FARM When Walmart runs out of food what will YOU do?

[China Connection]

Study your own history. During the U.S. depression farmers could not make a profit on what they were getting paid so they stopped producing and sending stuff to market.

The supermarket chain Coles here in Australia is doing the same thing. They talk that they are behind the farmers but that is just a lie.

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The Great Depression Hits Farms and Cities in the 1930s ...
www.iowapbs.org › iowapathways › mypath › great-depression-hits-f...

Many families did not have money to buy things, and consumer demand for manufactured ... Some wondered if the United States was heading for a revolution.

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Farmers Faced Foreclosure during the Great Depression
livinghistoryfarm.org › farminginthe30s › money_09

So if a farmer couldn't make the payments on a loan for land, the bank could take back the asset – the land – and sell it to get back their money. In the 1920s ...

U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression - Farm Life - Farm ...
www.farmcollector.com › farm-life › u-s-farmers-during-great-depres...

Let's Talk Rusty Iron: U.S. farmers faced high farm mortgages and big debts even ... to borrow money to buy more acres and new machinery, especially farm tractors ... and heavily indebted farmers couldn't make the payments on all those new ...

Great Depression: Black Thursday, Facts & Effects - HISTORY
www.history.com › topics › great-depression › great-depression-history

The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the ... who had bought stocks “on margin” (with borrowed money) were wiped out completely. ... Farmers couldn't afford to harvest their crops, and were forced to leave them ... the U.S. Treasury didn't have enough cash to pay all government workers.


Great Depression and the Dust Bowl | IDCA
iowaculture.gov › education › educator-resources › primary-source-sets

When farmers were not making money, they could not buy the products that factories were making. When factories couldn't sell their products, they laid off their workers. The workers could not buy the factory output either, meaning more lay-offs, and the country fell into a downward spiral.

Great Depression: What Happened, Causes, How It Ended
www.thebalance.com › GDP and Growth › Recessions

The Great Depression of 1929 was a 10-year global economic crisis. Here are causes ... The Depression caused many farmers to lose their farms. At the same ... The Fed did not put enough money in circulation to get the economy going again. Instead, the ... Why Hoover Couldn't End the Depression With Economic Policies.

Effects of the Great Depression - The Balance
www.thebalance.com › US Economy and News › GDP and Growth

The Great Depression of 1929 devastated the U.S. economy. ... The New Deal programs installed safeguards to make it less likely that the ... The Dust Bowl drought destroyed farming in the Midwest. ... FDR used the money to help pay for the New Deal. ... Why Hoover Couldn't End the Depression With Economic Policies ...

Great Depression: Causes for Kids - Ducksters
www.ducksters.com › history › us_1900s › causes_of_the_great_depr...

However, this caused prices to drop so low that they couldn't make any profit. When the Great Depression hit, things got even worse for farmers. In the Midwest, a ... The U.S. government did little at the time to help the banks survive. World Debt ...

The Great Depression (article) | Khan Academy
www.khanacademy.org › ... › The Great Depression

After the stock market crash of 1929, the American economy spiraled into a ... farm prices, and industrial overproduction each contributed to the economic ... think your life would have been like if you had lived during the Great Depression? ... people lost their money and couldn't buy property or businesses they truly desired.

The Depression for Farmers - NCpedia
www.ncpedia.org › anchor › depression-farmers

(This trend -- in which farmers get less and less of what consumers pay for food ... Farmers who had borrowed money to expand during the boom couldn't pay ...

 

[Mary Contrary]

Like my dumb girlfriend says....if i can't shop at Walmart i'll just go to Dollar General. DUH. She is totally clueless. I'll just make some soup in my crock pot....beans and rice or lentils and rice with tomatoes and corn. I got plenty of the cans. I do have flour to make bread, but at the moment my house is still too chilly to make the bread rise.

 

[biere]

This does not apply to everything but keep it in mind when looking at shelves. A can of name brand green beans goes for 2x and store brand goes for x. Perhaps same company cans em both. The store brand is for over run product once premium stuff is done.

