Rising food prices and shortages make a garden the perfect solution.
During the 1800s, before America transitioned from an agricultural to an industrial society, many Americans grew their own food. Even those people who earned significantly less money than others had few worries when it came to food for themselves and their families because all they had to do was walk out to their garden or farmland to gather their next few meals.
Today, nearly one out of five Americans (19.33 percent) receives food stamps for a total of 47.1 million people, according to a Fox News report. The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that 420,863 new people joined the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in just one month for a 2.86 percent increase over the previous month. A report from the Congressional Budget Office stated that the SNAP usage was expected to continue to increase through 2014.
With the total number of Americans now on food stamps being higher than the combined populations of 24 states and the District of Columbia, it’s clear that making a decision to acquire heirloom seeds and grow your own food is a solid idea. Growing your own non-genetically modified food in your garden is the only guarantee of an ongoing, healthy food source and the only thing that will enable you and your family to achieve food independence during a time of rising food prices and global shortages.
Of course, you should always remember to…
• Time your harvests based on the individual plant’s method of seed dispersal.
• Clean the resultant seeds and spread them out to dry.
• Store those seeds in packets, glass jars or other containers.
• Label the packets and containers by variety and date.
• Store them in a cool or cold, dark and dry place.
Those activities will maximize your food growing experience and keep your family fed and healthy. And, you shouldn’t ever have to buy seeds for those particular plants again.
If you’ve acquired seeds recently, which ones are you planning to plant in the near future? If you’ve been gardening for a while, do you have any “tricks of the trade” that you’d like to share with other readers? We’d love to hear from you about this.
I have finished the footing for an 8′ by 12′ Cyprus
Gothic Arch Greenhouse as the 100 tree shade and Black Walnut Trees on my 2/3 acre make gardening difficult. Next comes one line of 8″x8″x16″ block.
The gothic point will lessen the northern snow buildup expected for the 20 year sun quiet period.
Broccoli Tip. Cut broccoli head leaving two or three healthy large leaves on the very bottom. The plant wants to gfrow. It will sent up from below ground a shoot with a softball size broccoli head on it. Hold one hand on the cut plant stub for stability, grab the new shoot and pull down. The old broccoli plant will continue to produce as long as lower leaves are available to draw sun/energy/food .
Remember if you can you will either need to stock pile lids or by reusable lids from a company like tattler.
I lay about an inch of aged horse manure over my gardens in the fall after cleanup. In the spring, I till it in. Makes for some rich soil with no expense. Look around for a horse stable. They are glad to get rid of it.
Folks with no horse farms nearby can do a similar overwintering compost with regular yard leaves and (non-meat) kitchen scraps.
Another more Northerly seed source is Salt Spring Seeds – as on Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2W1 (Canada) . He is dedicated to a safe and sustainable agriculture; has heirlooms & a short-season soybean.
for tomato cages I have been using 48″ field wire 28″ diameter but this takes a little room for storing so I am going to cut cages into 3 or 4 pieces using the wire to join 3 parts by curling wire together to be folded and slip joined the 4 part to join the 1st making cage complete again for using. This should reduce space needed for my 260 cages, just a little trick
My jaw just dropped. I don’t know WHY I haven’t thought of that before. I know what my tin snips will be doing this fall….
260 tomato cages? Wow! That’s a LOT of tomatoes! Do you can them? I can’t imagine using up the amount of tomatoes you’d get from 260 plants! Wow!
Yea 260 was allot, wife told me not so many again. We canned, eat, give away and both kids have lots tomatoes now. Those Rutgers do great I am 6 ft tall my Rutgers are taller than me. My whole garden has ph of 6.5 to 7.5 all the time. Learned many years ago keep ph where plants like it and they will feed you
Hello all ,, been growing 30 — 100ft rows of sweet corn, butter beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers and other stuff for about 40 yrs here same place.
Start my tomato seed in my seed bed, transfer to row using 4 ft X 28″ diameter cage spaced at least 3 ft apart.
A little trick for my seed saving, when seed are all clean and ready to dry, using white kitchen paper towels rolled out 2 towel lengths, place seed about 3 inches apart in a row on towel. Rows 3 inches apart also. 3 or 4 rows depends on size of your towel When all rows are complete lay another towel on top with 2 books on top of both towels, just a little weight will work. Let it dry 3 or 4 days, then store as you please. When I am ready to put seed in seed bed , simple cut towels into strips with seeds in middle of 1 inch strip and place in seed bed and cover, water very good
Awesome idea, thanks to all of you for helping us non gardeners “see the light”
What about us that live in the North? Short growing season, and potential for hailstorms in the Summer? Any suggestions? Thanks
Lettuces are relatively cold hardy (in fact, can only be grown in early spring or later autumn here in Tennessee) and they can be ready to harvest in just a few weeks. Peas and broccoli also seem to not mind the cold. Honestly, though, colder climes are not my specialty. Your local garden shop or farm co-op is a better source for what works near you.
I use a cold frame – start my plants indoors tranfer to my cold frame which I have insulated, bricks on the bottom, a couple jugs of water (to hold heat) and a heat tape on really cold nights I use a trouble light in the cold frame & cover it with a tarp. our days can be 70 and nights 20 in the early spring
If you grow your own brussel sprouts, if you wait until after they have been exposed to frost they will be much sweeter.
When choosing seed varieties, it is best to consider your local climate ie. hot, cool, wet, dry, number of expected frost-free days, hours of daylight during the growing season, etc., and concentrate on those plants that are best adapted to your area. You can grow vegetables that are not well suited for your climate, but they will take more effort, and possibly more expense.
I believe you but where do I purchase the unaltered seeds?
Look for heirloom varieties, or even easier, visit http://www.survivalseeds4patriots.com