crowns will be allowed to grow and recover this season and will not be harvested until next year which is why I only separate one or two a year. At this point I produce more rhubarb than I need but I do make wine with it also. At some point I may offer some for sale on the local community bulletin board. I consider it a blessing to have too much of anything right now.

    A future project once warm weather gets here is to come back and add mulch back to the top of the bed to keep down any weeds that I may have brought to the surface during the planting.

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    And during this whole process the ducks were cleaning up any grubs that were unearthed again cutting down those insect populations for the future.

    Now if I wanted to those same crown pieces could be potted up and sold to the public as starts later in the season possibly generating additional income for the property as well.
     
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    1. TMT Tactical
      Love the info and the pictures. Keep them coming, I am learning a lot.
       
      TMT Tactical, Apr 5, 2022
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  4. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    I noticed this morning that I had tiny tomato plants emerging in peat pots , also sitting on the rail of my back deck .
     
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  5. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    My garden is beginning to emerge from my direct in-ground planting . Friday night it is supposed to get into the low 30's and be partly clear . My plan for the moment is to cover it up with hay , and hope for the best .
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2022
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    1. DirtDiva
      Same here! Snow forecast tonight :eek:
       
      DirtDiva, Apr 8, 2022
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  6. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    nothing sown or planted here yet apart from permanent stuff, have to wait for the last frosts to go and the ground to warm up, nothing will germinate if the soil is too cold.
    first things to be planted out in this area is always Broad Beans.
     
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  7. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    There are many crops here that can be planted in cool soils and germinate, spinach will germinate in soils less than 50 degrees. Potatoes can get hit by frost and come back from the potato itself. I have seen it many times. Carrots, beets. greens, onions all can take a light frost. Green peas can germinta in soils in the 40's. I have seen all of these plants even get light snows and still thrive.

    In my area in particular light frosts even into May are not unheard of. With every seed you roll the dice. BUT you can increase your yields on many of these crops in the long run because you want to harvest them before the heat of summer sets in because if they get hit with too much heat they will bolt and go to seed prematurely. It is a roll of the dice with every seed. Welcome to gardening who needs a casino!
     
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  8. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    Hard frost here this morning, forecast for tomorrow again, should get warmer mid week.
     
  9. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    Everything that was emerged from the ground survived the cold spell in my garden . Some things that I planted has failed to come up so for . This may be due to me planting too early . I will be replanting what has failed to come up .
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      Same here! I think the wind picked up a bit and the frost ended up being really patchy. So far so good for my garden as well.

      We had 2 days of snow flurries and not one bit of accumulation. The ground was just too warm. Warm temperatures are returning for this coming week almost 70 some days but rain for 3 of those days. These Tennessee springs tend to run toward really cool and wet.
       
      DirtDiva, Apr 10, 2022
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  10. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    An excellent video from an English Gardener on reasons to grow potatoes in containers vs beds

     
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  11. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Good succession planting video as you all start your spring gardens.

     
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  12. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Picked my first asparagus spears yesterday in a coat :(
     
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  13. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I planted Broad Beans a couple of days ago, put first potatoes in today, main crops ones later, thats in containers, they heat up and retain the heat , the broad beans have grown several inches each day.
     
  14. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    https://www.motherearthgardener.com...s-noteworthy-missouri-herb-farm-zmaz16szsbak/ I mentioned somewhere on this forum about my trip to a farm to purchase a young Billy goat for my milk goat nannies . This trip I did a week ago . To say I was impressed with the survivability of this guy would be an understatement . This morning I decided to try to look this guy up on the computer . Sure enough , I found it . I have known this guy existed for years but only until last week did we finally meet . The link above is about this guy and may be something our gardeners can appreciate .
     
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  15. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    https://www.theorganicprepper.com/mason-jar-shortage/#comments/1041308 Possible canning jar shortage looming . As usual I was ahead of the crowd on this . I found and bought some canning jars for the stash about 4 days ago . Even before I read anything on this , I told the wife and my daughter , in a few weeks from now canning jars may not be available .
     
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  16. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Warm temperatures have returned to my garden this week. Yesterday I started thinning fruit starting with my peaches. My trees tend to set way too much fruit and I must thin in order to not let the fruit weight break the limbs and damage the tree. 1 peach every 6 inches is my own rule. That is plenty for my use.

    Todays job is removing ssed heads from the onions. You want the plant to concentrate it's energy on producing the bulbs and not setting seeds.