Why would they run store brand at a lower cost if they can sell all the name brand they are making?

I used to work in a frozen pizza factory. Red barron and tonys and digourno or whatever was just starting to be made. Made school pizzas as well. And I am probably forgetting some of the names of what all we made, this was 20 plus years ago.

The same pizza line making red barron would change into tony's pizza at some point. Yes there was different sauce and ingredients to some extent but those first tony's pizza were dang near a red barron pizza cause the new sauce was replacing the previous sauce and same with ingredients and stuffs.

 

[ChetekTech]

Lock and load as I would suspect visitors soon.

 

[Jaybird]

Did a store pickup last week. Got half our order. Went to a local grocery and got the rest. Can't wait for the garden to start producing. I ain't going back. LTS will fill in the cracks. It's looking like bullets may fly before this is over.

 

[Marseydoats]

Do you grow people food

.... or commercial row crops (corn, soy beans)?

Do you own it outright

… or did you buy it at high price and have it mortgaged?

Is your machinery and buildings paid off

… or do you owe on them?

In my ao, the family farms that are free and clear and use their equipment until it just has to be replaced are still getting by.

Those that bought ground at $10,000 an acre and bought expensive equipment on time not so much.

The small farms around me that grow people food make a fairly good profit by selling at Farmers Markets around the area. There are several that sell through subscription- for x dollars you get y amount of the produce that is in season.

There is even two or three that raise beefs on commission and when ready take them to the last local butcher shop. When ready the person who owned it comes, pays the butcher fees and takes it home.

We grow garden and my SIL's brother does a few head of cattle. Every other year we go in with my SIL on a full beef and split a side each after its butchered.

Staples and treats we buy at the stores. If for some reason they dry up, we'll switch to lts and try to source flour, sugar. We can grind our own corn meal and a friend down the road raises bees and sells honey.

What most people don't get, and could care less about, is that most farmers work their butts off TO GET BY! Geez, they could just be like the masses and sit on their butts and get unemployment.
The small local farm I buy from, those guys usually work 16 hours a day, M-F, and 8 hours on Sat. --- unless it's haying season, or bad weathers coming, and they've got other crops to get in, then they'll be out there until midnight and all day on Sunday too.

 

[Turret Buster]

I can hunt - while the wildlife is still abundant anyway. The hunters in the tribe have had this conversation quite a few times over the last few years.
I can walk 10 minutes to some mighty good fishing spots in the Bay.
Our oldest daughter has grown her garden exponentially over the last couple of years. She's pretty good at it too.
We have quite a bit of dehydrated food and lots of beans, rice and stuff stored.
Like I said in the other thread, as long as the electric is on, we should be ok for awhile.
After that? It's game on.

Edit - I can and will poach a deer or two if I have to. If it comes to that though, I guess it's not really poaching as much as it is survival, right? My wife made the comment awhile back about being glad I have a crossbow- a Barnett Jackal. I always thought an ideal poacher rig would be a crossbow with a cheap night vision scope on it.

 

[WalknTrot]

When Walmart runs out of food what will YOU do?

Calm the hell down.
People who incite panic in my lifeboat get tossed to the sharks.

 

[Melodi]

Walk across the road and shoot a beef cow.

After using up our preps and to add to our victory garden and chickens, I would have already asked our next-door neighbor the dairy farmer to trade for milk (early so after he spills it on the ground he can have some leftover) about getting a cow when he has to shoot half or more of his herd come, Winter, because while Irish Beef is mostly grass-fed, they need some feed to get through the Winter.

We could offer him a number of good things in trade, and Nightwolf and I have already discussed that while we would rather not deal with anything more than quail, chickens, and ducks; in a pinch, we can try to get another pig (one) feed it up on garden produce then rebuilt the smokehouse we had a few years ago and have smoked pork along with the smoked and salted beef.

While all plans tend to morph or fail when faced with reality - while I know that "shoot the cow" is a joke, trading and making arrangements ahead of time while the farmers still have the animals is a good idea.

