PREPS # 8: GARDENING AND TOOLS

IT's spring so this is a good time to review gardening techiques, tools for both gardening and household use AND how to fertilize and water your plants if TSHTF.

I will be buying a new place in the country next weekend so I am planning ahead for that.
I"m going to put in many raised beds since I am a fan of the Square Foot Gardening technique.
I will definitely have some composting area, but have yet to decide which type I want. I have several books that talk about this subject including one called Let It Rot. For water, I need to figure out how to collect rain water.
How about you?

I am lucky because I have a pond so I won't have to worry about collecting rain water for my garden. And my pond is really close to my garden so it's not much of a chore to water it.

We have about a 35 x 60 garden area, with a greenhouse/tool shed at the north end, and a separate raspberry patch that is about 3 x 15. Behind the greenhouse (facing east) there are four 3 x 6 raised beds. We also have a grape arbor, two apple trees, one pie cherry tree, and 2 blueberry bushes. Close to the back door, is a small herb garden which has a birdbath surrounded by perennial and annual herbs. Even though we don't have a real big yard, the goal is to have as much of a variety of edible plants as we can mange. The garden is a mix of perennial fruits and vegetables (asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, strawberries, hops) and annuals, with emphasis on the ones that are easy to preserve: tomatoes and beans. The garden is heavily mulched to keep weeds and watering to a minimum.

For water, DH has rigged up a water cistern that catches rainwater. He funnels the water from the rain gutters on the greenhouse into a livestock watering tank buried behind the greenhouse. A line runs from the tank under and into the greenhouse, where a pitcher pump is mounted on the potting bench. It's wonderful not to have to haul water from the house.

Terri in Indiana

I too have a small lake within 10 paces of my gardens, so there is my water source should I be unable to get it out of the tap.

I am a seed whore. There I have admitted it. I have several 5 gallon buckets full of various kinds of seeds, and quite a few ice cream buckets full. And then I have some buckets of wheat, corn and hulless oats. Not enough to grow more then an acre total, but enough to feed my family with left over to plant twice as much the following season.

I have seeds and trays to grow salad greens in my house, should it be impossible in the garden (dead of winter, volcanic ash, hideous weather) I experimented with this last year and without really trying grew enough greens for 2 salads a day. Not hard to expand that to feed all five of us at least one meal a day with a salad.

I buy a lot more lettuce seed every year then I will ever plant. Lettuce and greens are so easy to grow, grow very fast and can be planted about anywhere.

Just bought a couple new hoes...a stirup hoe and a push hoe. The stirup hoe is really great for hoeing (I feel like a pimp with all this hoeing going on in my garden) a raised bed as it seems to disturb it the least. The push hoe is great for hoeing the weeds out of the garden fence line.

A tumble composter is a wonderfull thing. I can get the chicken manure to fire up very hot in mine (143 degrees this last run) and have finished compost in 10 days.

I lack a greenhouse...much to my doomer prepper shame...

As far as prepping directly for TSHingTF, I have tilled up another garden spot, that I really have no interest in planting this year, unless I have to. I will keep the weeds off of it, plant a cover crop in the fall and keep it ready to go...just in case.

And always...always have about 5 lbs of sprouting seeds in the house. That is the last fallback before eating the dandilions and cat tails in the yard.

TerriHaute said:

We have about a 35 x 60 garden area, with a greenhouse/tool shed at the north end, and a separate raspberry patch that is about 3 x 15. Behind the greenhouse (facing east) there are four 3 x 6 raised beds. We also have a grape arbor, two apple trees, one pie cherry tree, and 2 blueberry bushes. Close to the back door, is a small herb garden which has a birdbath surrounded by perennial and annual herbs. Even though we don't have a real big yard, the goal is to have as much of a variety of edible plants as we can mange. The garden is a mix of perennial fruits and vegetables (asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, strawberries, hops) and annuals, with emphasis on the ones that are easy to preserve: tomatoes and beans. The garden is heavily mulched to keep weeds and watering to a minimum.

