Do you garden? Are you lucky enough to have a little farm or a little land to plant? Great resource for knowledge for you!

Be-u-tee-ful!

Lot of citrus trees in Tucson got clobbered last winter. Very sad loss for many families.

Are you gonna re-plant the banana? My experience with trying to eradicate some an idiot planted too close to a house was that those suckers are hard to really kill.

That's quite a garden! Hoping to get to a place with longer growing season again so I can emulate your efforts!

And we are hoping to find a place in a neighborhood with horses so we can relieve the neighbors of some of that glorious horse manure!

I do manage to grow a bit of okra here in MT, but not enough to suit me.

For Mother's Day, I want Mother Earth News on CD Rom. What a great resource all those issues in an easy to store format would be!

Good luck with your efforts. Getting things started is most of the work, until harvest! IF you can't find horse manure see if you can get some chicken manure. that stuff works really well. If you have a pest problem try using some diatomaceous earth on the plants. Works well on ants etc. You can get it online. Food grade works best and no pesticides! I imagine you don't have much of a growing season in MT. Have you thought of cold frames or a greenhouse? Root crops should do well. I like the idea of ME News on CD. We have a lot of print copies. It would probably be easier with the other.
Have fun.

If it puts even one ounce more of wholesome food on your table, the information in these webinars serve well!

We are gonna work on extending the season for eggplants where we live. Tweak here, shelter there, put more veggie casseroles in the freezer!

Oh, I have been protesting Monsanto patented seeds since before it was cool. In fact, I was doing it while Monsanto was only talking about patented seeds, and for a variety of reasons; not the least of which is that Monsanto wanted a way to make all farmers legally beholden to corporations, and that makes people slaves to corporations.

Subsistence farmers in Third World nations cannot afford such things. Making whole populations beholden to and dependent upon, corporations is a danger I have noticed since about age 10, and that was a VERY long time ago.

People need to be able to be as self sustaining as possible. Monsanto leads the charge to sue them for trying. They are evil.

Well good for you.

Nope, good for my mom. It was just how the family operated. Natural as breathing for us.

And I really think there are lots of moms like mine. OWS is great, but it really isn't all that new an idea.

Yes, lots of moms like that. Mine was as well and so am I. And OWS may not be new but it is much needed now.

Remind me to tell you about the little kids' group of Divorce Recovery I facilitated and how a bunch of 4-6 year olds literally 'took me in hand' to assure me a garden was a gift I could give myself again. It was one of those amazing moments when one gets immediate feedback that the days lesson had not only been received by the target audience, but applied and taught back. Kids are always my favorite part of a garden. Seems a natural partnership.

Damned little shavers were right. Within a few months I found a great apt with a large front patio for containers and a small back yard which I lovingly worked until it was a jungle of edibles.

See below about the vertical planters made from wooden pallets. Will try to hunt up the photos online that showed them used on a tiny apartment balcony. Very clever and do-able

Cool!

Great ideas!

Have you seen vertical planters made from recycled wooden load pallets, some landscape cloth filled with potting soil? Looks great for herbs, with the species that like drier soils on the top and mints on the bottom, it seems it would work. We have a small lot and I have to go vertical now, so I am gonna try the vertical pallet planter this year.

Just did run out of tomatoes here, but we are in MT, so we pick the last of them much earlier than November.

What varieties did you grow? I have great luck with Black Prince, a Siberian heirloom which likes Montana's weird growing seasons.

We have a fairly long growing season in southern Pa. I stick with the usual beefsteaks, romas ( for canning and tomatoe paste) cherries and yellow tomatoes. For storage I just buy " Burpee's long-Keepers", about $ 3.25 a pkt. They always do really well for us.

Have not seen that but it sounds like an interesting idea. We have a farm so I can still go horozontal but am looking for ways to consolidate and not waste so much water and time. Living in Amish country , it's easy getting manure and doing things naturally.

Well, I am the pest anyways. Thanks circlesquared. I just love it when I find something I know some of my best online buds might appreciate.

Think i might remember what that means..... Thanks, I think. LOL

t=thank y=you

;-)

not familiar with Moringa trees. Guess what my first morning search will be about! Let me know how they do.

They are called the "Miracle Tree" for many good reasons, especially nutrition.
In addition to the articles you'll find on-line, there is a very interesting article in the New Yorker magazine of Dec. 19 that mentions them at length. ("The Oasis" by Burkhard Bilger)
Also, JanforGore has mentioned them in her posts on Current as well.
Everything we do is an investment in the future. I will let you know how it goes.

Good choice. Fast growing, drought resistant and the seeds can be used for so many things. I wish we could plant the miracle tree everywhere. I think we could do much to solve hunger and water pollution in the world with them.

LOL you are a rascal. And much appreciated.

