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Square Foot Gardening 101

Square Foot Gardening 101
Update! Check out our new Square Foot Gardening Infographic for even more tips, diagrams, a plant list and much more. I recently stumbled upon a book (All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! I know just enough about gardening to know that I am not very good at it, and that it is a lot of work. What is Square Foot Gardening? The idea behind square foot gardening is that you can plant fruits, vegetables and flowers in raised beds, above infertile soil and even out of the reach of pets. Materials Needed to Set Up a Square Foot Garden Material costs are variable, depending on the size of garden you plan to build. (1) Sheet untreated plywood – $0.00 (leftover scrap from a previous home improvement project) (2) 2x6x8 pieces of untreated lumber – $7.38 Don’t get treated lumber because treatments can seep into the soil and contaminate your planting area. (8) #6 x 1″ Wood Screws – $0.98 These were used to anchor the nylon line to create a grid system for the 1×1 planting plots.

Survival Seeds Vault Seeds may become more valuable than GOLD in an economic collapse... **Notice** If using Internet Explorer and the "Add to Cart" button does not work, click inside the quantity field and push the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Why should you buy the Survival Seed Vault™ from Heirloom Organics Non-Hybrid Seeds? This seed pack is processed for long term storage according to the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) methods for maximum shelf life, increasing the shelf-life of our seeds by many years. Heirloom Organics is the only supplier of seeds that has studied and implemented these methods developed by the USDA. Each Survival Seed Vault™ has a total of 25 varieties of NON-HYBRID seeds. Each Survival Seed Vault™ Contains These Hand Picked, Open Pollinated Varieties: *Important: We are in a very real non-hybrid seed shortage. Now you can grow your Survival Garden for bountiful harvest anywhere in the country. Can You Take Charge Of Your Family’s Food Supply? Here is what you need to do right now….

9 Steps To Starting A Survival Garden In a time of economic uncertainty and rising food prices, it it always a good idea to have a garden to provide extra food for you and your family. Besides providing a source of food in an emergency, a garden is also a great source of wonderful vegetables which are MUCH healthier to eat than most of the food you can get at the supermarket. So how do you begin? The following are 9 steps that you can take to get your garden started..... #1) Decide What Your Goals Are - Do you want to grow enough just to add a few vegetables to your dinner once in a while? Some people who want to live "off the grid" end up building a garden large enough that it will provide almost all of the food that their family needs. #2) Evaluate Your Land - Once you know what your goals are, you need to evaluate the land that you are currently living on. If you decide that you want a "mega-garden" but you live in a condo, then you may have to end up moving to achieve your goals. So what is the solution? Comments comments

Windy Hollow Farm alters goals after long struggle Point Arena, Mendocino County -- A Bay Area family buys 20 acres of undeveloped land in Mendocino County so the younger generation can start an organic farm and the older generation has a place to retire. Nine years and many roadblocks later, three generations live on Windy Hollow Farm. Tara Duggan reports on what her family learned about modern farming and living off the land. For Windy Hollow Farm, my brother, Ben Duggan, and my sister-in-law, Jennifer Ketring, planned to follow the model of the three small organic vegetable farms where they had completed internships. A farm of that scale would only support one family at most, so our parents, Jane and Michael, would live on the land but not count on income from it. The fall after the deer fence was done, they had to wait months for a contractor to drill their well, but they couldn't wait that long to start planting. "That wasn't the best plan, but we couldn't help ourselves," said Jennifer. Finally, drilling began on the well.

Survival Gardening And a Way to Relax and De-Stress Survival gardening can be fun, relaxing and actually quite simple… Many people seem to think they don’t have enough space for a garden but the areas where you can learn how to grow a basic vegetable garden are endless. Yep, I am talking about those spaces we try to fill in with all kinds of flowers, shrubs, and even in some cases, gravel, so that it looks nice…. :) Plant your veggies there. Along Side Your House The area alongside the house is perfect for plants as it is protected from many things, such as: Frost, will stay frost-free longer in the fallcritters, we have to protect everything we grow here in Montana from hungry deerhail, heavy rains, strong wind… plus the plants seem to grow faster and I think it may be because heat is magnified. You may want to use non-hybrid seeds to do gardening as you will be able to harvest your own seeds for the following year this way. Visit our Survival Garden Ebooks page for simple green thumb helpsbooks..

27 Medicinal Plants Worth Your Garden Space Playful as kids are, accidents happen. And the accident that befallen me at 7 years old was the feeling of the hot exhaust pipe of a motorcycle kissing the skin of my leg. Grandma was around and saw it. Immediately, she took out a knife and slice the thick lower part of the aloe vera plant by the garden and rubbed the exposed end on the burn. Looking back, I realized that it was important to have medicinal plants around the house cause you never know when you might need them. So here are a list of plants that have the highest medicinal value compared to the other million species around the world worth planting around the house. Aloe Vera The aloe vera grows only under the sun with well drained dry or moist soil. woundscutsburnseczemareducing inflammation Apart from its external use on the skin, aloe vera is also taken internally in the treatment of : ulcerative colitis (drinking aloe vera juice)chronic constipationpoor appetitedigestive problems Marsh Mallow Great Burdock Pot Marigold Gotu Kola

Survival Gardening: Part 2 Survival Cache The answer to everyone’s question is “No”, we are not too late to get started on our Survival Garden for this year, not for most of the population living in the United States and Canada. It keeps snowing on me here in Utah, so I’m still waiting. This is the 2nd post in a series on Survival Gardening Read Part 1: Survival Gardening I just moved into a new place and so I haven’t been able to do my fall preparation like I normally would, but that’s just the way it is sometimes, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Many times people are frustrated because they hear the radio shows, read the books, view the Emergency Foodvideos, and find their situation doesn’t match up to what they are hearing from the experts. So with that aside, you can start your garden with me, and we’ll do the best we can, and we WILL have a nice garden. OK, so now you have a few choices of crops now let’s look at the space that is available to you. Read the rest of the article May 2, 2011

More Creative Fence Ideas — J Peterson Garden Design Your fence separates your garden from the street or your neighbor’s garden, and until recent years, they have been built with mostly function in mind. But why have the same old stockade vertical privacy fence when you can have some a bit more creative and visually interesting? I collect pics of great ideas as I’m driving around Austin–maybe one of these will be an inspiration for you! How cool is this fence? Horizontal boards are the trend with fences, but this bold hue makes it a focal point in the garden rather than merely a backdrop. What a smart combination of wood and steel! I have a soft spot for this fence–I love the combination of rustic tree poles with the more structured masonry column. This fence is not inexpensive, being constructed all from steel. You might also enjoy these articles: Tagged as: blue fence, creative fence ideas, fences, Garden Design, horizontal board fence, rustic fence, steel fence, wood fence

Survival Garden: Part 1 Growing A Survival Garden May Soon Become A Necessity! Have you considered that... survival gardening may soon be a true matter of survival and not just a choice? With the rapid decline of our financial system and food supply, grocery store produce and other products, may soon be at a crisis level shortage like we have never seen. At that point, gardening would no longer be a "choice" for a more self sufficient lifestyle, it would be a matter of survival for everyone! This scenario is fast-becoming very probable and real. With the costs of living rising all the time, you can see the practical benefits of growing your own garden... you can save money, increase your family's health, and become more self sufficient all at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard. Take advantage of whatever garden space you have, even if your garden may not provide all the food that you need, it will have a dramatic effect in reducing your food bill. 1. Small Garden Space All Seeds are NOT alike...

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