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! by Mel Bartholomew) with an interesting gardening method called square foot gardening, and decided we would give it a try. I’ve always thought the idea of having a vegetable garden would be a lot of fun. Walking out to your square foot garden and picking a fresh tomato for tonight’s dinner appeals to the self-sufficient nature of most frugal individuals. 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.
Lewis G. Clarke: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Forgotten Hero
Image Courtesy of Carver Gayton In the article below Seattle historian Carver Clark Gayton describes his most prominent ancestor, Lewis G. Clarke, who is widely considered to be the model for one of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s main characters in her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When I was a child, my mother passed on stories to me and my siblings about Lewis G. At the time I did not appreciate the significance of Lewis Clarke’s life nor his relationship with Harriet Beecher Stowe. By the time of his death in Lexington, Kentucky in 1897, Clarke had developed an international reputation. Yet after his death Clarke disappeared from newspapers and other major print media. Clarke’s disappearance from the annals of history also came from the actions of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family. Clarke’s legacy was also hurt by twentieth century historians who downplayed the novel as the major catalyst for the Civil War and abolition of slavery.
A Basic Vegetable Garden
In a global catastrophe, the vegetable garden zooms to prominence to ensure survival food. A basic primer to plant vegetables for simple survival. Tip on locations of global seed banks, including the doomsday seed bank or Norwegian Seed Bank and the Millennium Seed Bank in the USA. Your urban survival gear includes: garden hoe, almanac, bagged potatoes and vegetable seeds. If there is no garden supply store, locate a seed bank or a neighborhood farmer. A vegetable garden is your best vitamin and mineral source and your best hope for long-term survival food. Plant a vegetable garden in any plot or container garden in sunny locations, or plant garden plants on the sunny side of your home. Find planting instructions on vegetable seed packets; planting times are in your almanac. Be sure to plant medicinal survival food: garlic (penicillin-like properties), onions, chives, sage, all peppers and herbs. Broadcast fertilizer (or horse, chicken, or cow manure) into your soil and mix.
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. Just like survival in the woods, we start wherever we are and go from there, we do the very best we can under the circumstances. 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. Read the rest of the article
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. 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. If the economy worsens, one of the first things to be affected will be our country’s food supply. causing soaring prices and severe shortages. Can You Take Charge Of Your Family’s Food Supply? P.S. P.P.S.
Stars of Color: Blacklisted!
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-20th-century practice of denying employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals because of their suspected political beliefs or associations. Artists were barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy with the American Communist Party, involvement in progressive political causes that enforcers of the blacklist associated with communism, and refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party activities. Even during the period of its strictest enforcement, the late 1940s through the late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit and verifiable, but it caused direct damage to the careers of scores of American artists, often made betrayal of friendship (not to mention principle) the price for a livelihood, and promoted ideological censorship across the entire industry. [Wikipedia] Canada Lee Lena Horne
Survival, Self Sufficiency and Sustainable Living
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...
