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cptindy
Penny Hoarding Member
572 Posts |
 Posted - 04/29/2010 : 08:15:13
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We, My children and myself decided to start a small garden with the anticipation of doing some canning.
Planted, tomato, peppers, corn, and some strawberries
Planing on adding some beans, any other suggestions?
Also looking to pick up a dehydrator soon. Lot's of information available here and we plan to use it.
Thanks
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"It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting"
" The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe."
H.L. Mencken
http://silver-news-today.com/ |
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 10:21:38
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quote:
Originally posted by cptindy
We, My children and myself decided to start a small garden with the anticipation of doing some canning.
Planted, tomato, peppers, corn, and some strawberries
Planing on adding some beans, any other suggestions?
Also looking to pick up a dehydrator soon. Lot's of information available here and we plan to use it.
Thanks
Strawberries are traditionally grown through the winter months here where we live. Don't know how well they will do in the summer heat. Perhaps, if you can put them in larger pots/barrels with mainly shade, just some early morning sun, they could do well.
Corn, you need quite a few rows to have it cross pollinate to produce well.
Be sure to visit or contact your local county extension office and they can give you all sorts of pointers and tips and can offer assistance when you encounter a problem. This is a free service supported by our tax dollars! They even have an area that deals with recipes and canning information, etc. Two separate sides to the county extension office.
Green beans and/or yellow was beans always grew well for us. Yellow summer or yellow crookneck squash did well too.
See if you can find infomation on making a small composting area to add valuable nutrients to your garden once you have rich composting soil being formed in the compost pile. Also, raising a small worm bed/container will produce super rich material that can be extremely beneficial to a small garden. Then, you have free fishing bait too. Either eat the fish or if they are trash/non-edible fish bury these in the ground a foot or two below where you will garden and this greatly enriches the soil--OR, I should correctly say sand, not soil.
Good Luck. Do some herbs too and you can make and can homemade salsa, which is good with everyday foods; you don't have to eat it with tortilla chips.
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Kurr
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2906 Posts |
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cptindy
Penny Hoarding Member
572 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 17:23:44
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I mixed in a bunch of Miracle grow topsoil hoping that would help.
I bought corn in the hope that it grows 6 foot tall to block the neighbors view into the pool cage. So I guess as long as it does that I am happy. I was hoping for a double whammy and getting a few ears. I guess we will see.
Kids wanted strawberries and watermelon of course so there they are. We will see.
The tomato and green peppers, I put in pots inside the cage and seem to be doing good.
$30 a bushel ! How many plants does it take to make a bushel?
I think I will get some herbs too!
Thanks All
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"It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting"
" The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe."
H.L. Mencken
http://silver-news-today.com/ |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 17:27:16
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Okra!!
Beautiful flowers too, they look like hibiscus.
Pick'em while they're young and tender. |
Come to the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org
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battlecat
Penny Pincher Member
152 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 17:36:52
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| Potatoes!! I grow mine in tires.. Onions, Herbs, lettuce. |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 17:40:55
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quote:
Originally posted by battlecat
Potatoes!! I grow mine in tires.. Onions, Herbs, lettuce.
Please explain this |
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battlecat
Penny Pincher Member
152 Posts |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 18:00:51
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Cool! Live and learn.
I'm gonna do it. |
Come to the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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cptindy
Penny Hoarding Member
572 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 20:19:15
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I like okra thats a good idea!
Tired Tators! haha I love it!
My neighbors will sh*t a brick haha. I could stack tires for days, what a great idea.
I have been reading these post here for a while now and been watching ebay for the Nesco American Harvester brand dehydrator. Can you ad layers to these? They seem to have only two. At least the one's I have seen so far. Also looking for the $25.00 price tag, most are a little more that I have seen.
12.... Dang, your a factory!
I am also trying to find some mason jars..Just missed a bunch of freebies on CL.
What kind of laws are there for selling the dry foods? |
"It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting"
" The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe."
H.L. Mencken
http://silver-news-today.com/ |
Edited by - cptindy on 04/29/2010 20:20:12 |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2010 : 23:16:29
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quote:
Originally posted by cptindy
I have been reading these post here for a while now and been watching ebay for the Nesco American Harvester brand dehydrator. Can you ad layers to these? They seem to have only two. At least the one's I have seen so far. Also looking for the $25.00 price tag, most are a little more that I have seen.
They come with four trays, but you can add more. I typically don't use more than four at a time. Halfway through a drying cycle, I'll take the top tray and put it on the bottom, the bottom tray on the top and rotate the two middle ones, plus break apart any pieces of food that have clumped together so they can dry better as smaller pieces. Here's how I arrange the trays at the beginning and halfway through the drying:
Before: After:
1 4
2 3
3 2
4 1
quote:
12.... Dang, your a factory!
