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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.
 
rudyc said:
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...
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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.
 
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
 
let me know how yours works from seeds. I never even thought about potato seeds before reading this.
 
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.
 
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
 
So far, I've started 1/2 my tomatoes, 1/2 my bellpeppers, my tomatillos and herbs. Hopefully I'll get the remainder of the tomatoes, bellpeppers, and maybe some broccoli started...We have over a foot of compacted snow on the ground yet and expect snow again tonight. Last year we'd put out our seedlings into our greenhouses by Apr 10...not sure we are gonna get there this year unless we have a magnificent warm up SOON! We'd planted our onions and garlic in to ground last year about this time...
 
Heirloom Seeds or Open-Pollinated Seeds: These seeds will produce the exact vegetable advertised on the seed packet the year the seed is planted. If you save the seeds that are grown with the vegetable that year and plant those new seeds the following year then they will produce the same exact vegetable next year. And you can continue this process year after year after year. Therefore heirloom seeds are the best choice for anyone who is interested in increasing the long-term survival chances of their family.
 
Well, got a few things started and of course now the weatherman is calling snow. :mad:
headbash.gif
Just praying for a better season this year.
 
Yeah, I just now got to fold up the tarps. And then find out that we will be having another cold snap, but only 40 for the lows, so the tarps can stay folded.
 
I found the squash/gourds I planted flowered but the flowers fell off and that was it, no real growth of the actual squash. I found kale, carrots, onions, lentils and beans to be the easiest growers. Corn also grew fairly easy but either the mites were packed into the seed or the they attracted mites.

I'm in a northern climate though about 50 degrees north, so agriculture ain't the same as in better grow climates to the south.

Also vetch is edible but you don't want to eat too much of it, its ok to mix it up, raspberries and wild strawberry grows well up here. Mountain Ash also provides very useful berries. It would be nice if some of the fruit trees would bear but alas at these temperatures I think it will be a miracle.

Also oats are good growers up here. Radish is easy. I didn't really have luck with the lettuce or cabbage..? not sure why. As the wild variety grows quite plentifully ...
 
I would have though you would have an easy time with cabbage. I live in the south, but here they tend to like the cooler season, so I plant it in Jan and it is ready by April.
 
Planting by the signs of the moon. When the moon is full like now, you plant your root crops, berries, bulbs, and onions. When the moon is new you plant the crops that bear above ground like beans and tomatoes. Then there are times that you don't plant anything, but it's a good time for weeding because it's a dying off time.
 
We also follow signs of the moon with animal husbandry as well, with breeding, weaning, castrations, and butchering. Also with putting food up for storage.
 
I hadn't heard of putting food up for storage, with animal husbandry. What does it say about that one. I can understand the planting with the moon and the butchering of animals but haven't heard about the breeding, weaning and castrations either.
 
Give me a minute to grab my book. Our vet does the castrations on our horses by the moon and we do them on everything else and it seems to help with the bleeding. Had a friend insist on doing a horse at the wrong time once and the poor thing bled out on her.
 
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