Self Sufficiency-Step One

Mon May 02, 2011 11:49 pm » by **Hybridtheory**

go to htg supply..google it and order a 10x 10 full white (on both sides) sheet of poly plastic..
its either 6 or 7 mil..very thick and pretty durable..
then 1/2 pvc pipe and a few 2' rebar..
lay out your rebar and hammer them in..
leave a few inches(about 3") sticking up on each rebar above ground.
then just stick and end of pvc on a rebar , bend it over(hoop) to the other rebar..repeat and cover with your white poly..
this will not only protect your plants from outside elements but bugs are way easier to control, photoperiods as well..with a black piece of polly in summer, you can use it to cover the hoop house/greenhouse roof to block light in order to perpetual grow throughout the year..harvest multiple times..
its a win-win to go greenhouse.
need any advice im 26 years into horticulture..
just pm or whatever..
honestly though, i would get a 125watt CFL from hydrofarm at 6500k spectrum..two ufo led lights from lighthouse or blackstar..and do them indoors away from any elements like radiation that could mess you up in the long run..hate to do something outdoor and not be able to eat..

Mon May 02, 2011 11:54 pm » by **Welcomechange**

hesop02 wrote:I'm trying something different this year. Growing potatoes in old tires.
thought I'ld go for some good roots plants, that could be sustaining. Garnishes don't go very far by themselves.

Yes-lots more this year and with the fact of:
1:Poor seeds
2:Spoilt by weather
3:Spoilt by pests, cats, footballs, the kids
4:Slugs
5:drought...theres hardly anything worth harvesting for a family of 4. So this year i have increased the amount x 3 so's hoping to get a fair bit to consume over summer.

Tue May 03, 2011 12:01 am » by **Wvmntneer0808**

the tires thing is a good idea. Theres a big problem in my neck of the woods of people dumping old tires into hollers so it would be a great way to get rid of that problem..dont think dad would like a bunch of tires in the yard tho so i guess a clearing in the woods would do

Tue May 03, 2011 12:52 am » by **Lowsix**

LAST YEARS GARDEN PLOT:
Apartment Planters that were abandoned

2- 4x8's,
1 2x4
1- 2x6

Last years yield:

Canteloupes 150+ may thru sept
Tomatoes -(4 plants) 30 lbs (over nitrogenated. giant plants, low yield)
spinach 2 full salads every day for two months
Lettuce 2 salads every day for a month
Carrots : got ten keepers out of four rows. didnt thin properly.
Squash 3 large plants, 4 per day for two months
2- 4x4 potato plots -one set buried deep in clay dirt- thirty small potatoes,
one set planted deep and covered as new shoots pop (like tires) 1 tiny potato.
**ive seen the tire system and deep plaant and cover methods..but they didnt work for me.The ones i planted straight in shitty clay, 2 feet deep yielded poorly, but great tasting harvest.
Pole Beans: none planted late, but got a nice 8 foot trellis with vines to make trellising easier this year.
Onions Chives all season long, shitty tiny bulbs. most pulled early by neighbors
Jalapeno bush 4 feet tall, yield 300+ from may thru nov.
Bell Peppers in pots 7 huge peppers may thru sep.

THIS YEAR

Learned lessons from last year.

Am having a hard time still again this year convincing these people that this food is theirs. So even when i have said they can have it, they really enjoy coming by in the middle of the night to steal it. I have more fun watching them sneak it, than they do stealing it. This is why i planted this garden both years. The best was watching them raid the giant jalapeno plant last year.

Old ladies doing the shifty eyed lookout glance, and then dashing past my porch to fill their shirts with the hottest jalapenos ive ever tasted. (i couldnt eat them) I finally saw an old lady from the opposite side of the aprtment a couple days ago. I had never seen her over here before so was curious where she was from when i saw her sneaking jalapenos last year. So this year i asked if she liked my jalapenos, and the poor thing nearly died of a heart attack. Her face went dark crimson.. I had to tell her grandson to tell her it was ok, and that they were for everyone. She asked.."so, did you see me?" Priceless. I told her the new ones wll be ready for her in two weeks.. She had her grandson ask if I liked fajitas. mission accomplished.

This morning i saw the little boy from india drag both grandparents around the garden and tell them everything he has planted, and then walked her through each part of the plot and told her what was in it, then onto my porch for the lesson on desert roses and tomato cloning. Then a little bit about my two litre coke bottle watering system. And bucket drip system. Granpa was all over this as he was a farmer in his youth in India. They wanted to know more about the beans, and could they have some. Mission accomplished.