There is going to be a huge animal slaughter if feed arrangements break down followed by a very limited supply.

On hunting, during the Great Depression in the US just about everything was "hunted out" even if most of the rural areas within about 18 months (if I recall correctly and I don't have the source to hand) so a good stop-gap measure but not something to be relied on too heavily outside of maybe Alaska or North Sweden.

 

[Seeker22]

Like my dumb girlfriend says....if i can't shop at Walmart i'll just go to Dollar General. DUH. She is totally clueless. I'll just make some soup in my crock pot....beans and rice or lentils and rice with tomatoes and corn. I got plenty of the cans. I do have flour to make bread, but at the moment my house is still too chilly to make the bread rise.

Cold house doesn't stop my bread making. I heat the Cabin with electric oil heaters (look like radiators) you can touch without burning your hand. I sit the bread bowl on top and cover with a damp towel and wait for the magic. You can also sit a bowl of dough on the warm part of your fridge or freezer top. It doesn't take much heat. Enjoy!

 

[Grock]

 

[amazon]

Well, we have food storage. We are going to plant a "victory garden" here in suburbia, but it will not be as big as I would like. If things take a nose dive (or if prompted by the Holy Spirit) will plant a large garden at the farm. I have recently purchased another 120 jars for canning, a second pressure canner, and a second water bath canner. I plan to buy some more blueberry bushes this week.

In the past 24 hours I have been to Sams, Kroger, and WM. I continue to be surprised by the lack of stock. I thought they would have caught up to near normal by now. It is troubling. I do believe we are looking at food shortages in the (maybe near) future.

As an aside, it is getting harder to find gardening/canning items. MANY things online are sold out. If you see something you want buy it immediately. I had some canning jars in my cart at WM.com. I waited awhile. When I went to purchase them this AM they were sold out. I was able to go to my local WM and buy what I wanted though. I am having trouble finding seed potatoes. I have some store bought potatoes that have sprouted a little. I may roll the dice and see what happens if I can't find any. I know people have had poor results doing it, but my MIL has done it with some success. If you know a source, let me know!

 

[mecoastie]

After using up our preps and to add to our victory garden and chickens, I would have already asked our next-door neighbor the dairy farmer to trade for milk (early so after he spills it on the ground he can have some leftover) about getting a cow when he has to shoot half or more of his herd come, Winter, because while Irish Beef is mostly grass-fed, they need some feed to get through the Winter.

We could offer him a number of good things in trade, and Nightwolf and I have already discussed that while we would rather not deal with anything more than quail, chickens, and ducks; in a pinch, we can try to get another pig (one) feed it up on garden produce then rebuilt the smokehouse we had a few years ago and have smoked pork along with the smoked and salted beef.

While all plans tend to morph or fail when faced with reality - while I know that "shoot the cow" is a joke, trading and making arrangements ahead of time while the farmers still have the animals is a good idea.

There is going to be a huge animal slaughter if feed arrangements break down followed by a very limited supply.

On hunting, during the Great Depression in the US just about everything was "hunted out" even if most of the rural areas within about 18 months (if I recall correctly and I don't have the source to hand) so a good stop-gap measure but not something to be relied on too heavily outside of maybe Alaska or North Sweden.

My old landlord grew up in rural Maine in the depression. He talked about hunting. It was squirrels and woodchucks that they ate. His father got one deer and it was a big deal. I had an elderly neighbor growing up who used to tell me stories about that time. Her mother was a single mother with 3 kids. They lived off their garden and chickens pretty much. Nothing extra.

I have a couple deer that are living behind the house. I figure I will pop them as soon as it gets bad and can them. Better than waiting until everyone runs out. Beyond that it is chicken for us and they will probably end up locked in the garage at night. My wife will love that!!!