For water, DH has rigged up a water cistern that catches rainwater. He funnels the water from the rain gutters on the greenhouse into a livestock watering tank buried behind the greenhouse. A line runs from the tank under and into the greenhouse, where a pitcher pump is mounted on the potting bench. It's wonderful not to have to haul water from the house.

Terri in Indiana

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what a great set up. Impressive.

I compost right in my raised garden beds...First build the bed and then put in leaves grass dirt, sand, garden scraps Final layer put on good soil, How tall are you building the beds? Mine are about 16" high

Deemy said:

I compost right in my raised garden beds...First build the bed and then put in leaves grass dirt, sand, garden scraps Final layer put on good soil, How tall are you building the beds? Mine are about 16" high

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16'' sounds pretty good....maybe 18-20.....my back isn't really fond of too much stooping or stretching so the higher the better. Depends on the wood I get for the sides I guess.

Anyone have any good ideas for fertilizers if none are available? When I lived in New England I would collect the thick rubbery seaweed on the beaches and throw that on my soil in the fall....it would mulch into the soil all winter and did WONDERS for the plants the following year. Sadly, I will be moving far inland and won't have access to seaweed. Any ideas?

notred said:

I have seeds and trays to grow salad greens in my house, should it be impossible in the garden (dead of winter, volcanic ash, hideous weather) I experimented with this last year and without really trying grew enough greens for 2 salads a day. Not hard to expand that to feed all five of us at least one meal a day with a salad.

I buy a lot more lettuce seed every year then I will ever plant. Lettuce and greens are so easy to grow, grow very fast and can be planted about anywhere. .

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hi notred,

that's great about the salad greens you've grown in the house. i've got some growing too. i have them in a bay window, and i also have a shelf with florescent lights and heat mats to start and grow seedlings. i'm working on also being able to supply our lettuce needs year-round.

the sprouting seeds are so-so-so easy. they are very fresh tasting additions to salad. i have an extra fridge in the basement, and i keep six different kind of sprouting seeds in half gallon jars.

this year, in the garden, i'm going to let some lettuce "bolt", to see if i can learn the skill of gathering the seeds.

can you post some more on your indoor gardening techniques?

debbie

This is Grantbo
I have no garden. No place to put one. No way to water it in the shtf environment even if I did. My only hope is to have seeds in storage so when I get to my bug out location I can stick them into the ground and hope they grow.

I was thinking of getting seeds that grow into things that I can dry and store. Corn, ahhh...what else?? As you can tell I haven't thought about this much.
And, how long to seeds last in the package?

Help me out here.

How long will seeds store? It depends upon the storage conditions and what particular varieties of seeds you store. For instance, lettuce is the shortest storage time. I think the max storage time for lettuce is 3 years to still have viable seeds.

I just did a quick search and found this link with a chart at the bottom that tells how long each variety will store and still be viable:

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/horticulture/g503.htm#s2


DH built me two raised beds last weekend. I am so happy with them. I am going to use one for medicinal herbs and not sure I'll use the other this year. My garden is set up for square foot gardening. We used this method for the first time last year and it worked out wonderfully. We had salads every night the entire summer once the garden began producing.

Lilrose: My dh also built me a compost bin last year out of four pallets. He just nailed the four sides together. It works great since it has air circulation. He built me another one this year so now we have two and can let the one sit and "compost" while we start a new one. I am going to fill up my raised bed halfway with the older compost bin contents and then take the remainder of the soil from the garden. Then I'll mix the remaining compost from that same bin into the garden to replace the soil I've taken from it.

We have 8 4X4 squares in our garden this year. We should be getting a TON of produce from it.

Front yard:
3 - Blueberry bushes
2- 3x17 ft Strawberry beds
3x10 ft Blackberry thicket
3x10 ft Red Raspberries
Trellised - Hardy Kiwis

Backyard (all the fruit trees are dwarf or semi dwarf):
2 - 5 'n 1 Apple trees
1 - (pie) cherry tree
2 - peach trees
1 - 2 'n 1 Pear tree
1 - 2 'n 1 Plum tree
Arbor - Seedless Concord Grapes
2 - half barrels with various mints (peppermint/chocolate/spearmint/lemon)

These beds are contained within a 4' chain link fence enclosure inside the back yard to keep the dogs out since daschsunds were bred to dig & burrow (they have free run of the rest of the back yard).
8 - 4x8 raised vegetable beds
2 - 4x4 raised vegetable beds
1 - 4x4 raised herb bed

Indoors (winter)/Outdoors (summer) The following are minatures I keep in large pots but they do produce enough for an occasional treat:
Nectarine
Key Lime
Lemon
Orange
Banana

Back yard has a hand pump irrigation well hidden inside a 12x18 shed and I have rain barrels at the back corners of the house.

