Time To Start Spring Planting

The weather across the United States during the 2011-12 winter has been much warmer than the previous year. This has also been a wetter winter for much of the country as well. I checked the online almanacs and it appears, (cross your fingers) that we may have much of the worse behind us. 

That means... drum roll please.. It's time to get ready for spring and with that, spring planting. 

With gasoline prices expected to soar both in the U.S. and E.U. this spring and summer, now is the time to get a green thumb and start growing some of what you eat. Gas prices mean the cost of food will go up (delivery trucks, farm equipment and farm laborers driving to work all run on gas and diesel) and the best way to offset that expense is producing your own food. 

I know some who grow big crops (wheat, corn) and small crops (garden vegetables) who produce most of what they eat. However, if you do not have a green thumb or have a history of killing grass, feel free to take small steps. But hurry up and learn to walk because your life and your families may depend upon what you pull out of the soil. 

To start, growing food requires soil, seeds, water and sunlight. By soil, we mean healthy soil. Most of the soil we see everyday is good for growing grass or weeds. To properly grow tomatoes or peppers, soil needs to be amended with living material, most notably, compost. However, good compost takes time to develop, so get a jump start and purchase some high quality soil from the garden store and amend it with some compost purchased at the same place. 

If money is an issue (when is it not?), search out a local source such as a friend who might have some good soil available for hauling. Local farms are good for obtaining manure and other natural soil foods and with some labor and gasoline, you can develop your own healthy soil for planting. In the meantime, start a compost heap - add old soil, some yard debris like grass clippings and leaves and plenty of kitchen waste i.e. vegetable and fruit peels, egg shells and coffee grounds. That way you will have your own healthy compost to feed your next garden. 

If you have the space, build a raised bed for optimum production. If that is not an option due to health, space or time, get some large planting pots or if push comes to shove, some empty five gallon buckets with a few holes drilled in the base for drainage. I grow plants in almost anything which can hold soil and which can be drained naturally of excess water. 

Seeds - Seeds cost one to two dollars a packet. Yes, this is for hybrid seeds and not heirloom. The difference? Hybrid seeds generally will not germinate after they are collected from the plant thus, they cannot be reused next year. Some hybrid seeds will regrow, but won't produce fruit, so they are worthless next year. This is a big deal, unless you have never successfully grown anything and my advice is get some hybrid seeds from your local mass merchandiser and try them. 

After your soil is ready and the seeds have been planted, water the plants regularly and make sure they get plenty of sunlight. That's it. Sure, there's more to it that what I have written here, but this is ninety percent of growing food. 

So what is easy to grow? Tomatoes, peppers, melons, almost all herbs and cucumbers. I have found grapes and berries, particularly raspberries, are easy to grow. What's neat is much of what you can grow is expensive in the stores. A pint of cherry tomatoes can be priced as much as $3.99 each; a cherry tomato plant can produce dozens of pints in a single season. This isn't hard, it's just basic math. 

What is hard to grow? Corn and potatoes. Both require lots of room. I have grown both and the potatoes were cheaper in the store when compared to the total amount of work and space I devoted to my potato crop. But there's a warning with this: Food prices are rising and if you have the space, it might be wise to try your hand at both. And there is nothing better than an ear of sweet corn right off the stalk. Yummo. 

In some parts of the country, there are still sub-freezing temperatures at night. No worries, just start your seed trays in March so you will be ready for warmer weather in April. You can also cover your tender young plants with plastic sheeting during the night to lock in warmer air. 

OK, so I did not cover simple greenhouses or what to do with too much home grown produce, but you get the idea. It's time to plan and start that spring garden before gas prices hit five dollars and the grocery stores are selling wax fruit. 

Happy gardening! 

Prepare: Gardens and Reality

This weekend, I spent more time on my garden. It's nice to grow flowers, but I like to grow things I can eat.

I put in strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and peppers. Some of my seeds that went straight into the ground did not come up, so I transplanted pots grown in the house. I put in four more types of herbs in containers on the patio.

Other seed plants are coming up nicely; spinich, cucumbers and green beans. The ground will have to be tilled soon for the corn and I built three more raised beds.

The grapes took two hours per plant not including soaking and ground preparation. It's the way that it is when you are setting up new "mini arbors" each year.

I am just getting started. I have to track down some new dwarf fruit trees because my normal supplier is out. I was able to snag another mini orange tree though and I am darn glad to have it.

I am no Old MacDonald, but I have been growing food in my yard for over fifteen years. It took a few years, research and lots of trial and error to get it right. And I am still learning.

Let's take a look at the convential prepper now.

He may have his can of non-hybrid seeds from Waltons as recommended online, along with his copy of Bartholomew's "Square Foot Gardening". Figures he's set now and once the SHTF, "The Ladies" will put in a garden (when they are not making him home made bread and beef stew) and oila! A well producing garden full of all the food he will need to get through lean times.

What a moron.

Is the ground ready? Has the soil been amended? Or is he going to drop those seeds in the ground and expect 100% success? Has he grown anything else besides a fat gut watching "Red Dawn" for the fiftieth time? Will he eat what he grows? Will the seeds work in his zone? Or will they wilt in the sun or drown from overwatering?

Forget the seeds. If someone has never grown anything, then seeds will only be a waste of time. Build one raised bed, buy some tomato and pepper plants and keep them alive for a summer. Then try seeds and trays next year.

What about books? "Square Foot Gardening" is swell, but also look for something else written locally. Years ago, my mom gave me some of her gardening books. One featured a guy getting his SPRING garden ready wearing a Carhardt coat, knee high rubber boots and a sweater. Down here we garden in the spring in shorts and a t-shirt. The book was fine if you lived in upper state New York and were putting in some rhubarb, but was virtually worthless where I live.

Here's the deal with gardening. It's fun, rewarding and there is nothing more secure than picking a dozen tomatoes from your garden and eating them fresh for dinner. But it's also work and frustrating. There is more failure than success. And if your kids are counting on that food, you had better get it right the first time.

Forget that can of "miracle seeds" and "square foot shortcuts". Start now, learn, research and work at it. One day in the garden is not enough.

Practice now.

Good luck,