    Next on the agenda is moving compost around plants since I have a large pile to use up to make room to make more.

    Lots of planting going on too with okra, squash, cucumbers and sweet potatoes going in the ground this week. Harvests right now are mustard greens to go into jars and be canned. I love canning greens for winter use and greens are so simple to grow. Lots of lettuce, spinach and mustard greens right now with cooler temps.

    Grapes are in bloom and a good spraying of copper sulfate to control fungal disease.

    And for the gardener's soul the roses sre blooming as well as peonies and azaleas.
     
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  17. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    Gardening is not just something someone can watch a video on , or read a book and have much sucess . Those that don't have real experience or now finding their first time efforts having dismal results . When there is an ongoing food crises is a poor time to try to learn . -- At least members of this forum can sleep well knowing we tried to warn the sheeple of the impeding doom . --- Those that just stocked some extra food will find their stored food supply running out . At that point they will experience real desperation .
     
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  18. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    This year I experimented with a new variety of spinach . It was called "4 seasons spinach ". The seeds didn't even look like regular spinach seed and only through a second effort of planting , did I get a stand . That stuff grew fast and got very big . We just recently picked our second picking . However we are disappointed in the flavor . Even though it is flourishing I am considering ripping it out of the ground and replanting that bed with pink eye purple hull peas .
     
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  19. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    I don't know if I will grow purple hulls this year or not. I put up so many last year it was not funny. I am concentrating on growing Louisiana Red Beans this year for canning I think and some green beans. I stick with older vegetable varieties many times because I just find the flavor to be better. Many of these newer varieties are bred for commercial production and shipping and just seem to lack flavor.
     
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  20. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    [​IMG]

    May 17, 2022

    We are now 30 days out from average last frost date. Peas planted in early March are now fluorishing from those April down pours and the warmer temperatures of May. Loaded with blooms and pods. In front of the peas are cabbage and broccoli and n the end of this 60 ft. bed romaine, bok choy and spinach. On this end a small corner of bulb onions. Mixed in are a few hills of garlic chives in bloom to help with insect control and the bees love the flowers. All of these are cool weather crops and should be done by early summer to be replaced by squash, zucchini, basil, peppers and tomatoes.

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    I have started canning up mustard greens. Most years I can grow fresh greens up until November. I try to can up mustard greens and dehydrate greens into powder to supplement greens December through March. With the help of cold frames by the end of March I can again have fresh greens. Frozen, dehydrated and canned greens get us through the winter months.

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    Turnips can be grown both early spring and fall here in my garden and make an excellent potato substitute in many recipes. I can these also for winter. This is just a simple purple top turnip, open pollinated heirloom and seeds easily saved.

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    Jericho lettuce is an excellent heat tolerant romaine originally developed in Israel that is an excellent romaine for southern gardens. Great taste and easily able to save seeds from it. Planted every 3 to 4 weeks I can usually keep this lettuc going all through the summer depending on how hot it gets. Especially if I give it a shadier spot.

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    Right now we plant small patches of spinach every 3 weeks or so and eat it as baby spinach in salads. I have plenty of eggs right now and we are eating lots of wilted spinach salads and we also add spinach to sandwiches.

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    Broccoli started in milk jugs and transplanted to the beds a few weeks ago. These plants (all of them) have never had a drop of man made fertilizers. The beds are enriched with homemade compost, worm castings and rabbit manure.

    Incorporated into the bed twice a year is my homemade organic fertilizer comprised mostly of soybean meal.

    All of these are cool season crops for me planted in March. Not pictured are carrots, beets, mustard greens, spring onions and potatoes.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2022
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  21. arctic bill

    arctic bill Master Survivalist
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    still too cold to plants, I did add 12 buckets of compost and some black earth and then fertilizer. I also turned it over and broke up clots . I have started most stuff indoor several weeks ago. my season starts June 1 to august 31.
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      I usually don't set out any warm season plants until June myself. I start cool season gardening about March and then proceed to the warmer season crops in June. I usually get plenty even though I plant much of my garden later than my neighbors. Sometimes I think people get too much in a hurry.
       
