Backyard Gardening More Important Than Ever

You may have watched the headlines. Late frosts in Florida, killing off much of their fruit crops. Horrendous flooding in Tennessee. Food prices jump....again!

Having a backyard garden is your greatest hedge against the high food prices caused by shortages. A couple of dollars for a pack of tomatoes that will give you many, many pounds of fresh maters. Or even better...a couple of dollars for an entire pack of seeds. Afraid of buying seeds because you would get too much? In my experience, there is only a 25% loss of fertility over the next year....if you keep them in the refridgerator or freezer, there is almost NO loss of fertility by the next year. )

In the past week, we planted sweet corn, tomatoes, and peppers. Coming up will be cucumbers, zucchini, melons, and a second planting of lettuce...soon after, we'll plant green beans as soon as the corn pops out of the ground. Our peas are climbing up the trellis. The first planting of lettuce is looking beautiful (a wonderful mixture of reds and greens). Our potatoes grown in compost is proving a great success so far....we almost can provide them compost fast enough. We even have mustard greens growing like crazy, and cilantro is popping up in nearly every garden bed.

No, I don't expect any noobs (gamer-speak for persons new to something) to plant 40-50 tomato plants as we do. After all, I've been back-yard gardening for over a decade now, and grew up with farmers and victory-gardeners as relatives. However, if you like fresh tomatoes on your salad or sandwich, this just might be the year for you put out a six pack. Tomatoes are the easist and most forgiving of garden plants to try. And trust me...tomatoes picked ripe off the vine are far superior than grocery store tomatoes, which are always picked green and ripened during shipping).

Live in an apartment? Well...do you have a window or a balcony? Many people have had great success with the upside-down growing tomatoes.

Yes, gardening is work. But as I was messaging my arms yesterday (from pulling weeds and planting about 80 seedlings), it occurred to me that it was satisfying work. It costs money, but unlike many other hobbies, it is one that actually gives back....often 2 or 3 times more than it costs...unless, of course, you go crazy at the hardware store.

For those in zone 5 (Kansas City area and like climates), now is the time for planting your tomtoes and peppers. More northern areas will be coming up fast. Good planting, and good luck.



I would like to take this time to say goodbye to someone I've mentioned on this blog before....Ms. Cordi Howell of Cordite Country (Previously Oracle radio Network, most recently American Freedom Radio). Cordi has recently had her sixth child, and hubby Reb has been forced to take a second job just to pay their horrendous property tax bill...between the babe and taking up Reb's chores on their farm, she's just too stretched and has had to put her radio show on hold.

We love you Cordi, and we have learned a lot from you. I will never look at a dandelion or clover in quite the same way. Keep truckin', girl. Congrats on the birth of baby Willow. I expect to be seeing pictures!!!