There's plenty of gmo free corn.Many farmers like me grow open pollinated corn far from other corn growers.I've had a Reid's Early Yellow Dent corn I grow for cornmeal for me as well as my hogs,poultry,for 20 years in Ca ,another 15 years in Pa..It tests 12% protein.It is acclimated to No Cal. If you'd like a pound or so to plant,just pay the postage,$5. email me.ecoalex@yahoo.com

We had 17 Degs in the last cold spell.Our citrus is against the house porch on the south side,also against our chimney with a wood stove heating the masonry.We do cover up the trees with tarps.We don't attempt bananas,avacados.

How far would you say is a safe distance to protect yourself from drift as well?

Was hoping you would see this. Seemed to recall your interests included applied plant science from some replies of yours I have read. Good stuff here.

You are most welcome. Many people don't realize what great resources the NRCS has available. Sure, mostly for people really into farming/ranching, but office staffs in local areas usually have great info sources they are happy to pass along.

I'll be looking to see if they have anything on container gardening as well. Mines will be small scale. I grew tomatoes last year, or should I say I grew tomato stalks, but no tomatoes. Hope to find out what went wrong. I'm looking forward to it.

I grow my tomatos, cucumbers and peppers in a 4" PVC pipe. It's called Hydrophonics and it works. I give away over 400 tomatos and cucumbers each year.

I'll look into it, sounds interesting. Thank you, I'd have been happy seeing one tomato. Better luck this time.

Didn't notice anything for container gardening. You might check your county extension office for info resources on that. Also, ask if there is a Master Gardeners program in your county. Sometimes there will be classes, workshops, or a way to pick the brains of some local gardeners of note.

Do you live where it is very hot? I know many tomato varieties won't release pollen when temp hits a certain level, but a tap on the stalks to vibrate them might help. Also, make sure you have some flowers to attract bees well before the tomatoes bloom so the bees are already in the habit of visiting your little container garden.

Re bees: I have been known to put out some margarita mix in saucers around the garden when bees come looking early. Living in MT, it is often a while before even my cool season plants get to blooming for the bees. The sweet mix seems to give them a reason to drop by early and get in the habit. Plus, it works to keep them away from where you might be working outside, just place a saucer of it where you aren't working. No tequila! My sweety dropped a margarita on the patio once.... flies and bees did some very peculiar flying after slurping some of that! Luckily, they all flew very low that day.

OK, I am impressed! Have yet to try hydroponics.

My system has a 55 gal PVC barrel 100' of 4" PVC pipe and a small pump, I can plant 90 plants, you could make a smaller one for 20 or 30 plants. It works great, the fertilizer is expensive around $90/gal, but 1 gal will last me all year. The pipe is off the ground so with my bad joints I don't have to do much bending.

This land has a pond and is fill dirt, it's not much good for planting, and I have trouble bending. I tried it with some scrap pipe with 30 plants, tomatos, broccoli, peppers and cucumbers it worked so good that I increased it to 100'. We canned tomatos last year so I may try other plants this year. It uses no dirt, only water, I added a horse trough water level valve to keep the tank full of water. I have used this system 6 years.

It was pretty warm this past year, great advice especially the margarita mix.

Excellent, from what I'm reading this should be a very popular method. Looking into it today.

Hmmm, you have probably just given me the method to lengthen the years I will be able to garden! Cannot thank you enough for that. Being very arthritic, I will soon face a time when even raised beds will be impossible to tend. You totally rock!

I'm 66 and this is super for me. In one day I clean the pipe and tank, wash the dirt off plants and plant my garden. You should check the PH every day or so but after the first two years of having no problem, I stopped checking it. I add fertilizer every Monday morning. That's all I do till I pick it. Nothing could be easier.

NRCS is really looking to help people in the west, where it is dry, to do some test acres using no-till methods with cover crops for soil enrichment and weed/pest control.

I introduced my husband to 'French intensive' method for basic home gardening for hot, dry locations. Took one season for him to see the benefits and possibilities.

The agency (NRCS) has come along to my methods ;^), but writ large for large farms and ranches. And since they have the scientific staffs to do the real data collection and crunching, they proved so many things that really help. They would probably be tickled pink to see more people interested in utilizing the resources they have available. That particular part of the USDA REALLY does care. The NRCS is the evolved child of a great man who helped lay the ground work (literally) for helping America avoid the practices that turned a very bad drought into those bad times we call the Dust Bowl. Good people.

It's great fun, isn't it?

Fending the deer off isn't fun!

Our back yard has a very tall, solid fence. Then there's the dog out there sometimes. He wants to befriend the deer. The deer don't see it as a good plan.

Since i started putting some veggies in the front yard, deer could be a problem. We had a hot wire up for several summers, to keep the free range dogs from digging up flowers really. It was low enough for the deer to hop over. They would bed down in the flowers on hot nights, and were most appreciative for the birdbaths to get drinks from, but then never destroyed any plants. Go figure.

