[Gardening] Winter Gardens

[catbox]

We have a big raised-bed garden already and I just added 6 new beds to the mix. Getting ready to fillem with new soil and compost as I write. I'll be getting rid of the driveway by Fall to make for some more raised bed action....we grew several things here in Eugene this fall and winter without even protecting them, so it looks good for next season too.
I have to update our water catchment system as well....

Our little 1/2 acre is slowly turning into a very productive space!

catbox

[Ludi]

We haven't eaten all the winter squash from last year, but I'll be planting some more.

[RedStateGreen]

Yellow ladybugs aren't really ladybugs ... I forget what they are, but yellow=bad, red=good.

I've got a bunch of tomato plants going for canning later in the year. We eat a lot of tomato sauce so this will be great. Also have squash, corn, beans, onions, garlic, potatoes and sweet potatoes planned. We're just starting spring planting season here, so we'll see how it goes.

[Pops]

That was quite revelation to me, I always thought that ladybirds were good, but not this one apparently!

Looks like this Mexican Bean Beetle.

I stumbled on this site - every gardener should mark it I think...
Bug Guide

[allenwrench]

I just started in Feb. Right now am putting in about 14 d and sd fruit trees. Put up fence for orchard this weekend, still need to do fence for garden. (20 x 30 feet) ...wish I started about 2 -3 years ago.

Next year will expand garden to 40 x 50.

[cestlavie]

Tonight for dinner we had zucchini from last fall and blueberries from last summer. We still have blackberries and tomato's from last summer too!

This year we're kicking up the volume a bit and will be cool-storing, canning, and freezing way more than last year. We have space to grow quite a bit more and next year we plan to plant and harvest at full volume.

The plan is to grow enough vegetables and fruit to wean ourselves from reliance on the local organic farm whose harvest we've shared starting last year. They're getting quite costly (next year we've already been warned will be very expensive!!) and the plan is to be on our own after this year.

Wow! Be sure to share your knowledge. I'm sure any peak oil preps that could lead to full self reliance will be greatly appreciated! Its hard to beleive. I'm looking at gas price and hoping that my plants will grow (maybe I'm a bit nutty) - BUT we dont know at what point things will get sour and that keeps me going... I already love planting, its already enough benefit to eat what you produce. I'm just losing incentive to spread the wealth around as I see prices go up. I have to remember that friends and family come first and need to benefit (and see the benefits) of cheap food prices (its for free! and organic...) then maybe, just maybe they'll get interested (and think I'm less crazy). The best way to convince people about peak oil - through positive action! :> :> So I think about producing enough (ok more than enough) food to last myself (and others) throughout the summer but also through the winter... I wish I had a crystal ball (though I probably would not want to use it). The future is so tough...

[eastbay]

Tonight for dinner we had zucchini from last fall and blueberries from last summer. We still have blackberries and tomato's from last summer too!

This year we're kicking up the volume a bit and will be cool-storing, canning, and freezing way more than last year. We have space to grow quite a bit more and next year we plan to plant and harvest at full volume.

The plan is to grow enough vegetables and fruit to wean ourselves from reliance on the local organic farm whose harvest we've shared starting last year. They're getting quite costly (next year we've already been warned will be very expensive!!) and the plan is to be on our own after this year.

Wow! Be sure to share your knowledge. I'm sure any peak oil preps that could lead to full self reliance will be greatly appreciated! Its hard to beleive. I'm looking at gas price and hoping that my plants will grow (maybe I'm a bit nutty) - BUT we dont know at what point things will get sour and that keeps me going... I already love planting, its already enough benefit to eat what you produce. I'm just losing incentive to spread the wealth around as I see prices go up. I have to remember that friends and family come first and need to benefit (and see the benefits) of cheap food prices (its for free! and organic...) then maybe, just maybe they'll get interested (and think I'm less crazy). The best way to convince people about peak oil - through positive action! :> :> So I think about producing enough (ok more than enough) food to last myself (and others) throughout the summer but also through the winter... I wish I had a crystal ball (though I probably would not want to use it). The future is so tough...

After I wrote that I realized maybe I could have been clearer (again). I was talking about if everything goes perfectly, soon we could be self reliant in vegetables and in a few years fruit too. That's the goal. I realize it's only a small part of the overall diet for us but it's important for everyone to remain positive and focused doing everything possible to minimize the impact of The Problem we all face.

[cestlavie]

We eat mostly what we grow year-around, so we have already planted potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, etc., and of course garlic was planted last fall. We will do monthly plantings of carrots, cabbage, and cabbage family vegetables until Aug or Sept, and we grow lots of dry beans, too, and also 3 or 4 varieties of winter squash. We just finished most of last year's onion crop, and we are still eating potatoes and winter squash from last year's garden. We are eating Egyptian walking onions from the garden now, and eating last years carrots and apples yet, also. The spinach that self-seeded last fall has been big enough to eat for a couple of weeks, and the first planting of lettuce is big enough, too. We sometimes have carrots and potatoes from storage up until we are eating them fresh from the garden. And of course we have lots of dried, canned, and frozen food, too.

