Well, if everyone is keeping up, we should have our spot for the garden picked out, decided what we would like to plant, and have reviewed what types of soil we will need for our garden. I have bought me some seeds and some seed starter soil. I am going to try to start my seeds in an egg carton and then plant the seedling in the "garden". Denise has already planted her garden, so we need to get busy to keep up with her. I just love looking at all of the sites on the internet. Again this week, I have been checking out the seven years of plenty blogspot. ( www.sevenyearsofplenty.blogspot.com ) She has a post in here to help us decied what we should plant. Of course, now we should go with the warn weather crops. She also offers advice on fertilizer, insect control, water, and specific tomato plant advice.
If you are not planning on planting a garden, scroll down past the information on planting for this week's preparedness tip.
Warm Weather Crops
Planting Schedule
Warm weather crops will be hurt by
frost, and must be planted after the last frost.
Beans
Celery
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Okra
Squash
Tomatoes
Peppers
Pumpkin
Sunflower
Sweet Potato
Swiss Chard
Some crops take so long to grow, it is best to transplant them. Examples of these are tomatoes, cabbage, and peppers.
7 WEEKS TO LAST FROST
Start seeds of tomatoes, hot peppers, and early basil indoors.
4 WEEKS TO LAST FROST
Plant potato eyes
1-2 WEEKS AFTER FROST
Plant sweet potato slips
Seeds
If your seeds are stored properly, they can last for up to 5 years.
Ideal Storage is a cool, dark place. The refrigerator in a jar keeps the seeds fresh.
The older the seeds get, the germination rate goes down.
Insect Control
Insects can be very damaging to your garden.
Remove insects by hand, wash them off, or kill them with insecticide.
If you use an insecticide, you must wash the food before eating it.
Dawn Dish Detergent mixed with water in a spray bottle is an great bug spray.
Fertilizer and Compost
Mel’s Mix:
(Square Foot Gardening Expert)
1/3 vermiculite
1/3 peat moss
1/3 compost
Water
Plants can absorb nutrients in soil faster and grow better
when soil and water are at a warm temperature.
Tomatoes
Farmer’s Advice
Pick the leaves on the stem of the tomato once the tomato starts growing.
This will give the tomato nutrients instead of the leaves.
Tomatoes need nitrogen and calcium in the fertilizer. An excellent way of achieving this is digging a two foot hole next to the plant and bury a raw fish head in it.
If the bottom of your tomatoes is black, this means it means your plant is calcium deficient. Be consistent with watering to make sure the plant is getting consistent nutrition. It is good to give the tomato more fertilizer every three weeks.
Non gardening preparedness tip:
Keep at least a three-day supply of water per person. Store a minimum of one gallon of water per person per day (two quarts for drinking, two quarts for food preparation and sanitation). Store water in plastic containers such as soft drink bottles. Avoid using containers that will decompose or break, such as milk cartons or glass bottles. (I personally love my big 55 gallon plastic drums. I got these at Sam's club in 1999. I wish I could find some more unused drums like these.) A normally active person needs to drink at least two quarts of water each day. Hot environments and strenuous activity can double that amount. Children, nursing mothers, and people who are sick will also need more. You will need to keep this written down in your notebook. This water in these containers will need to be changed out periodically. Keep plain "Clorox" on hand. Adding 1/8 of a teaspoon (8 drops) of fresh liquid household chlorine bleach (5-6% sodium hypochlorite) to every gallon (4 liters) of water will kill most microorganisms. Only household bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives should be used. The use of bleach does not address toxic contamination.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site provides additional information about water purification.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site provides additional information about water purification.
President Spencer W. Kimball said: “Now I think the time is coming when there will be more distresses, when there may be more tornadoes and more floods, … more earthquakes. … I think they will be increasing probably as we come nearer to the end, and so we must be prepared for this” (Conference Apr. 1974).
He also said: “Should evil times come, many might wish they had filled all their fruit bottles and cultivated a garden in their backyards and planted a few fruit trees and berry bushes and provided for their own commodity needs...And should the trucks fail to fill the shelves of the stores, many would go hungry” ( Conference Oct. 1974).
He also said: “Should evil times come, many might wish they had filled all their fruit bottles and cultivated a garden in their backyards and planted a few fruit trees and berry bushes and provided for their own commodity needs...And should the trucks fail to fill the shelves of the stores, many would go hungry” ( Conference Oct. 1974).
Wow, he said this in 1974.
I think he may have been
talking to us?
Whoa! I have not started my veggie garden! Other than to pull weeds and I've got bags of humus and peat moss laying out there., I have planted flower pots. I have ordered a few more plant seeds, starter blocks and potatoes. Please don't keep up with me, my thumb is a light shade of green! Like you Monica, I love all theses internet sites. No sister should unaware of the info out there, take your pick!
ReplyDeleteAh, so I'm not so far behind. I did order the cookbook from 7years of plenty. She has some neat recipes.
ReplyDeletei was thinking about ordering it, Would love to see it!
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