 

[mecoastie]

Well, we have food storage. We are going to plant a "victory garden" here in suburbia, but it will not be as big as I would like. If things take a nose dive (or if prompted by the Holy Spirit) will plant a large garden at the farm. I have recently purchased another 120 jars for canning, a second pressure canner, and a second water bath canner. I plan to buy some more blueberry bushes this week.

In the past 24 hours I have been to Sams, Kroger, and WM. I continue to be surprised by the lack of stock. I thought they would have caught up to near normal by now. It is troubling. I do believe we are looking at food shortages in the (maybe near) future.

As an aside, it is getting harder to find gardening/canning items. MANY things online are sold out. If you see something you want buy it immediately. I had some canning jars in my cart at WM.com. I waited awhile. When I went to purchase them this AM they were sold out. I was able to go to my local WM and buy what I wanted though. I am having trouble finding seed potatoes. I have some store bought potatoes that have sprouted a little. I may roll the dice and see what happens if I can't find any. I know people have had poor results doing it, but my MIL has done it with some success. If you know a source, let me know!

Two of the three seed companies I regularly use are either not taking new orders or just taking commercial orders at this point. The third I couldn't get an answer on the phone or order online. As for seed potatoes I bought some regular potatoes at a local farm stand to use. My local Agway is expecting seed potatoes at the end of the month but I am not holding my breath. A lot of the farm stands around us are open now because they cant sell at farmers markets.

 

[Skyraider]

I received a large seed order from Johnny’s Select a week ago. Went back to their site yesterday to double up, why not, next year will be here at some time :-) Closed! Only selling to commercial farms, whatever that is... Count my blessings for what we got. Still using seeds from last year.

Skyraider

 

[Marseydoats]

Walk across the road and shoot a beef cow.

Unless they're your cows, that's a really good way to get shot yourself. Some of my friends have several cows that they paid over $4000 each for, they are the foundation of their new herd. They are the most devout, religious people you would ever meet. Hurt any of their livestock and you would be on a fast trip to meet your maker.

 

[teedee]

My father said that during the depression, in Illinois, they burned corn for heat. They could not sell it to get money to get coal so they just burned it.

 

[mecoastie]

I received a large seed order from Johnny’s Select a week ago. Went back to their site yesterday to double up, why not, next year will be here at some time :-) Closed! Only selling to commercial farms, whatever that is... Count my blessings for what we got. Still using seeds from last year.

Skyraider

I have a large depot order from Fedco that is supposed to come in next week but I am not holding my breath. I placed an order withJohnnys 2 weeks ago and I am still waiting. Fortunately except for the cherry tomatoes it is for winter greens so I can wait.

 

[Blazen]

Wife just informed me the curbside delivery pick time for walmart is a week, at least.


I say's good, I dont like walmart.

We have used Walmart pick up for about 8 months. I was pretty nice. If they were out of something you ordered, they would substitute it for a better like item. It hasn't been available for last Month.

 

[rafter]

Why TOL and not TBK?

Or better yet....Homesteading Today.

 

[Bps1691]

What most people don't get, and could care less about, is that most farmers work their butts off TO GET BY! Geez, they could just be like the masses and sit on their butts and get unemployment.
The small local farm I buy from, those guys usually work 16 hours a day, M-F, and 8 hours on Sat. --- unless it's haying season, or bad weathers coming, and they've got other crops to get in, then they'll be out there until midnight and all day on Sunday too.

I grew up in small farmer land and know the hours that running a successful farm takes. Of the ones remaining, it is nothing uncommon for the farmer and family to work their butts off on the farm, while the father and mother also hold down other full time jobs.

The factors in my post are correct indicators of the success or failure of a farm during bad times.

The price of good ground in my AO runs as high as $12,000 as acre, new equipment costs a fortune and the big players and government, control the price of the row crops (corn & soybeans) by their policies.

It is a tightrope between costs and what they can sell for and the costs of mortgages and equipment payments push many over the edge into bankruptcy when they hit a bad selling market or poor crops for a couple of seasons.