Wow, good info! I would love to have the variety of food that you eat (all through the winter!). I didnt diversify my crop this year (so *suposedly* now we are at risk of disease). We'll see... I wanted to know if my crop would going to make it through the winter AND if out family could survive on it through the winter so I planted lots of 1 kind of winter squash - however you planted 3-4 varieties. The same is true for potatoes. I'm really glad your now getting spinach, etc. In our (stealth) 'flower garden' our english sorrel is growing like absolutely crazy -- i.e. good enough to eat like spinach (if we are careful - not every day). We can have sorrel soup YUMM!!! Not entirely life sustaining - but certainly is delicious. My dad has a herd of goats - so I'm happy to supplement him with plenty of potatoes (though he doesnt particularly care for them). Anyways, glad to know things are really working out! If you have any successes please let us know. I like the idea of egyptian walking onions if they spread pretty well - anything that spreads well and is edible (except for JA's) sounds really good to me!

[cestlavie]

After I wrote that I realized maybe I could have been clearer (again). I was talking about if everything goes perfectly, soon we could be self reliant in vegetables and in a few years fruit too. That's the goal. I realize it's only a small part of the overall diet for us but it's important for everyone to remain positive and focused doing everything possible to minimize the impact of The Problem we all face.

Thanks for clarifying. No problem, every step, every bit counts! I guess thats why they say that you cant survive it alone... :>

[jdumars]

The short answer to your question: YES

I am looking at 96 quart jars that will be filled by the end of the Summer with green beans, tomatoes, corn, soups and such. We've got the following planted so far:

~ 300 onion plants
~ 100 sweet pepper plants
~ 50 hot pepper plants
~ 500 bush pea plants
~ 40 cabbages
~ 50 broccoli plants
~ 1/8 acre of mustard greens + various other greens mixed in
~ 200 potato plants
~ 300 bean plants
~ beneficial bug mixes
~ poppies
~ wild flowers
~ herbs: oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, curry, angelica, lavender, parsley, cilantro, sage, mints, bay

Soon to plant:
~ 1000 corn plants
~ tomatillos
~ sunflowers
~ amaranth
~ millet
~ sesame
~ sweet potatoes
~ turnips
~ beets
~ carrots
~ sorghum
~ cantaloupe and other heirloom melons
~ cucumber
~ black eyed peas

We've already made 5 gallons of low-acidity vinegar, and will be making 10-20 gallons more of medium and high-acidity for canning. We still have peppers from last year, as well as sweet potatoes, garlic, winter squash, frozen berries, and a LOT of meat. I have been buying a lot of salt, rice and canning jars. This is all stuff that will be virtually impossible to get later. I also just picked up 1000 rounds for target practice with the ol AK-74.

We've all been warned. There's no excuse to not be preparing right now. You will NOT have an opportunity later.

[nocar]

Having a small garden and a short growing season, there is not much in the way of veggies that can be saved over winter. Most is eaten right away, including potaioes that we have for two months or so. I hope to make it three months this year.

But I am planting some fava beans, some yellow peas (for dry peas), winter squash (doubtful if they will be ripe enough to store more than a month, though), and bryssel sprouts and kale to eat in December.

But I still have apple sauce from last year. Some years apples are plentiful. I still have some dehydrated apples and plums, too. The one plum tree is in blossom, very pretty.

nocar

[patience]

We're already battling Colorado potato beetles. I don't mind sharing with the bugs, but these guys want it ALL. Lquid SEVIN, and a dusting of wood ashes seem to be making it hard for them, plus picking off all I can find, but time is limited.

Our gardens should feed us this year for veggies, and fruits from the orchard, strawberries are blooming, etc., but we trade shop work to the neighbors for wheat, corn, and firewood, too. Community IS where it's at.

edit: We have several bush cherry plants that are loaded with blooms, but worrying about the birds eating them later. Any ideas about netting out there?

[manu]

I have tried fishnets for fruit trees for bats, it's a real hassel if the trees are big. For bats you have to put the nets right to the ground. Planted another 50 Noni trees, even if there is a famine in the area, you can live off Noni.

[JJ]

for the winter we planted white, Japanese and Puerto Rico sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. If we have a freezer, then lots of frozen stuff. No canning, though. Lots of rice and beans.

[WisJim]

We net our dwarf cherry trees with tree netting that we sew into wider pieces to cover them. We have "U" shaped frames 10' tall x 10' wide of pvc pipe to hold up the netting. I am going to build wren houses to attract wrens which might deter fruit eating birds, as wrens are quite territorial and eat insects.

