Comments on: Urban or Rural Homesteading: Plan Vegetable Garden Now http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/ Survive the Tough Times, Get Out of Debt and Save Money Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:35:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Diary of a Smart Chick » Post Topic » SmartChick at the Blog Carnival http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-4186 Diary of a Smart Chick » Post Topic » SmartChick at the Blog Carnival Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:09:17 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-4186 [...] to the recipes category, the other categories in this blog carnival were canning, farm animals, gardening (even indoors), recycling and general information on sustainable living and the homesteading way of [...] [...] to the recipes category, the other categories in this blog carnival were canning, farm animals, gardening (even indoors), recycling and general information on sustainable living and the homesteading way of [...]

]]> By: Snowfall Edition - Carnival of Homesteading | Small Homestead http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-4166 Snowfall Edition - Carnival of Homesteading | Small Homestead Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:32:44 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-4166 [...] S presents Urban or Rural Homesteading: Plan Vegetable Garden Now posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, “Now is the time to start planning your garden. A good [...] [...] S presents Urban or Rural Homesteading: Plan Vegetable Garden Now posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, “Now is the time to start planning your garden. A good [...]

]]> By: deRuiter http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-4151 deRuiter Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:25:53 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-4151 Cindy, You CAN afford to start your garden! Pick out a sunny spot in the yard, and when the weather breaks, skim off the sod and compost it. Turn over the soil with a shovel and rake. You don't need a fancy drum for composting, just a couple of worn out trash cans, even ones with the bottom missing. Tuck these in an unobtrusive corner of the garden and pile in all the sod you've removed, and as you cut the lawn, put in the grass clippings and weeds which you pull. The process of composting will heat up the contents of the barrels and make you beautiful humus. Add every scrap of kitchen waste (not meat) to the barrels all year round. Leave the tops off and rain water and air will get in to break down the organic matter into humus. BUY A COUPLE OF BERRY BUSHES, GRAPE VINES, DWARF FRUIT TREES, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT MOST this year to get them started. Some Asparagus plants and strawberries are very inexpensive. Then plant the rest of the garden with vegetable seeds. Every spring you empty the compost bins onto the garden for the humus. Find a riding stable or horse farm and bring home fresh manure and put it in compost bins. I clean out stalls from a local barn for the manure and wood shavings horse bedding and spread this on the garden in the fall to till under in the spring. We also bed the rhubarb plants with this horse bedding as soon as they tips of the plants appear in the spring, and then again before the frost. Gardening doesn't require a lot of money. Ask friends for cuttings of horse radish, perennial herbs, fruit bushes. Go on Craigslist and Freecycle and ASK for garden plants. Shop Rite Grocery store has a rack of seeds every year which are 5 packs for a dollar, and we've had great germination success with these cheapies. Fruit and vardening costs very little for a large reward in fresh produce, improved soil structure, investment of almost no fossil fuels, less organic matter going into the landfill, and exercise and fresh air. who needs a gym with a garden to tend? When the ground isn't frozen, I take each day's kitchen waste into the garden, dig a hole and bury it. This quickly turns the waste into humous and the action of diggin the holes turns under weeds. A garden's a cheap hobby with great rewards. Cindy, You CAN afford to start your garden! Pick out a sunny spot in the yard, and when the weather breaks, skim off the sod and compost it. Turn over the soil with a shovel and rake. You don’t need a fancy drum for composting, just a couple of worn out trash cans, even ones with the bottom missing. Tuck these in an unobtrusive corner of the garden and pile in all the sod you’ve removed, and as you cut the lawn, put in the grass clippings and weeds which you pull. The process of composting will heat up the contents of the barrels and make you beautiful humus. Add every scrap of kitchen waste (not meat) to the barrels all year round. Leave the tops off and rain water and air will get in to break down the organic matter into humus. BUY A COUPLE OF BERRY BUSHES, GRAPE VINES, DWARF FRUIT TREES, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT MOST this year to get them started. Some Asparagus plants and strawberries are very inexpensive. Then plant the rest of the garden with vegetable seeds. Every spring you empty the compost bins onto the garden for the humus. Find a riding stable or horse farm and bring home fresh manure and put it in compost bins. I clean out stalls from a local barn for the manure and wood shavings horse bedding and spread this on the garden in the fall to till under in the spring. We also bed the rhubarb plants with this horse bedding as soon as they tips of the plants appear in the spring, and then again before the frost. Gardening doesn’t require a lot of money. Ask friends for cuttings of horse radish, perennial herbs, fruit bushes. Go on Craigslist and Freecycle and ASK for garden plants. Shop Rite Grocery store has a rack of seeds every year which are 5 packs for a dollar, and we’ve had great germination success with these cheapies. Fruit and vardening costs very little for a large reward in fresh produce, improved soil structure, investment of almost no fossil fuels, less organic matter going into the landfill, and exercise and fresh air. who needs a gym with a garden to tend? When the ground isn’t frozen, I take each day’s kitchen waste into the garden, dig a hole and bury it. This quickly turns the waste into humous and the action of diggin the holes turns under weeds. A garden’s a cheap hobby with great rewards.