 

[The Snack Artist]

When Walmart runs out of food what will YOU do?
The supply chain is broken. Farmers aren't getting paid enough to continue to produce.
There is limited stock in most major distribution centers, and nothing coming in...
Its just a matter of time.

What are your plans?

I'm heading to the next WalMart!

 

[The Snack Artist]

I can hunt - while the wildlife is still abundant anyway. The hunters in the tribe have had this conversation quite a few times over the last few years.
I can walk 10 minutes to some mighty good fishing spots in the Bay.
Our oldest daughter has grown her garden exponentially over the last couple of years. She's pretty good at it too.
We have quite a bit of dehydrated food and lots of beans, rice and stuff stored.
Like I said in the other thread, as long as the electric is on, we should be ok for awhile.
After that? It's game on.

Edit - I can and will poach a deer or two if I have to. If it comes to that though, I guess it's not really poaching as much as it is survival, right? My wife made the comment awhile back about being glad I have a crossbow- a Barnett Jackal. I always thought an ideal poacher rig would be a crossbow with a cheap night vision scope on it.

Oh boy. Now TSHHTF! You are going to poach the King's Deer? Wait, what?

 

[To-late]

Unless they're your cows, that's a really good way to get shot yourself. Some of my friends have several cows that they paid over $4000 each for, they are the foundation of their new herd. They are the most devout, religious people you would ever meet. Hurt any of their livestock and you would be on a fast trip to meet your maker.

What makes you think they aren't my steers?

 

[hiwall]

We have a lot of seeds but we live at 7500 ft elevation and some years it stays too cold for much of a garden (yes I know we can indoor garden some stuff). We do have blueberries, raspberries, and apples. There are 100's of elk, a few deer, and some antelope here along with some turkeys. Many beef cows in the area. three small lakes within four miles but the fish in them are small though the water does draw in many ducks and geese. I am adept at foraging (most land here is national forest) but foraging depends on weather conditions as to what can be found here. Last year the acorn crop was almost non-existent.
We have a lot of stored food but obviously that would run out at some point. The elk meat would keep us going for a long time.

 

[summerthyme]

I grew up in small farmer land and know the hours that running a successful farm takes. Of the ones remaining, it is nothing uncommon for the farmer and family to work their butts off on the farm, while the father and mother also hold down other full time jobs.

The factors in my post are correct indicators of the success or failure of a farm during bad times.

The price of good ground in my AO runs as high as $12,000 as acre, new equipment costs a fortune and the big players and government, control the price of the row crops (corn & soybeans) by their policies.

It is a tightrope between costs and what they can sell for and the costs of mortgages and equipment payments push many over the edge into bankruptcy when they hit a bad selling market or poor crops for a couple of seasons.

Oh, you mean like the price for dairy being BELOW the cost of production since 2014? Or beef costing more to raise than you can get for at least 3-4 years?

For those who have access to direct-to-the-consumer sales in markets with high disposable incomes, there definitely is money to be made. But for most these days, it's all about convenience. My son raises great pastured pork... the quality is so far above what you can get in the grocery, it's not funny. He gets $4 a pound out of the freezer. And his customers rave about the stuff.

But they also admit to him, over and over, that they "bought a few pork chops" or a ham at WalMart or Aldis (both of which are within 5 miles of his farm) "because they were already there"

He has sold more pork in the past 6 weeks than he did all last year. But I'll guarantee if the store's supplies get back to normal, they'll go back to buying most of it at WalMart. Hell, we know people who buy a quarter of beef from us, but then buy it at the store (or order takeout) because they can't remember to defrost a steak before they leave for work in the morning!

Summerthyme

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We would eat out of our storage, until it ran out. We've got at least a year's worth of everything, including flour and cornmeal for bread, plus two fully stocked freezers full of meat and other frozen items, such as butter and cheeses.

Afterwards we would have our gardens, and hunting, fishing, and trapping would provide our meat. We also love to forage in the deep woods surrounding our property for things in season. You would be surprised by the variety of food that one can forage while on a walk through the woods if you know what to look for in your area.

