Learn to Farm Your Own Forty for Your Survival Now

My grandparents had a mini farm right in their backyard in La Grande, Oregon. I can’t recall they went to the store for very much. They were self sufficient, something we might want to learn to be to prepare for potential hard times. Even if times don’t get that hard, planting a garden is a useful skill that will make you feel connected to the soil. There are plenty of people these days who are talking about getting back to the basics our parents and grandparents knew that we never learned but now might need. Planting your own garden will help you begin your new journey into learning a variety of new skills so that you can get through difficulties, and you’ll eat better, get outside more and learn to appreciate the environment. I’m not the expert gardener but had my own garden as a young person and remember it as a good experience. So here are some tips from the experts while we begin to help ourselves farm our own 40, get started and plant and manage our own vegetable gardens. Now you really won’t be farming 40 acres with a mule but likely a small spot around your house. Plant the garden near your kitchen so the vegetables will go from yard to pantry. Begin with a garden about 80 to 100 square feet that gets a lot of sun during daytimes. Begin with preparing the ground. You can rent a tiller, buy a rake or hoe and do it the hard way or hire someone to help you. It’s important to get the soil prepared and make it like a ball you can hold that falls apart when you drop it in clumps. If the soil is dry and sandy, you will need compost from your local hardware or garden products store or area inside the local Wal-Mart or other discounter. That’s also where you’ll get your seeds. Get the good not the cheap kind because good seeds can make a difference in whether you’ll get something to grow.

Start with the basic vegetables like zucchini, carrots, peas, beans, rutabaga, onions, beets and various herbs. Tomatoes can be planted from indoor starters. Space planting as the instructions describe. There are times for planting certain vegetables, and the instructions on seed packets will tell you.

Get a good fertilizer with a balance of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium into the soil. Then continue that with something like Miracle Grow to get those plants on their way properly.

The order for planting and the tools necessary include: a shovel, rake, garden trowel, fertilizer, a bucket or can for watering, some seeds and a hardy pair of garden gloves. Fence off the arrow with a little wire fence, read the instructions on the seed packets because good planning will make a difference in whether your garden sprouts or not.

Soak seeds before planting, although there are some vegetable seeds like cabbage, broccoli and arugula don’t need it. Others do; directions on packets will tell you. After soaking, plant the seeds immediately. Plant vertically to save space. Instead of letting beans, cucumbers, melons, and squash sprawl across the ground, you can let them climb a trellis or arbor on poles planted in the ground near the seeds as they begin to sprout so they grow on the poles.

Start at the back of the garden as you plant so you don’t trounce where you’ve planted. Good times for planting are early or late in the day. Water right away after planting the seeds and then follow up every other day.

Melons, squash and melons grow in the fall as well as Brussels sprouts and broccoli using straw as a warm coat on the soil. If you learn to can as well as plant your vegetables, you can have lots of vegetables all the year round. I’m preparing for this myself and welcome all of you to join me.

About the Author

Carol Forsloff is a professional journalist/editor/publisher who has written extensively and has several books in print, one of which is Sarah Palin: Hot Ticket to Nowhere, now available for download at http://www.sarahpalinsecretlife.com. The online edition of her paper is http://www.therealviews.com, her blog coffeewithcarol.blogspot.com. Stop by and read Carol’s advice since she is a licensed counselor, information on education from her teaching background and commentaries on social and political events from her background as journalist.

Survival Gardening Part 2 peak oil, TSHTF, food storage

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