Nah, I've never had more than three dehydrators going at any one time, although I typically try to keep two going most of the time. Right now I have a backlog of mackerel (about 11 12-can cases) that I'm trying to whittle down. This many cans of mackerel will fill about 4 12-count cases of quart-sized mason jars. And I'm down to my last four cases of jars at the moment. Gotta get more!
quote:
I am also trying to find some mason jars..Just missed a bunch of freebies on CL.
What kind of laws are there for selling the dry foods?
You can get a case of 12 one-quart mason jars at Walmart for less than $9. It's some of the best money you can spend there, IMO, and I buy very few items there--mostly canned mackerel and frozen veggies (which I also dehydrate). Oh yeah, and ammo.
Just my two cents, but unless you have the equipment to run a commercial-scale dehydration capacity, don't even bother with trying to sell what you're dehydrating--although I've been known to give a couple quarts of items to friends who I know will be receptive to the idea of food storage to show them how much they can fit in relatively small spaces after dehydration.
Also, unless you've already got a sizable pantry of storage foods, it'd be much more productive to stock up for yourself and your family and have a lot of extra food for when you need it. You don't want people to start to think you have a large stockpile of food, otherwise they'll be knocking down your door WTSHTF. |
Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
--Latest article: Stocking up on spices to keep food preps lively
---------------
Be prepared...and prepared to help: http://www.survivalblog.com/charity.html
Are you ready spiritually for hard times? http://www.jesusfreak.com/rapture.asp |
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cptindy
Penny Hoarding Member
572 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2010 : 16:14:54
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Makes sense to me!
My lips will be sealed and my pantry full!
Thanks Nickelless |
"It is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting"
" The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe."
H.L. Mencken
http://silver-news-today.com/ |
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wheeler_dealer
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 03:59:04
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Gardens are an excellent idea. Peppers are a great choice as they are so expensive at the market every year. I try to grow the less popular items that are not cheap and readily available everywhere. I live in an area where corn and carrots, cabbage are abundant and cheap therefore I wont bother with them. I try snap beans, lettuce(stagger your planting time for regular fresh products).
For fertilizer you might try to find someone with domestic rabbits as their droppings area excellent fertilizer that wont burn your roots and is generally FREE. offer to trade some end of season carrots for their fertilizer. For pest control consider Human hair cuttings available at your local shop or home barber. |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2010 : 15:35:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Nickelless
That's interesting about human hair, Wheeler Dealer. What kind of pest repellent properties does hair have? I've never heard that before. Do you have any links on that?
You can also make your own pepper spray by making a solution of cayenne or habanero powder in water and spray it on your plants. Rabbits, raccoons and other critters won't like the pepper.
I found this info when I did an internet search. The portion about the human hair is near the bottom of page and it is supposed to repel deer.
You must be logged in to see this link.
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2010 : 15:38:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Nickelless
That's interesting about human hair, Wheeler Dealer. What kind of pest repellent properties does hair have? I've never heard that before. Do you have any links on that?
You can also make your own pepper spray by making a solution of cayenne or habanero powder in water and spray it on your plants. Rabbits, raccoons and other critters won't like the pepper.
I found another site that claims human hair will deter rabbits from your garden.
You must be logged in to see this link. |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2010 : 15:39:34
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Our local zoo sells tiger sh*t.
It's the best small animal repellant known to man.
The poop sells for 20.00 per pound and it's still impossible to get. |
Come to the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org
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PreservingThePast
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1572 Posts |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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TXTim
Penny Hoarding Member
629 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2010 : 21:28:43
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Here's some of my stuff so far this year:
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Beer is my currency. |
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thogey
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1617 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2010 : 21:32:46
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Man, you got a good start. We really can't plant yet where I live.
5700 feet, our last freeze usually isn't for 2 more weeks. |
Come to the new and improved realcent: http://realcent.org
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wheeler_dealer
Penny Collector Member
USA
402 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2010 : 19:56:26
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Nice Start TXtim. Looks like you will have a good productive garden.
Nickeless I used to have a three acre farmette and had a good size garden. I found out about using human hair as a deterent in the "organic gardening" magazine. I never had too many problems with rabbit or deer once I started using it. The scent from hair was a deterrent to them. When the hair didn't work the 22 caliber did. Rabbit stew anyone? I also raised domestic rabbits and their fertilizer was excellent.
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johnbrickner
Penny Pincher Member
154 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2010 : 18:43:42
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cptindy:
It only takes a couple of seasons of planting to figure out what grows best in your soil/climate, and what you family likes most. Once you get this figured out, plant lots of it.
If you have the space, consider a couple of plots and rotate your crops. This prevents soil depletion and disease.
Mulch like mad. More mulch means less weeding and watering. My favorite is grass clippings from the lawn.
Our favorites are heirloom tomatoes and garlic. Again, your soil/climate with trial and error will help determine veriety.
Enjoy as some of our best family time is in the garden. |
"I Killed the Bank" from the tombstone of Andrew Jackson |
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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
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battlecat
Penny Pincher Member
152 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2010 : 15:26:26
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| My Aunt is moving so she gave me some garlic from her garden, Cant wait until fall to plant them!! |
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Started A Small Garden Today
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