 

[John Deere Girl]

We will continue to farm.

 

[Jubilee on Earth]

Whoops! Sorry. Duped the video from above.

 

[Trivium Pursuit]

This is what I will be using when Walmart runs out...

View attachment 191076

But. But, it's people!!

 

[nwillitts]

Prayer, just like now. Prayer and more prayer...and Faith.

your gonna starve.

 

[changed]

Keep in mind a lot of fruit and vegetable farmers will have trouble finding Mexicans to help harvest their produce.

 

[NoMoreLibs]

Problem is with this scenario is that WM is a, if not THE, major food supplier in the US. I would think food would be re-routed from the smaller stores to the main hub's of WM.

Now, if WM can't get food, no one can and folks will have much larger issues to begin to deal with. No food at WM is EOTW/S sort of stuff.

No input from the OP I see. Doom topic trolling.

 

[amazon]

Well, I just ordered some heirloom seeds from superseeds. I couldn't find product available at any other sites. Our local options are sold out as well. They did have seed potatoes. I hope I actually get them. I went to several places early this AM that I had went to Friday. They had pretty good stock of gardening stuff. Now, they are all almost wiped out. It's just crazy. We are in growing section 6b. I guess a lot of victory gardens going in. I found a small greenhouse at Aldi's. It's cheap, but I thought why not try it. I am hoping it will help keep critters out as well. Also, Aldi's had the weed control ground tarp for $4. I bought a couple of those for my new raised beds we are putting in this weekend.

Just as an FYI...I drove by Sams this AM when they were getting ready to open. The line was wrapped around the building. People were standing in the rain to get in! I would guess their were 100 people waiting. I saw (as I walked back to my car) that they were stopping the line since I guess enough people had went in at one time. It's just surreal.

 

[Bps1691]

Oh, you mean like the price for dairy being BELOW the cost of production since 2014? Or beef costing more to raise than you can get for at least 3-4 years?

For those who have access to direct-to-the-consumer sales in markets with high disposable incomes, there definitely is money to be made. But for most these days, it's all about convenience. My son raises great pastures pork... the quality is so far above what you can get in the grocery, it's not funny. He gets $4 a pound out of the freezer. And his customers race about the stuff.

But they also admit to him, over and over, that they "bought a few pork chops" or a ham at WalMart or Aldis (both of which are within 5 miles of his farm) "because they were already there"

He has sold more pork in the past 6 weeks than he did all last year. But I'll guarantee if the store's supplies get back to normal, they'll go back to buying most of it at WalMart. Hell, we know people who buy a quarter of beef from us, but then buy it at the store (or order takeout) because they can't remember to defrost a steak before they leave for work in the morning!

Summerthyme

Did a contract in the 90's for one of the biggest Farmers Membership groups. While there I learned just how much of all the farming business was controlled by the Federal government. Meat, milk, crops- all screwed over by the Fed's to enrich the large corporations that owns the Fed regulators.

The Federal's took control in 1942 with the Wickard v. Filburn SCOTUS decision and turned Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution (Commerce Clause) upside down when they decided the Fed's could tell famers what to grow EVEN if the crops would NEVER be sold or transported out of the state. It's been down hill since.

The most recent example was when the SCOTUS decided that when a consumer buys a product online from a vendor without bricks & mortar presence in the consumer's state, that the consumer's state can charge a "use tax" to the consumer and force the out of state seller to charge their use tax. That my friends is Restraint of Interstate Commerce violation because it taxes/tariffs goods sold in another state that are delivered into the offending state customer!

I also agree with you that people will tell you how much they want "quality" products, but will always go to the cheaper source for inferior products.

 

[Bps1691]

Well, I just ordered some heirloom seeds from superseeds. I couldn't find product available at any other sites. Our local options are sold out as well. They did have seed potatoes. I hope I actually get them. I went to several places early this AM that I had went to Friday. They had pretty good stock of gardening stuff. Now, they are all almost wiped out. It's just crazy. We are in growing section 6b. I guess a lot of victory gardens going in. I found a small greenhouse at Aldi's. It's cheap, but I thought why not try it. I am hoping it will help keep critters out as well. Also, Aldi's had the weed control ground tarp for $4. I bought a couple of those for my new raised beds we are putting in this weekend.