      DirtDiva, May 18, 2022
  22. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    A great looking garden , that surpasses mine . I do have a few hot peppers in my garden that aren't ready for harvest yet . My squash is about waist high " or perhaps a little lower " but are just now putting on fruit . A few days ago I put tall wire cages around my tomatoes and then staked the cages down with 6 foot 9 inch rebar so the tomatoes will not get too heavy and bend the wire cages over , a problem that I have had in the past . So for my garden is doing great except after a second planting of running butter beans that I am skeptical will provide a adequate stand . I may try a third time on planting butter beans . Are there any suggestions on a variety of running butter beans , for a third try .
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2022
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    1. DirtDiva
      The only running speckled butter I have experience with is the speckled " Christmas " but it is considered more a lima. When I grow buterbeans I prefer the heirloom "Jackson Wonder" bush butter bean dating from about 1888. It does okay here but would do better in a warmer area.

      For the record I had just a soso germination on my Louisiana Red Beans too. I think the soil is just a little too cool still. I replanted and got a better stand but they are just there right now and not growing at all.
       
      DirtDiva, May 18, 2022
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  23. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I started growing stuff in containers last year, as well as stuff in the main garden.
    so far this year I have 2 lots of Potatoes growing in large pots, 3 lots of Tomatoes, Broad Beans and Rhubarb;
    about 7 Apple trees growing in the rear garden and Raspberries and Gooseberries in the front garden, our regular garden is mostly raised beds and border planting.
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      I also garden similarly. I have converted to mostly raised beds also due to shallow top soil and rocks. I have a few potatoes tucked in containers that sprouted in the pantry and some containers of herbs also. I tuck fruit and veggies into my borders and fencelines also. I mix flowers for the pollinators along with herbs and fruit trees and they all do fine. I also no longer till anywhere but rather strictly use a top dressing of mulch. Less weeds!
       
      DirtDiva, May 18, 2022
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  24. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I can get bags of manure and bags of mulch locally for about £1 a bag.
    no till growing is definitely the way to go.
     
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  25. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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      I hate seeing barren walls and concrete. Green is good, plus why not just grow stuff you can eat?! When planting trees on your property, why not plant fruit trees, cherry trees, apple trees. My grandparents sure did have fruit trees.
       
      Old Geezer, Jun 4, 2022
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  26. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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    When growing several fruit trees such as cherry trees, one must chase off the birds. A neighbor of ours used strings of pennants to protect his cherry trees from birds -- birds also like to eat cherries. Pennants flap in the breeze and birds don't like that at all. Car dealers use pennants to chase off birds so as to keep them from pooping on their pretty cars for sale.

    Pennants are cheap and besides, you can simply make your own. Plastic grocery bags flutter and scare-away the birds.

    [​IMG]
     
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  27. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    I use old foil pie plates tied to the branches with strings that flap in the wind. Also wind large plastic snakes in the branches. Snakes are a natural predator of birds.
     
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    1. Old Geezer
      Yep, seen a lot of foil plates tied to posts in gardens. Thanks for adding that.
       
      Old Geezer, Jun 5, 2022
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  28. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    we have birds in our garden, we feed them, that keeps them full up and they dont want to eat any of our plants.
    over here the main garden pest is slugs not birds.
     
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  29. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Lol I feed mine too, as well as provide them with bird baths and bird houses for their young. I just try to steer them away from certain trees and bushes temporarily as the fruit ripens. As a general rule though I have so much fruit that there is plenty for everyone. I also live next to a forest with plenty of fruit as well.
     
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  30. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    I live close to a British woodland and many of the birds that visit our garden nest there.
     
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  31. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Cool temperatures are still locked in to my area. I struggled to get up some seeds of my hot weather crops such as okra. The soil was cool and wet with all the rain we have had. I ended up having to presprout my okra between wet paper towels. It worked great and took about 3 days for good sprouts. Then I took tweezers and placed the sprouted seeds in hills outside. Within another 4 to 5 days I had okra leaves emerging.

    Also a great method for testing your seeds.
     
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  32. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    The cool weather crops are going stromg and my days in the garden and canning kitchen are long. Green onions chopped and in the dehydrator and freezer for year round use.


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    Many hours in the rocking chair on the back porch shelling peas.

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    Gooseberry Pie filling for pies, cobblers and over ice cream.

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    Canned peas for the pantry shelf.

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    I have also canned mustard greens, frozen garlic scapes for seasoning and pesto, harvesting turnips, lettuce and bok choy for fresh eating. The broccolli are heading, and the first picking of beets are ready for pickling. The cabbage is starting to head also and the onions are starting to bulb. Beans are blooming and the squash and cucumbers are coming along nicely.
     
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  33. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    You and yours certainly will not be going hungry .
     
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  34. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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    If she and her kin are good with their rifles -- let's face it, most Tennesseans are -- then, yes indeed, they'll not go hungry.

