Thursday, February 19, 2009

Garden Time

Here is an article I wrote yesterday over at the West Virgina Preppers Network. The WVPN has a lot of good information on preparation and I am happy to be a part of the network.
Fruit and Vegetables from the Garden, Kent by David Tipling
Fruit and Vegetables from the Garden, Kent

I know there is still snow on the ground, but it is time to start thinking about our gardens. Gardens play a very important part of our food storage plan and you need to plan ahead to think about your needs for the upcoming season. You need to think about your consumption of vegetables and apply that to your garden planning. For example if you only ate 1 quart of green beans as part of your dinner plans 3 times per week that means you would have to can 156 quarts of green beans to sustain you for the next year. Think about your tomatoes- you have canned tomatoes, salsa, tomato sauce, tomato juice etc. We eat lots of tomatoes so we always plant a lot of tomato plants. It really pays to sit down and do a little planning ahead before you even think about ordering seeds. It is a lot of upkeep to raise such a large garden but so worth the efforts. There is a comforting feeling knowing that you have food to sustain you and your family during an emergency or during hard times financially. We have 5 in our family- me, my husband and 3 boys - 2 of which are teenagers, and they can eat!!


Where to buy your seed? Remember the words Heirloom and Open Pollinated or NON-Hybrid Seeds. These seeds are not genetically modified and you can save your seed from your vegetables to plant again the next year. If you have never saved your seeds before you can read Saving Seeds Successfully for more information. Here and here are 2 wonderful articles explaining Non hybrid, open pollinated, and heirloom seeds.

A few stores carry open pollinated or heirloom seeds- but not very many. You will most likely find hybrid seeds- which means that they have been treated so you can not save your seeds to plant again- you will have to buy new seeds again every year.

You will need to start some of your seeds indoors to get a head start on the growing season. Here in Pocahontas County we have frost up until at least late May. So only the early "cold season" crops such as onions, radishes, spinach, peas are put out before Memorial Day.

Starting seeds indoors is a lot of fun and it is really easy - if you have never started seeds indoors and would like to try here is an article you can read How to Successfully Start Plants from Seed

Here are some seed companies that sell Open Pollinated, Heirloom, and Non- Hybrid seeds:

8 comments:

Julieann said...

Oh, How fun---I am not a good gardener, but it is fun:)

Julieann

FarmerGeek said...

Good post. I enjoyed it!

Just to let you know, Baker Creek Seeds (rareseeds.com) sells only heirloom seeds and their prices are reasonable.

Carol Murdock said...

Angelena.....great information!
I save the links to use later!
HUGS,
Carol

The W.O.W. factor! said...

I've been planning mine (in my head) for weeks now. Hubby asked why, because I said I was going to downsize this year. But, oh, once a gardener, always a gardener! I love seeing my pantry shelves full of color and I love to share the surpluses of my efforts with anyone who will enjoy them!
I do save seeds as much as I can, and I've been "organizing" them already.
Great post!

Michaela Dunn Leeper said...

I 2nd Baker Creek. I've ordered from them. Christian, homeschooling family & they signed the Non-GMO pledge! I've ordered from them.

50s Housewife said...

I'm looking forward to a garden again this year, but ours isn't very big. I know we'll have tomatoes and jalapenos again for sure. :)

Lynn Coulter said...

Great post about heirlooms! I wrote a book for the Univ. of NC Press on heirloom flowers, fruits, and veggies, called Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, and last fall, my book, Mustard Seeds: Thoughts on the Nature of God and Faith came out. Hope you will check them out. Keep up the good work.
Lynn
www.LynnCoulter.com
www.MustardSeedsBook.com

Lynn Coulter said...

Great post about heirlooms! I wrote a book for the Univ. of NC Press on heirloom flowers, fruits, and veggies, called Gardening with Heirloom Seeds, and last fall, my book, Mustard Seeds: Thoughts on the Nature of God and Faith came out. Hope you will check them out. Keep up the good work.
Lynn
www.LynnCoulter.com
www.MustardSeedsBook.com