Just as an FYI...I drove by Sams this AM when they were getting ready to open. The line was wrapped around the building. People were standing in the rain to get in! I would guess their were 100 people waiting. I saw (as I walked back to my car) that they were stopping the line since I guess enough people had went in at one time. It's just surreal.

There are still two or three sources in my AO selling seed potatoes, but they are the "fancy" potatoes in commercially packaged small packs. The real seed potatoes have been gone for several weeks.

If push comes to shove and you just can't get any certified seed potatoes, you can sometimes use potatoes from a grocery store. They aren't certified and it's always iffy getting a decent crop, but if all else fails they are worth a try.

The main problem is store-bought potatoes can be treated to inhibit sprouting, may carry disease and might not produce a decent crop. You have to put them in a cold, dry dark space until they show eyes, then cut them, let the cut age over night, then plant just like you would seed potatoes. I've done it a couple of times as a test in the past and the results were always so-so when compared to good certified ones.

To anyone just starting a garden, there is much more to successfully doing it than just digging up some ground, planting your garden in a can prepper seeds and growing bumper crops.

Get some books on the subject, study and do it right from the beginning. The seeds, soil amendments, plants, and other things needed to do it successfully are getting slim in a lot of areas, so if you're going to do it you'd better get at it now.

 

[xtreme_right]

Get some books on the subject, study and do it right from the beginning. The seeds, soil amendments, plants, and other things needed to do it successfully are getting slim in a lot of areas, so if you're going to do it you'd better get at it now.

I’ve tried gardening in the past and never did well. We’ve rented the last 8 years so hadnt attempted it lately (I’m really regretting it). I got out my gardening books to get a refresher and it’s overwhelming the amount of knowledge and planning that is needed. I completely understand it takes years of trial and error. Aside from that, there’s so much you need to grow a garden. It’s not just buying some packs of seeds.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Even seasoned gardeners have crop losses of one thing or another, even in the best of times. We lost everything in our gardens, one year, because of the weather. All we can do is the best we can with the knowledge we have, and pray for an abundance of blessings.

 

[summerthyme]

There is a really good basic book called The Joy of Gardening, by Dick Raymond. The photos are quite dated, and he loves his TroyBilt rototiller (he helped design and develop them), but beyond those minor points, he gives a lot of information on how to plan and plant everything from a tiny salad garden to a large "eat and store" patch.

I learned the wide row planting method from him, and have used it successfully for 40 years.

For anyone starting from scratch, I *highly* recommend seeing if you can get your soil tested... l9cal cooperative extension folks shoukd be able to help, if they aren't all on furlough. Knowing the pH and basic nutrient levels can save you a lot of heartache, because if those aren't in balance, pretty much nothing you can do- and it IS a lot of work- will give you healthy, productive plants.

Summerthyme

 

[Bps1691]

I’ve tried gardening in the past and never did well. We’ve rented the last 8 years so hadnt attempted it lately (I’m really regretting it). I got out my gardening books to get a refresher and it’s overwhelming the amount of knowledge and planning that is needed. I completely understand it takes years of trial and error. Aside from that, there’s so much you need to grow a garden. It’s not just buying some packs of seeds.

If you have a sunny area, you can do container gardening without disturbing the soil. You can use storage containers and start getting your "feet wet" for the future.

Rubbermaid Container Garden

This is my "recipe" for a Container Garden using Rubbermaid containers. It is a cheap and effective way to garden, and is very easy to get ...

backporchgarden.blogspot.com

In the two large cities on the far north west of my AO, they have a program where city dwellers can register for a garden plot in a public gardens area and if accepted get the plot for a garden season. The citizen has to do all the work, but the plots look to be 20 foot by 30 foot.