    Seems on this planet there are always the interlopers. Thus, one must learn to shoot beyond just "sharpshooter" level. Keep your rifles sighted-in, maintain these tools, keep lots of ammo in your safes, and practice, practice, practice. Praise God that I've been able to pass-on my skill-set. I keep my eyes in good health. I've been blessed to keep training more youngsters, even as I was trained. Without strict discipline, a human is nothing but an animal.

    I would that human nature was superior to that which it is. Wishing never got anyone anywhere. So it goes.
    .
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      I learned how to shoot as a little kid shooting cotton mouth water moccasins out of a pirogue on the bayou. Daddy used to say he had to cut the webs from between my toes before he could buy me my first pair pf high heels.

      My husband had his first trap line at 8. By the time he was 21 he was in the military police and an "expert" marksman status with the medals to prove it.

      We may be old but weak we are not!
       
      Last edited: Jun 10, 2022
      DirtDiva, Jun 10, 2022
  35. Max rigger

    Max rigger Master Survivalist
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    Great posts as usual diva, many thanks.

    I'm still a beginner but learning. This year I've mostly been in Spain when not offshore and wow, what a difference here to the UK in terms of growing. I won't be looking at a garden and polytunnels until next year, too much to do with the house and grounds bit did plant toms/chili/sweet peppers/cucumber seeds in some big pots which had dead plants in....all the seeds came up and they grow faster and stronger than in the UK; that extra heat really boosts growth. I've been picking cucumbers and tomatoes for over a month now with chili and peppers ready to pick now. In the UK my boy is just starting to pick cucumbers and toms in the little polytunnel. My lads done really well with the garden, he loves it and has planted runner beans this year which we'd no done before.

    Home canning will be my next prep skill to delve into.
     
    1. DirtDiva
      The area I live in now is cooler due to elevation. While I do not miss the heat most days my gardens sure do miss it. I am able to grow more than enough still to feed us for the year and probably half the neighborhood if so inclined. If I had heat too there would be no stopping me:eek:

      Home canning is really popular right now and the jars and tools can be hard to find. Stock up early on them.

      I am so glad your move is working out!
       
      Last edited: Jun 10, 2022
      DirtDiva, Jun 10, 2022
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  36. arctic bill

    arctic bill Master Survivalist
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    I just finished my second planting, I usually do two in case a get a frost that kills some of the first planting . thankfully i did not lose anything. green and yellow beans did not come up so i replanted seeds in the same spot. I have found that for ever what reason sometimes the seeds do not geminate so i plant again just to make sure . I put up my scarecrow in a tree that usually works to stop the geese. not this time goose poop 4 feet away from the scarecrow. I saw something on the internet about just leveling a compost heap and adding old potatoes . this work as well as any other method. so i did it i have nothing to lose . I planted about 50 potatoes lets see what happens.
     
  37. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Fruit in the 2022 Garden

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    Never waste a good fence line. Grapes and muscadies make great fence line plantings.

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    Elderberry bushes again growing along fence lines. Super easy to grow and propagate for me they are pretty well disease and insect free. This year they are loaded.

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    Gooseberries are another fruit that for me that is disease and insect free and easy to propagate. I plant mine under shed windows and such. Their thorns discourage anyone sneaking in windows. And if they do just follow the blood trail.

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    Blueberries for me are another easy and prolific crop on my property. They love my acidic mountain soil and are actually native to these mountains.

    The plums are starting to ripen, we are still picking rhubarb but have stopped picking asparagus. The peaches are getting bigger and just hanging on the trees. Blackberries are starting to set berries along the south and east fences and the grapes are loaded. Figs are setting and blueberries are hanging green in the summer sun. Gooseberries are just starting to ripen. The elderberries are blooming on the nirth fence as well as black currants. Lost pear blooms and beach plums to late frosts but the mulberries are ripening as are the Juneberries.

    So may people go straight for the big fruit trees but nothing can beat my fencelines of berries and small fruit. So much less work and just as productive. An easy way to take advantage of space not normally gardened.

    Since I have fruit ready to ripen I cleaned out the freezer of fruit left over from last year and canned.

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    Gooseberry Pie filling, blackberry pie filling, elderberry pie filling, elderberry jam, plum pancake syrup, pickled beets, whole kernel corn and baby carrots.
     
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  38. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    The last of the cool weather crops. The peas are picked and canned the green onions frozen. I have started sneaking a few new potatoes but the mustard and turnips are history. I still have beets, carrots, lettuce, cabbage and broccoli but the heat will soon take it's toll.