]]> By: cindys http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-3384 cindys Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:19:11 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-3384 D, I hope the links will help you plan your garden. Marci, Wow! Your yard must be a wonderful! I wish you had pictures. I would love to add berry bushes and fruit trees but can't afford it right now, however, it is in my plans for the future. D, I hope the links will help you plan your garden.

Marci, Wow! Your yard must be a wonderful! I wish you had pictures. I would love to add berry bushes and fruit trees but can’t afford it right now, however, it is in my plans for the future.

]]> By: marci http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-3379 marci Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:12:40 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-3379 Good timely post. And remember permanent edible landscaping! Convert some of your yard and landscaping over to edibles - you won't be sorry! And plan also for a winter garden. Right now, thru the snow and all, I still have things growing. Lots of brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, kales, cabbage, celery, peas, swiss chard and some herbs. In the house I have stored so much from the summer and fall garden, including potatoes squashes unprocessed. Just picked fresh veggies - What a nice treat in the dead of winter! In the edible landscaping areas, I have all kinds of berry bushes, currents, asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, kales, and about 20 other varieties that will pop back up when spring arrives. As well as dwarf fruit trees. And all that on a small 50x100 lot that my house sits on. This was my 2nd year, and I am sooo looking forward to expanding everything next year! I really encourage you to try it! Good timely post. And remember permanent edible landscaping! Convert some of your yard and landscaping over to edibles – you won’t be sorry!
And plan also for a winter garden.

Right now, thru the snow and all, I still have things growing. Lots of brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, kales, cabbage, celery, peas, swiss chard and some herbs. In the house I have stored so much from the summer and fall garden, including potatoes squashes unprocessed. Just picked fresh veggies – What a nice treat in the dead of winter!

In the edible landscaping areas, I have all kinds of berry bushes, currents, asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, kales, and about 20 other varieties that will pop back up when spring arrives. As well as dwarf fruit trees.

And all that on a small 50×100 lot that my house sits on. This was my 2nd year, and I am sooo looking forward to expanding everything next year! I really encourage you to try it!

]]> By: D http://achingdebts.com/urban-or-rural-homesteading-plan-vegetable-garden-now/comment-page-1/#comment-3370 D Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:52:23 +0000 http://achingdebts.com/?p=379#comment-3370 What perfect timing for this post. We have been discussing our plans to do our first garden this year. We just found out that we have a severely allergic son. He can not have corn, soy, or milk. Basically he can have very little processed food--no high fructose corn syrup which is in practically everything! So we plan to plant a raised garden bed in our back yard. This information is very helpful! Thank you for the post! What perfect timing for this post. We have been discussing our plans to do our first garden this year. We just found out that we have a severely allergic son. He can not have corn, soy, or milk. Basically he can have very little processed food–no high fructose corn syrup which is in practically everything!

So we plan to plant a raised garden bed in our back yard. This information is very helpful! Thank you for the post!

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