Tomatoes 6 pots, with parents and clones, None Dirt planted. Vermiculite/dirt. Using Clonex to root cuttings *hat tip to stoners for suggestion*.
Holy FUCK this shit works very very very well.

Managed nutrition cycle of tomatoes better. More water, only fertilized when flowering and fruiting. Used bush varieties, MUCH more advanced trimming..cutting all growing tips above a flower set insures setting and sugar transfer. 50/50 dirt-vermiculite mix. More watering but way better aeration. Going to have giant onions, and mad mad harvest of bush patio tomatoes. 50+ on one plant alone so far.

Squash Planted early, would have had massive yield off 10 plants but hailstorm brought the reaper to all but four. zucchini and yellow -
Will get approx 2/day for two months.

Early Bush Grean Beans

Holy mother of God. THIS is the crop to plant for first time meal supplementation or high biomass with minimal input(water). Planted early these are robust, fast, need no support, makes beans damn near overnight. i have about forty plants and I cam getting 1/4 pound off them daily. should go thru June until too hot for flower set.
Seriously in surival farming, if you are not overplanted on Early Bush Beans..then you're crazy. Will be my largest crop from now on.
peas approx 1/8 lb a day, will go thru june until flowering heat.
Kazahkstanian old lady dug up my first planting, and showed the correct way to plant talking the whole time in khazakstanian, like she was chewing me out or some shit.... Take cane, drag furrow, sprnkle lightly cover lightly. Seeds broke ground in four days, Mine took two weeks (individually poked into dirt mound) She laughed at me and my slow peas. I punched her in the boob and sent her on her way.

Pole beans
High yield much slower to harvest than bush. But climbs and wraps for 60 days before it flowers, must plant early. Stops producing in june. IF you can keep it alive till winter, will explode with beans at first cold snap. Throw rocks to keep old ladies out of your bean patch. Or get them a plastic bag to make the theft easier.

Spinach
Underplanted this year. Five plants one salad a day. Mexicans dont eat salads.

Radishes
Fastest to harvest of all ive planted. 30 days. replant every two weeks for continuous harvest thru july mb. Im getting five fat ones a day. will last one month. Every single one planted, spouted. (unlike spinach which only grew half planted) Mexican children dont like radishes either, since they dont taste at all how they look, if you are a young mexican child thinking there is cherry candy growing out of the ground. How do i know this? Tiny ass teeth marks in several discarded radishes. I can see the first tentative bit, then the second to confirm, yup this aint a cherry. HOLY SHIT THIS THING IS HOT.......Toss.

Still, with all ive learned over the last two years,
Im still pretty damn certain ti would be almost impossible
to plant/work enough to SURVIVE off. (considering the entire year)

The plot for one family Im guessing would have to be over an acre, and hand watered.
And i just dont see how that can be done from a zero start like most of us have.

NOT that it cannot be done. My parents come damn close..but im talking a SHTF situation. Man, just a rather daunting math problem. Im not hoping for a "huge change" or "new system" This one we have is pretty fucking convenient, despite how easy it is to criticize it and all the attendant "evils". So i firmly stand behind THIS system staying in one piece as broken as it is. Dont care how optimistic the peanut gallery of love light and elevated awarenesses wants to sound about people covering for themselves. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater to "get back to basics" will kill off a shit ton of people.

Perhaps even you.

Think about it.

Tue May 03, 2011 1:02 am » by **domdabears**

looks good :flop:

Tue May 03, 2011 1:20 am » by **Welcomechange**

lowsix wrote:Perhaps even you.

Think about it.

Brilliant and nice too get a glimpse :wink:

I believe this to be possibly the best wake up call yet :clapper:

As for it being possible-from the photo im guessing this to be your total growing area? But as you mentioned about the neighbours all getting 'involved' my thoughts would be say (depending on layouts of houses) the clusters of houses would merge gardens therefore utilising more for growing such things as sweetcorn.

I guess youd be screwed if you lived in the high rise apartments :peep:

. I live in a cottage with with a huge back garden, the neighbours whom have been around for many years have chickens and my back garden has know way of getting out unless we go through next doors garden so i guess we would have to go back to that? :hiho:

Tue May 03, 2011 1:25 am » by **Blurail**

Great r! I am raising chickens for the eggs and have a large community garden project underway, all in a city !

Wed May 04, 2011 12:47 pm » by **Welcomechange**

Anybody thought about goats in the UK?
http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/keeping-a-goat.html