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    The cabbage is starting to head and I will soon be freezing some and making kraut. Last week I started cabbage seeds for the fall. Target date to plant July 4.

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    Broccoli will bolt quick in 90 degree days so we are picking it fast. It will come out soon to make room for the next crop.

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    Lettuce tucked in the flower pots. They all look pretty happy though.

    Put my tomtoes in the ground last week. Dug my garlic and have started harvesting bulb oions as they fall over. Shell beans are blooming and 2 more successive plantings have been started. Yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers, melons, okra, butternut squash and sweet potatoes are all going strong.

    As the cabbage and broccoli come out they will give way to more warm weather crops. One crop comes out and one takes it's place immediately. 120 days average of growing season left till first frost October 15th.
     
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  39. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    Think outside the box! Everyone gets so hung up on these raised beds. Keep it simple. Take a good look below tucked in that fence corner are butternut squash seedlings to train up either side of the fence . What is it growing in? A cardboard box. They look pretty happy don't they?

    [​IMG]15-100_7720 by Dirt Diva, on Flickr
     
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  40. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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    My maternal grandmother used the Farmer's Almanac to determine when food was processed.

    For instance, you'd not make sauerkraut when the Zoological signs were in "the bowels". I think she would do this when the signs were in the neck (Taurus). I don't know this stuff. Do you?

    Do you use "the signs"? Do you use the Farmer's Almanac?

    She conducted an experiment for me when I was before 1st grade and her experiment went as she expected. Bad signs = spoilage.
    .
     
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  41. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    My parents and gparents did everything by the signs. Me not so much.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2022
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  42. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    I have a question on your cabbage planting for this fall as , I have never been successful growing cabbage . Are you starting your seeds in some type of container for transplanting ? With warm weather already here in our zone , I would think direct planting would be the plan . Then again not wanting to kill my honey bees with insecticide might find this effort fruitless as the fall insects begin their ravenous assault .
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      Start in my usual milk jugs and then dig and transplant. Shade them the first week or so with a wire ring with shade cloth pieces tied over the top and sides. Once established the only thing I may have to put down is usually slug pellets if called for and bt for cabbage loopers. Since cabbage don't bloom there is nothing to attract the bees to the cabbage and I have enough flowers planted to keep the bees more than happy elsewhere. Also spray very late in the evening when the bees are not moving and pyrethrin if necessary does less damage.
       
      DirtDiva, Jun 15, 2022
  43. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    Those that didn't grow a garden this year screwed up big time . No doubt some just did not realize the severity of the increased price of food and didn't realize those store shelves come this fall will be so bare they may be shutting down grocery stores . Certainly some cling to the idea things are not going to be that bad this coming winter . That is the difference between a prepper and " to be kind " others .
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      There are many right now that do have gardens in that are struggling. With record high temperatures across many Southern states and little rain many are seeing extended 100 degree days. In thta kind of heat many crops do not set fruit and drop blooms greatly affecting yields. Even with supplemental waterings many times it is not enough.
       
      DirtDiva, Jun 21, 2022
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  44. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    What is happening in my gardens. Temperatures are climbing with temps in the high 80's to low 90's (actual temps)with little rain. Heat loving plants such as beans, okra and squash are growing quickly. Cool weather crops such as broccoli have been picked and pulled up and composted. Lettuce has bolted and has become chicken treats. Blooming for seeds right now mustard, lettuce and bok choy. The pollinators are loving those brassica flowers.

    I harvested beets and pickled with some still remaining in the garden. Shell beans are loaded and tomatoes are blooming. Picking gooseberries, black currants and plums right now. Yesterday I planted my 4th successive planting of beans. Cucumbers, summer squash, winter squash are all blooming as well as melons. Sweet potatoes are running everywhere and loving this heat. Cabbage are heading up and should be ready for harvest in a week or two. Started picking bulb onions. Garlic picked and hung to dry in shed rafters.

    I am up for jury duty for the next 3 months so have to make the most of my time in the garden in the upcoming months.
     
  45. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    For a lot of people having a big survival garden just isn't realistic. They may not have the land or ability to tend a really big garden. That doesn't mean that they can't still can and have better foods at a lower price. For those people a farmers market is the place to go.

