What have you done for garden prep so far?

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robinjopo said:
Even urban preppers should store some seeds. They can always do containers in case of SHTF. Many think that food magically shows up at the markets
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Just make sure they are heirloom seeds. A lot of the big box seeds produce sterile fruit. The big seed companies like Monsanto don’t want you growing stuff again for free.
 
robinjopo said:
Arctic, do you have a greenhouse, hoop house or indoor lighting? I know you have a short growing season.
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None of the above yet. A green house is on my list of building projects. This planting season I plan to use hoops over the tomato and pepper plants. We still have a foot of snow covering the garden area. And they're calling for up to a foot of new snow tomorrow, and snow for the next 7 days. I guess I have time to come up with something.
 
robinjopo said:
Last year I added way too much nitrogen (chicken poop) and my gardens had lots of green but no veggies
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When we clean out the chicken coop we use the waste as mulch around the fruit trees and berry plants. So far we haven't had any problems.
The wife wants to start raising rabbits and earthworms and collect their waste for the garden. Actually she just comes up with these ideas and I do all the work. (Just a little whining here.)
 
Arcticdude said:
When we clean out the chicken coop we use the waste as mulch around the fruit trees and berry plants. So far we haven't had any problems.
The wife wants to start raising rabbits and earthworms and collect their waste for the garden. Actually she just comes up with these ideas and I do all the work. (Just a little whining here.)
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I added fresh poop. Didn't age it at all. Live and learn.

I've read that you can make lots of money on certain types of worms.
 
robinjopo said:
I added fresh poop. Didn't age it at all. Live and learn.

I've read that you can make lots of money on certain types of worms.
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Our property is crawling with rabbits (the rabbit poop feeds the worms) and she wants to buy more. Silly girl. When I go rabbit "hunting" I grab a chair, a six pack, a .22 rifle and sit out in front of the hay stack.
 
robinjopo said:
I was tilling my 3 vegetable gardens today and thought I would ask a few questions.

1. Is gardening part of your prepping plan?
2. What size are your gardens?
3. What are your main crops?
4. Do you preserve? If so, methods?
5. How many people are you feeding via gardens?
6. Do you save seeds for the next planting season?

Thanks. I'm going to go measure and I'll give you my answers.
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1. Yes
2. 50' x 125' a total of 45 raised beds.
3. A little of everything really. We can grow year round here which is a big plus
4. Yes. Can, dehydrate, freeze dry and freezer. I have also crocked somethings in the past, but not a big fan down in the south.
5. Every day life is mainly 3, but in an emergency we are looking at 18 total so far, but the kids having kids has not finished yet. A couple have not even startrd. . . We also have 5 fruit trees along with blackberries, blueberries and a pecan.
6. Yes. I save seeds for the following harvest along with buying new seeds to introduce and see how it goes.
 
Danil54grl said:
1. Yes
2. 50' x 125' a total of 45 raised beds.
3. A little of everything really. We can grow year round here which is a big plus
4. Yes. Can, dehydrate, freeze dry and freezer. I have also crocked somethings in the past, but not a big fan down in the south.
5. Every day life is mainly 3, but in an emergency we are looking at 18 total so far, but the kids having kids has not finished yet. A couple have not even startrd. . . We also have 5 fruit trees along with blackberries, blueberries and a pecan.
6. Yes. I save seeds for the following harvest along with buying new seeds to introduce and see how it goes.
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15 raised beds means lots if soil to fill them. Good job. Looks like a great set up. How deep are your beds?
 
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robinjopo said:
15 raised beds means lots if soul to fill them. Good job. Looks like a great set up. How deep are your beds?
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My raised beds are probably not what you are thinking, but they are anywhere between 8 inches to a foot. I mainly have them raised so that my garden does not flood and gets a chance to dry out. Many a neighbor's have lost their whole garden due to lots of rains. I have two that see the reason I do mine that way but they have not raised theirs. I do tend to get a lot planted in each bed though somewhat following the square foot garden method. With some things I do give a little more room. For example, they say plant a green bean bush type every inch. I do plant rows a couple inches apart with about 4 inches inbetween each row. As for lettuce, it is 4 seeds per square foot, which I do follow. It just depends on what it is.
 
After the nice rains we have had, I am starting to see the majority of my seeds pop, up. Broccoli, arugula,beets, radish, 6 different types of squash, and three different types of melons. Haven't seen any type of life from my cabbage or koelh yet though. A friend of mine had given me some sugar cane that could have been planted. It was right around hunny surgery time. Well I thought I missed my opportunity but went ahead and tried planting I think it was around 8 eyes. I had 1 that sprouted. That was a nice suprise. I should be able to get more off that one stalk for next year. The rest of the sugar cane went to the cows as a treat. Also hunny came home a couple days ago with some leftover transplants that our neighbor had left over after planting his garden. So I got some more tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, bell and yellow peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. I hadn't gotten around to finishing up my trellis for cucumbers but went ahead and planted the ones given to me where they will go.
 
I did go back out this morning. . . Just haven't weeded my beds already planted. I wanted to finish getting my two beds that are trellis done for planting my cucumber seeds. They are at least ready to go now. Then cleaned out my goats barn. I will admit they have been neglected these last few weeks. Cleaned out 2 water troughs, only 2 feed troughs, both hay mangers and replaced bedding in the barn. They should be very happy babies now. I will get to the other 5 feed troughs later in the week. The ones outside the barn were cleaned out not to long ago and don't get as bad as the ones inside the barn. I can't seem to keep my babies from climbing on top and in them.
 
We've had a strong wind blowing out of the south since yesterday, and it rained all night. The snow is melting fast and there's some ground showing in the garden. But they're calling for rain today and tomorrow and then snow everyday until the 20th.
Last year I was able to till the garden in mid May and then plant before the end of May. That was too early and the garden was wiped out with a hail storm that dumped over a foot of hail. Unless I build some hoops and cover the plants I won't plan on planting before the 1st of June this year.
 
If it dries enough tue , wed , thur I can plant Fri . Saturday its back to work . Im salary not hourly so I may work 12 , 13 hour days so I'll just have to plant on My day off .
On another note My Wife talks to a Elderly Lady at Her work and so this Lady told Her She had some seeds thst They were never going to use due to They are not sble to do a garden anymore . Wife said She would take them ( we already have our seeds for this year ) . So Lady brings in a taped up bundle that looks like it was packaged by Pablo Escobar full of packs of seeds . Obviously these were put up as a prepper item . Im going to use some then restash the rest .
 
Nothing beats free. I've been cleaning the strawberry bed and there are so many wild strawberry plants mixed in, it's hard to separate.

Then, I mil chickens ed the blackberries. The lower garden was so muddy, I lost my shoe and then my foot went in up to my ankle.

I love Spring so much, I don't even care. My back is starting to scream for me to stop.
 
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