Today's N&O: http://www.newsobserver.com/1566/story/1443868.html Excerpt: Roger Doiron spent nine months weighing and recording each vegetable he pulled from his 1,600-square-foot garden outside Portland, Maine. After counting the final winter leaves of Belgian endive, he found he had saved about $2,150 by growing produce for his family of five instead of buying it. - - - - - - - - - I encourage everyone to do a little gardening this year. Gardening is therapeutic, economical, family-friendly, healthy for you, and FUN!
My family struggled financially for many years when I was young. My mom was trying to support herself & 3 daughters alone while she worked a full time job & went to school. We had a huge garden that provided most of our meals. As a child one of my daily summer chores was to weed 2 rows of the garden each day. My 2 sisters & I tried to get out to the garden before the sun baked the ground too much so the grass wouldn't be so hard to pull. Even weeding 6 rows a day, by the time we made it to the other side of the garden - the weeds were up to our knees when we made it back to the 1st row. It seemed like every night my mom was asking what kind of squash we wanted for dinner. Because I'm not a huge fan of squash, I wasn't too happy about the huge abundance of squash our garden seemed to produce - but we stayed healthy & fed. My Mom had a large freezer that she stored all the extras in to get us through the winter. We also had 5 chickens that we picked up for free after a local "chicken chase" competition sponsered by a radio station which provided plenty of eggs. We had a wood burning fireplace & that's what we used for heat. My my was tough with a chainsaw and an axe We spent many weekends cutting wood and stacking it near the house. My uncle was an avid hunter and most of our meat came from the deer he killed (My Mom didn't tell us we were eating deer until we were much older). We also did a lot of fishing. My Mom sewed many of our clothes herself. I can remember her making Sunday dresses for us out of some curtains that were being thrown out. The dresses turned out so well that we had our family pictures taken wearing them. We did buy bread regularly, but it was from the day-old bread store nearby. We had a couple of apple trees, pear trees & peach trees that Mom used to make coblers & jellies with. There were also tons of wild blackberry bushes that grew all around so we loved picking those also. We picked pecans up from a farm down the road where the tree owners kept one bag for every two we picked. We were never on welfare or any other public assistance ... even though I'm sure my Mom could have qualified for it if she had tried. She was just one of those tough determined folks who knew how to do everything. My Mom could really stretch a penny. I wish I was half the person my Mom is!! In any case, the garden was a lifesaver. I grew up in the south in a very rural area where everyone lived on a few acres or more. I don't know that folks around here could do the same because neighborhood living just doesn't allow for it.
Yes I am having a garden again this year...... I started one last year and did fairly well.....I am even going to attempt canning this year:shockwatch out world). Is it too late to plant potatoes?
Melynda: Enjoyed reading that. JOCO: I agree; it's not too late to get some potatoes going in the ground or in some old wheat/oat/rye straw. Others have also planted potatoes in old leaf mulch. Called it a "poor man's patch".
Does anyone else have a problem with the squirrels eating your tomatos? I have to plant twice as many as I used to. I guess that I should try those new "squirrel-resistant" varieties.
tukasyia: I have tons of squirrels in and around my yard, but so far they've left my garden alone. I did a quick search and saw that others have indeed had problems with squirrels, too. They mentioned using some organic sprays, but with mixed success. The most common solution offered was a standard yard dog. My problem was deer, but my deer fence has worked well so far.
Melynda, I enjoyed reading your post. It reminds me of independence. ----------------------------------------------------------- Thanks guys, I know what I'll be doing tomorrow! ----------------------------------------------------------- tukasiya, to add to Kent's reply....I also found a suggestion that the squirrels might be thirsty and are using your tomatoes as a watering hole. I don't know if you have a water source around your place, but try providing a pan of water and see if that helps. -----------------------------------------------------------
I planted a garden last spring, and everything started coming up beautifully, and before anything was produced, it withered and died Can I buy veggies from you guys
:lol: sounds like mine, thats why this year I'm trying this: http://www.smiths-nursery.com/Doorstep Market - Index.htm
I did a garden 2 years ago and it was looking great for weeks, then the bugs just destroyed the whole thing. Discouraged, I didnt mess with it last year, but I picked up some corn seeds yesterday at the Dollar general and think I am gonna give them a whirl. Is it too late to plant them? Also, Is there a site I can go to that tells when to plant what in our area?
Go to the NCDA office on 210 going towards Smithfield. They have a free handout about home gardening that tells you what you can plant, what varieties to plant, when to plant them, how to plant them, how much an average couple should plant for a years worth of food, etc. It's a great start if you're not familiar with gardening in this area.
Here ya go... it's actually by NCSU but the NCDA offers it. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/ag-06.html
Hudsons on 50 also has a handout in their seed section with a list of plants/seedlings and when to put them in the ground.
Thanks for the link Bandmom, we stop by there almost daily in the spring/summer for strawberries & such. Have you tried it before, how is the selection/pricing. We LOVE Smith's they are such nice people!!
A lot of old timers in this area used to plant on Good Friday, but depending on when that falls, it could be a little early. We still can get a frost on into late April, even if it's only for 1 night. One uncle always said, "Keep your seed in the sack until May 1st." And that's what I usually do. Spring Fever and warm temps in late March and early April have a lot of folks anxious to get something in the ground, but if you wait until around May 1st, you won't have to worry about a cold spell damaging your seedlings and more seeds will germinate because of the warmer ground temps.
No, I haven't tried it before - just saw a flyer about it last week, but as you said, I know they have good produce, so I'm excited about seeing how this works out!