We switched to wire mesh in wood frames for temporary seasonal fencing, again for the dogs. The deer could get over them if they wanted to, but they don't seem to do it often.

Have to tell ya, when I first moved back to Montana, I had a pair of elderly city cats with me. One was quite the watch dog and stayed up most of the night, keeping an eye on things. First time 3 deer put their faces to the window to have a look at him, it was one major event around here. That old cat tended to bark like a small dog when he alerted. He went bloody crazy that night. "There are some REALLY tall Chihuahuas out there! Danger! Danger!" Funny to watch.

We have a half dozen or so 'urban' deer in our tiny village. A couple of them sport collars so hunters might get the message not to shoot them, or shoot in town. The deer population grows in hunting season. Think our locals invite their kin to visit town for safety!

My wife and I actually keep a "deer plot" where we plant just for them and it is in an unfenced area. They love it and leave the rest of the fenced garden alone.

Perfect! Am hoping the retirement location will include a bit of land big enough for us to do that. We both love wildlife and even in our tiny yard, we leave things 'unmanicured' enough that wildlife of smaller nature feels happy and safe within our little borders.

I made sure our tall wooden fence had structural tunnels so the bunnies could escape dogs and some rather obnoxious kids. Before the fence went up, a couple of cottontail does used to park their babies next to the rain barrels, and right next to where my husband sat to read. They knew we would make sure their offspring stayed safe so they could go a bit further from burrows to feed as summer heat dried up the grasses and forbs along the roads.

I used molded pvc clothes dryer venting pipes to provide escape shutes into our yard from the road and ally sides where kids and dogs tend to harass the rabbits. Now we have young and old rabbits visiting. I figure generations of them who grew up in the shadows of the rain barrels. We made sure they have access to the front gardens through planned spots in the wire fencing panels which we disguised with trimmed limbs from carriganas. There are a couple of bunnies who spend most summer evenings tagging along with my husband as he waters his flowers and my weird veggies out front. There is an old female cat who comes to help, often asking to be picked up so she can perch on my shoulder as we putter. The children of the family she belongs to are older now and don't have time for her. She never bothers the rabbits nor the birds in the yard.

A few feral cats will come into the yard to cool off in the raised beds in front in summer, or catch sun in a place sheltered from wind in winter. When things are really grim out there in winter, I will put out some kibble for them, While they take a few birds in summer, it is not the carnage people would expect. Seems they mostly hunt in other places and just rest at our place.

Then there was the momma skunk who went by with 4 kits, taking them past our house, stopping to show them the two of us (I swear all the critters consider us grounds keepers/servants) before she hurried them to Main Street where one old gent always has an old pot of meat and bread out for who ever comes by.

It's a hoot and i love it.

That is so awesome! We used to watch the news at night and now we watch all the critters that share the land we call "home."

Plant a little, grow a little, give a little.

Bet your blood pressure improved!

Yes indeed and it made that glass of wine taste that much better!

You are welcome Leen! Gardening is a lot like political work: plant seeds, see what sprouts, learn more, tweak some, plant again. Sorta like what the good folks in WI are doing and teaching to the rest of us re restoring the governing sector!

We're sure trying, attila. :)

No Worries, Thanks attilatheblond... =)

I wish I could add something to Cancer Survivors Group ( since you originally invited me) but it appears that one of the many moderators there demoted me without my knowledge or a reason from a moderator to a "member" (?) and since I was the only "member" out of the entire group at that point I decided to leave it since it appears I wasn't welcomed by someone there. Wish I knew how that happened.

Let me know what she thinks of the webinars if she decides to use some of them.

I will... Do any of them help with diets??? She was doing a 14 day or something like that, but the Grub was very expensive...

well, veggies are good for us all, and not real high in calories! When I have lots of salad greens, I don't reach for bad junk foods!

I grew a plant called orach last year. It is also known as mountain spinach. Might be a good addition for where you are. Grows tall (mine was 4-5 feet tall and we have sucky condiitions for it here) Has big broad leaves that can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as a green. Tasty. Best part: It was still good as a salad green after it got warm here during summer and all my lettuce varieties were bolting from the temp. Put it in the front yard as a bit of a screen between house and street. It was actually very pretty, as I got a red variety. Come fall, pretty russets and golds with lovely seed heads which the red wing blackbirds enjoyed sharing with me.

A young friend told me how to make chard patties of Swiss chard, eggs, some bread crumbs, herbs and a bit of cheese. Delicious and good to freeze while dealing with a bounty of the Swiss Chard. Makes a very satisfying brunch or lunch to take out of the freezer and nuke in microwave on a cold snowy day. A bit of summer to keep one going in the cold season.