Gardening 2023

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Did you find some?

Haven’t had the time yet to search. I will though. Really busy with the greenhouse plant starts, decorating the porches for Easter and spring cleaning. We have family coming this weekend.

Am helping my hubby with installing a fountain we just got. So excited! It is one that looks like a hollow tree several water basins down it, with lights for nighttime. We removed a bunch of overgrown bushes from the one corner of the house. Putting the fountain there in the indented corner and adding Boxwoods along the pebble path that goes to large stone steps to the backyard.
 
My wake up call on that one was many years ago when a prepper I highly respected, mentioned that he had witnessed migration of large numbers of destitute refugees before and it looked almost like a plague of locust had swept through as they moved on.

Every plant commonly known as edible, had been consumed and destroyed including private gardens, crops and woodlands. The only thing that was left in their wake were plants that were either thought poisonous, inedible or mistaken for such.

Again, in a TEOTWAKI event, migrants will learn as they go from others what to eat and what to leave alone.

If you live in the boonies, by the time those once clueless people get to your area, they will be fairly well practiced in both raiding and foraging so, one of your back up plans for food needs to be the art of stealth gardening. It is just common sense.
I have been planting canas, elephant ears and hastas on my land because most people see them as just flowers. I also plant asparagus that looks like weeds, and ‘junk’ trees people hate like mulberry. So many people are so accustomed of not eating anything they find out of the ordinary that I hope some of my edibles will be unnoticed.
 
Happy new gardening season! Just received my Johnny’s Seeds catalog and am sitting here perusing it. Yes, I have a lot of seeds already…but I can’t resist getting some additional ones. Am thinking about creating a few lists of must have seeds and then buying numerous “sets” for neighbors and friends. First list will be Herbs for Cooking. Second will be Herbs for Medicinal Use. Third list will be Survival Vegetable Garden.

Does anyone have ideas about what they would add to these lists?Perennials
 
Dollar weed... I don't know that one. I'll have to look it up.

This week, I showed my kids the spring beauties everywhere (edible tiny tubers), the bittercress (peppery flavor), the wild onions, the chickweed, etc. There are so many edibles out here if people know where to look!

I was impressed because I asked them if the chickweed and the bittercress were the same plant and immediately they said no and pointed out the differences. It took me close to an hour of studing a field guide to see that when I started learning wild edibles! 😆 Kids are so much better at observing.
 
I have never heard of some of these. Maybe we call them by different names.
Dollar weed

1680737291285.png
 
Dollar weed is a pain in arse! It takes over most of my garden every year..all year long...I pull n pull vines and vines of it up constantly...gonna have to look up some recipes if it's edible!
If you don't pull up the roots, it will continue to spread, but at this piont I will just let it be and spread. Why not.
 
As of yesterday , I was informed my grandson's wedding has been changed from my garden area to a neighboring property due to more room on the neighbors property for a large gathering . That means that I can now plant my garden . Of concern with the garden , for me was the high probability of a financial collapse or World War three from two fronts either China or Russia or more probable both simultaneously . Regardless of what is about to happen a garden this year could be critical . I will have to go thru our food supply and evaluate what we may need to grow this year .
 
I have more worms in my garden than in past years. I guess it is the chicken bedding and cardboard.

As mentioned before, I am trying to not till this year. What do you guys with the weeds that come up in the rows. Pull or cover with mulch. I'm worried about vine borer and squash bugs if I use cardboard around the squash
 
I have more worms in my garden than in past years. I guess it is the chicken bedding and cardboard.

As mentioned before, I am trying to not till this year. What do you guys with the weeds that come up in the rows. Pull or cover with mulch. I'm worried about vine borer and squash bugs if I use cardboard around the squash

I eat the weeds or feed to the chickens, depending on what it is.
 
HOW TO MAKE VANILLA!

“Ever notice how expensive vanilla extract is? Where we live, a tiny 1oz bottle goes for $5 - $7. Thats super expensive. However, there is a huge difference between the natural stuff and the imitation. Natural vanilla comes from vanilla beans grown in either Madagascar or in Tahiti (each has a slightly different flavor).

Imitation vanilla is made from vanillin (the primary flavor component of vanilla). Vanillin is manufactured from a substance called guaiacol. The world's guaiacol supply is derived from refining regular old petroleum. Thats right... you're eating the same stuff that is derived from what you fill your car up with every day. Then they add in "carmel coloring" to make it look like the real thing... but those colorings are full of cancer causing man-made dyes.

We took a hard left turn from that and have been making our own pure vanilla extract. We use top shelf vodka and vanilla beans. We do one batch with Tahitian beans and one with Madagascar beans. The beans need to infuse for 6 months to a year to really impart the flavors, but the result is amazing. The alcohol cooks off in baked goods, so no worries there.

Here is a batch that we started in February and its already turning that golden color from the vanilla beans. You have to have a little patience, but this is a half gallon of the real thing at a tiny fraction of the cost of buying it and without eating petroleum! You can reuse the beans over and over again several times to make additional batches also... further lowering the cost.”


1681247417017.jpeg





Purpose Driven Homestead @Purpose_Driven_Homestead
 

Latest posts

Back
Top