We sometimes pick Colorado Potato bugs twice a day, if we find the time, and if we do that right away when they first appear, and spray with Bacillius thuringiensis var tenebrionis (Bt) when they are very small, it reduces them throughout the summer. Sometimes I have to use a pyrethrin spray later, though.

[Ludi]

Found a new plant to try: Chilacayote aka Calabaza, Figleaf Gourd, Malabar Gourd. Mature edible fruits store for two years, supposedly.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr ... +ficifolia

[cestlavie]

Having a small garden and a short growing season, there is not much in the way of veggies that can be saved over winter. Most is eaten right away, including potaioes that we have for two months or so. I hope to make it three months this year.

But I am planting some fava beans, some yellow peas (for dry peas), winter squash (doubtful if they will be ripe enough to store more than a month, though),
nocar

Are you kidding? Hey, dont worry about it! My zucchini and acorn squash stored 3 months at around 50 degrees and I've read winter squash should definitely store that long (given the right conditions). Though dont take my word for it, keep in mind this is only my third year into farming (though I was raised on a farm). We have a 3 1/2 year old reckless kid that keeps us more than busy so we wont have the chance to do much canning etc this year. I'm really worried about things going down so need to harvest as much as possible. My friend is going to sell his harvest (including carrots) at a farmers market but I think he should save them. Carrots can be stored & I'm not sure he would get much (and food prices are always going up now). Geesh, I'm losing track of the gas price. Which should be going up even faster when we start going down the slippery slope of depletion. Give it a few uh ?years. Geesh sorry I'm rambling now. But we have normal (i.e. non farming non-peak oil aware) people seriously concerned, seriously worried about the future and how they're going to survive. And remember, you have the chance! Oh, and don't be afraid to give perennials a try too. I'm working on getting day lily beds established. They are no-till vegetables and if anything they crowd out the weeds!

[cestlavie]

The short answer to your question: YES

I am looking at 96 quart jars that will be filled by the end of the Summer with green beans, tomatoes, corn, soups and such. We've got the following planted so far:

~ 300 onion plants
~ 100 sweet pepper plants
~ 50 hot pepper plants
~ 500 bush pea plants
~ 40 cabbages
~ 50 broccoli plants
~ 1/8 acre of mustard greens + various other greens mixed in
~ 200 potato plants
~ 300 bean plants
~ beneficial bug mixes
~ poppies
~ wild flowers
~ herbs: oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, curry, angelica, lavender, parsley, cilantro, sage, mints, bay

Soon to plant:
~ 1000 corn plants
~ tomatillos
~ sunflowers
~ amaranth
~ millet
~ sesame
~ sweet potatoes
~ turnips
~ beets
~ carrots
~ sorghum
~ cantaloupe and other heirloom melons
~ cucumber
~ black eyed peas

We've already made 5 gallons of low-acidity vinegar, and will be making 10-20 gallons more of medium and high-acidity for canning. We still have peppers from last year, as well as sweet potatoes, garlic, winter squash, frozen berries, and a LOT of meat. I have been buying a lot of salt, rice and canning jars. This is all stuff that will be virtually impossible to get later. I also just picked up 1000 rounds for target practice with the ol AK-74.

We've all been warned. There's no excuse to not be preparing right now. You will NOT have an opportunity later.

Wow, did you plant different varieties of potatoes? I planted Katahdin. I guess arouind 16 rows of 50 feet each however many that is. Although I know the potato bugs can really cut the harvest down, give the plants a beating. I hope to beat the bugs this year and grow some healthy potatoes, much better than last year. Good luck with your garden! I'm counting on the zucchini & squash beds to be prolific so they can crowd out the weeds (with their big leaves) then I can handle the weeding without the need for the big tractor. We're using the tractor for at least 1/2 the garden this year (because last year I was overwhelmed with weeds - & the garden got "weeded out" - i.e. completely full of weeds, it was a disaster...) So hopefully we can increase the garden yield & we can reduce our oil dependence. Just like we should be doing on a national level... :>

[oxj]

Y'all need ducks and geese for eating potato bugs and weeding.

[roccman]

Ok - I am usually a level headed...cool collected...rationale...deliberate individual, but this pushed me over the lunatic fringe!!!!

A freak winter storm rolled into town...hail, snow, gail force winds...I expect a complete loss from our very young garden.

I purposefully waited till mid-may to be sure mother nature was tamed.

Hell no!!!

Let me tell you something folks...unless you have 5 years of food stored somewhere...you are as good as dead.

Holy hell I am pissed.

(ya'll noticed I did not use one bad word on this little rant...kids read PO ya know!!)