    Not only can you buy it fresh and cheap there, you can also make conections. A lot of farmers will let you pick your own for a lower price and if you do it right you can make a friend. We used to do that when I was a kid. If a person allowed us to pick a couple of bushels we would pick two for us and at least two for the gardener if they wanted it. LOL,

    I liked picking peas and would pick as many as you wanted. I miss those days a lot. We would work in the mornings in the fields picking then come in for a long lunch and then start shelling and then canning that afternoon.

    I think that it is important for a family to work together. That is something that people don't seem to do a lot of these days. A family spends a lot of time together harvesting and putting up the produce of a garden. For me t was good time. The olse people told stories about their years and the young would talk about their experiances in a way that didn't seem to happen often otherwise.

    If a kid was willing to work and not mess around he would be treated more as an equal than at nearly any time. The older people talked about things from their past and you got to see that they had been kids just like you.
     
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  46. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    we really dont need a huge garden for survival especially those amongst us with small groups, but what we do need is continuity of supply by successive plantings.
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      Exactly!!
       
      DirtDiva, Jun 22, 2022
    2. DirtDiva
      It is not how big your garden is it is how to make that real estate work for you and keep producing for the entire growing season. Add to that wild edibles and fruit and nuts and small backyard livestock such as chickens, rabbits, ducks or maybe small dairy goats and it is amazing what can be produced on a small backyard homestead.
       
      DirtDiva, Jun 22, 2022
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  47. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    Perhaps I have a cold hearted stance toward those that failed to have a garden growing this year , Regardless of the excuse as to why they failed to grow a garden now that S.H.T. F . , it only means one thing to me " they were not truly prepared " . Life choices pushes a prepper to reside where they can realistically grow a garden and have a sustainable water supply without the grid . Chasing monetary gain by residing where a garden can not be raised without perhaps having the community police descending upon your doorsteps complaining about your garden or perhaps even worse having some chickens in a coup , is simply a choice someone made . They simply chose making more money over prepping . At this time shtf is here but we can expect where we are at , " at this point " to be mild as to what we will be seeing this winter . --- Dirt Diva and I are enjoying our life choices and are eating the produce from our labors as we watch others finding themselves in a financial Delima as the food bidding war keeps bringing the prices higher .
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2022
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  48. DirtDiva

    DirtDiva Master Survivalist
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    TexDamn you and I grew up the same. My parents were products of the great depression I cut my teeth on those stories of hardship during those times for my middle class southern family. My fondest memories are of gardening with my parents. I had my first flower bed all my own at 7. By the time I was in my early teens I was a champion in Plant Sciences with our local 4-H club. My fondest memories are of long summer days on the back porch with my mother, grandmother, aunts and cousins shelling bushels of beans, husking and cutting corn off the cob or peeling tomatoes. Babies running around the yard and those women teaching my cousins and I the fine art of providing for our families to come. Days were spent making jellies and preserves, freezing vegetables, canning tomatoes, making bread and butter pickles. Learning by example how to be farm women and wives and mothers from the women in our family that came before us. Regardless of being in the garden, at the canner or under the quilt frame I continue to honor and treasure those skills and teach them whenever possible to the younger women in my family. While resources are valuable to me survival is all about skills. I have taken several different courses in herbal medicine and wild foraging to add to that skill set as well. Never quit adding to those skills.
     
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  49. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    Something different for me this year , my one mature apple tree always put on apples only to have them fall off before they were ripe . This year they seem to be developing normally and staying on the branches . One difference , a nearby pear tree also bloomed and put on pears this year for the first time . My suspicion is the apple tree always failed to get pollinated from another tree but somehow pollinated with the pear tree . Does this seem viable or is something else is in play here ? --- update -- I decided to do some research on my apple tree pollinating with a pear tree theory . It appears my guess was correct , though not recommended , they can indeed pollinate each other , if they bloom at the same time , which mine does .
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2022
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  50. poltiregist

    poltiregist Legendary Survivalist
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    I broke my personal record for my okra growing here in the Ozarks this year . Striving to bring in an earlier okra crop in order to have a longer producing period , planted direct in ground seeds on Mar. 23 and cut my first okra yesterday June 24 . That was a struggle having to cover the young emerging okra several times with hay , as temperatures sometimes dropped but the plan worked . --- After reading Dirt Diva's post on growing cabbage decided to try my luck with cabbage . I planted cabbage seed a few days ago in one of my rows of okra , thinking the okra may provide some shade until the temperatures get into lower averages .
     
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    1. DirtDiva
      Excellent move. Lettuce and spinach can also benefit from shade of other plants.
       
      DirtDiva, Jun 25, 2022
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