All the beds get full sun and are planted by the sq ft method. I have another bed (3x36 ft) that is heavily shaded that is currently planted with lily of the valley. I don't know what kind of foodstuffs I could grow there. It used to get morning to noon sun exposure but I privacy fenced the back & side yards a few years ago due to teenagers who thought the side yards would be a good place for "privacy" before & after school (bus stop is directly in front of my house).

Up 'til now there has been no significant thefts of my front yard fruits but I do need to figure out a way to conceal those plants without actual fencing (code violation). I considered a privet hedge but I'm physically not up to the pruning schedule necessary to turn privets into a tall enough natural fence. Plus, I have obviously elevated the acidity level of the soil quite a bit so some things won't grow very well out there. Any suggestions?

This may seem stupid but I am making sure that I have had least two of all of my hand tools. If we have an economic disaster or several other types of disasters , hand garden tools will be at a premium. Non-gardeners will decide they need a garden suddenly. I am also planning on saving more seeds this year. I am looking into the storage off fertilizers as well.


Since I din't have a pond, i will be putting in rain barrels as one of my summer
projects.

Grantbo said:

This is Grantbo
I have no garden. No place to put one. No way to water it in the shtf environment even if I did. My only hope is to have seeds in storage so when I get to my bug out location I can stick them into the ground and hope they grow.

I was thinking of getting seeds that grow into things that I can dry and store. Corn, ahhh...what else?? As you can tell I haven't thought about this much.
And, how long to seeds last in the package?

Help me out here.

Click to expand...

Beans Grantbo, lots of beans, and green beans since those dry well. And maybe barley if you have some room. Tomatoes to dehydrate, potatoes, and peppers, carrots and onions...all dehydrate well.

Dare7 said:

All the beds get full sun and are planted by the sq ft method. I have another bed (3x36 ft) that is heavily shaded that is currently planted with lily of the valley. I don't know what kind of foodstuffs I could grow there.

Click to expand...

Lettuce will grow in the shade as long as it isn't too dense.

Grantbo said:

This is Grantbo

And, how long to seeds last in the package?

Help me out here.

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Grantbo, seeds in the packets are usually good for a couple of years. If you are serious about having seeds for SHTF situation, you are better off buying hybrid seeds in a vacuum sealed can. These folk sell a whole garden in a can and that is good for 10-12 years if sealed and kept cool.
http://www.aaoobfoods.com/nonhybridseed.htm#top

I have a can of non-hybrids for just that purpose.

We use the pump-n-seal that Christian for Isreal mentioned on another thread to vacuum seal seeds. So far we have had very good results. This is the second year I have used stored seeds and I replenish my supply with this years seeds. I use lids from canned food that I would not reuse for canning. They seem to hold a seal just fine.

spinner

All purpose, organic fertilizer like Garden Tone, Tree Tone or Tomato Tone (see www.espoma.com ) will keep for a good long time, as long as you protect them from rodents.


Alternatively, you can get cottonseed meal in 50 pound sacks (6 bux at Farmer co-ops in this area) and then supplement with either bone meal or powdered rock phosphate for phosphorus and greensand for potassium.


I put my cottonseed meal and/or Garden Tone fertilizer in 5 gallon buckets sealed with a gamma seal. That seems to be sufficient for protecting them from rodents.


Also, WalMart sells a HUGE, gallon jug of Louisiana hot sauce for about four bux. Mixed with water, it makes a GREAT organic pesticide. Deer and rabbits don't care for the stuff either, so I spray some Louisiana hot sauce and water all around the outer perimeter of the garden when four legged critters become a problem.


