Meal Planning for Emergencies

[Lee]

I started my cucumbers,romaine lettuce, peppers,tomato plants right now in little bowls will replant if they grow at all I hope I hope I hope! Dh says we have pots in the garage that will work from the woman that lived here before us. She didnt have a car so her garage was like a potting shed! Have a good day all!
Leighann

[LuvMyFF]

I was unaware of the fact that you could grow cucumbers in containers. That is something that my kids & I love.


LuvMyFF

[O-mama]

You can grow just about anything in a container given the right size and conditions. My mom even had a hybrid dwarf apple tree for high altitude (we lived at 7k) that was kept in a container.

[MrsManiac]

I keep looking for a dwarf banana tree--I used to have one but it was destroyed. It was about 6 feet tall and lived in a cozy corner of my living room. I really want another one!! I wouldn't mind an apple tree, either, but dh is a bit skittish lol!! If you keep them pruned back they should do great in a pot!!


This is ot--but part of my plans for my yard as the years progress is to grow as much of our own food as possible!! I have the veggie beds already, and have a spot picked out for some berry bushes. I ordered growing bags with my strawberries and if I like the way they work, I'll get more. I'll be hanging them on shephard's hooks out back. Dh doesn't want fruit trees because of the bees--which is why I'd like the dwarf ones and keep them inside(we get a lot of light in the entryway!). I'm far from being a homesteader, but I like the idea of not having to pay a ton of money for something I can get for free with just a bit of work!

[Lee]

I have little tiny leaves coming up in my lettuce container! Sooooooo excited!

Leighann

[O-mama]

Congrats on the lettuce, Leighann! I got my planters rinsed out, but they're in need of some bleach before I put soil and seed in.

Mrs. Maniac--I personally don't think it was OT since being self-sufficient helps you to be prepared for emergencies. Check out The Encyclopedia of Country Living (it's going to be a reference book in my bookcase when I've got the extra $$ to splurge). It might be helpful to you. I also found Root Cellaring (don't remember the author) to be interesting reading, but have yet to call the cooperative extension to see if it is a viable idea in the south.

I have plans similar to yours, but I think mine will take a couple years to come to the beginning stages. We have soil and drainage problems that need to be remedied first, and then I need to do a couple of buckwheat crops for green manure to help provide a better bed of nutrients. Maybe during that time I'll figure out where would be the best spot to plant what. We do have a few wild blackberry brambles, but they didn't seem to produce much last year. Hmmm, maybe when I have some more 'net time I can find a thread along these lines to ruminate upon my garden problems.

[MrsManiac]

Congrats Lee!! It's always exciting to see your seedlings. Just don't water them too much, or they'll dampen off and die.

Omama--I don't think I could do the root cellar thing here. It's very humid--apples, onions, etc that are supposed to store well go bad within a week in our house. My only defense is to cook and can/freeze everything lol!! Maybe in a few years once we get a dehumidifier going I could do it.

I was wondering--could you do raised beds? If you put gravel on the bottom, and filled the beds with soil? You can control almost everything then! Unless your yard floods in the rain--then raised beds wouldn't help lol! It's less work, too. We put down newspaper to kill off any weeds that would fight their way up, filled in with some cow-pasture dirt, and at the end of the season dug in compost and mulched with more newspaper(adding organic matter) and straw.

[catlady101]

congrats on the lettuce Leighann

makes me want to go out and start planting...I need potting mix and do not feel like lugging it from the store to the car to the house....

keep it up!
Ruth