My favorite organic insecticide is a mixture of garlic juice, lemon dishwashing detergent, baking soda and (maybe, depending on what I am spraying) Louisiana hot sauce, all mixed in a few gallons of water.


So I keep some extra hot sauce, garlic juice, lemon dishwashing detergent, and baking soda on hand.

I'm not sure if you can store the chemical fertilizers and insecticides since I am an organic farmer.

Roxann said:

This may seem stupid but I am making sure that I have had least two of all of my hand tools. If we have an economic disaster or several other types of disasters , hand garden tools will be at a premium. Non-gardeners will decide they need a garden suddenly. I am also planning on saving more seeds this year. I am looking into the storage off fertilizers as well.


Since I din't have a pond, i will be putting in rain barrels as one of my summer
projects.

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Roxann ~ that doesn't seem stupid *at all*. Thanks for the great idea!

Thank you, Kristianna, for your kind words.

Yesterday I went to the Farmer's Market in a nearby community. There was a
vendor there who was selling heirloom tomato plants for $7 a plant. No this
is not a typo. He had 35 different varities and went home with most of them.

I did ask him if he was planning on paying for his son's college by selling these
for such an awful price.

Save your seeds folks!

the IDEAL fertilizer mix

this can be used on plants even with no soil. ie, hydroponically. its one of the best mixes i've seen yet ..

Weekly Feed Amounts: 16 oz per 30' bed

Ammonium Nitrate 34-0-0 9 lb 12 oz
Potassium 0-0-60 6 lb
Phosphorous 0-45-0 4 lb 12 oz
Magnes Sulfate Epsom Salt 3 lb 12 oz
Zinc ZnSO4 4 oz
Boron Borax 3 oz
Manganese MnSO4 2 oz
Iron Fe Chelate #330 1/2 oz
Copper Sulfate CuSO4 1/2 oz
Molybdenum Mo 1/4 oz

what does everyone use for preserving their raised-bed sides? i hope no one is using pressure treated lumber!

water water ..

i've picked up a few 275 gal food-grade plastic tanks for $50 or $75 each. these were previously used for the delivery and storage of some type of food, not sure what.

they've all come with a metal 'cage', usually solid alum or tin sides, which i've sat on top of several levels of stone blocks. (the height depends on the gutter height, which is how they get filled).

with these mounted high enough, i can set up several and gravity feed our entire garden. often we just fill a half of one or two 5-gal buckets, and give them to the kids with a cup to feed plants during draught times. plants LOVE plain ole rain water - full of oxygen and the right temperature.

our daughter likes to paint, so we've had her paint simple designeson the sides. i've gotten simple drawings of things like the sun, moon, sky or tomatoe plants .. had her first draw an 'outline' of them on the sides (4' x 4') .. then just paint them different colors. they come out great!

theres a spigot at the bottom for getting water out. but i've also put one in the top .. so when the tank gets filled from a good rain it will 'overflow' to another tank 'downstream' and fill that one too.

its great to be using 'free water'. no pumps, no electricity.

LilRose said:

Grantbo, seeds in the packets are usually good for a couple of years. If you are serious about having seeds for SHTF situation, you are better off buying hybrid seeds in a vacuum sealed can. These folk sell a whole garden in a can and that is good for 10-12 years if sealed and kept cool.
http://www.aaoobfoods.com/nonhybridseed.htm#top

I have a can of non-hybrids for just that purpose.

Click to expand...

This is Grantbo
I checked out the site. It has exactly what I'm looking for, (or, what I think I could handle if the shtf). Now all I have to do is slip the Visa out of my wifes purse.

Grantbo said:

This is Grantbo
I checked out the site. It has exactly what I'm looking for, (or, what I think I could handle if the shtf). Now all I have to do is slip the Visa out of my wifes purse.

Click to expand...

Hi Grantbo....that company has nice folks.......I have bought much of my dehydrated stuff from them. I am thinking about getting another can of seeds for just in case.
But from now on I will buy everything foodwise from honeyvillegrains.com. Their shipping is only $4.95 per order, no matter how much it weighs. You can't beat that nowadays.

Bump for the new members...