Today I finished putting in the grand kids tomato plants, there are 23 plants, fifteen big boy, five beef stake, three cherry and the rest roma. Yesterday and the day before I planted all their red peppers...I didn't count them but there were a lot, plus I put in brussels sprouts, green peppers, and assorted hot peppers, pickling cucumbers and all I have left is to do garlic and some squash. It's a long story but I should have known that somehow this "family" garden was going to end up being laid at my feet....I am behind on my flower beds, though I did get in sunflowers early, half my wildflower bed today and my front flower bed is planted but something keeps eating them as they come up so I had to use some dust on them today.
No I haven't gardened in years. Last year my grandson got some free tomato plants from somewhere and we planted them with a few peppers I bought, some spinach and sweet potatoes. This year it was their idea to start canning as a family project and I thought it had potential to be valuable to them in the future so I went along with it....now I feel like the story of the little red hen who did all the work then everyone wanted a piece of the pie. lol. One thing I learned from this virus pandemic is that while marking all the goods on the front so I could easily see when they expired is that canned tomatoes last a decade so when it's all said and done for I will have to calculate how many years it will be before I see a rate of return considering I usually will buy canned tomatoes when they are on sale for about fifty cents a can. Canning jars aren't cheap. I can buy sixteen or more cans of tomatoes for what it cost me to can my own, usually half pint jars are eight to ten bucks so probably more on the more side when you consider the lids, water, extra ingredients like herbs or if you want to can with some green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.
It's not warm here year round so everyday isn't an option. I eat more fresh foods now that I live alone then when I had my two sons growing up. Back then I did have a garden but they weren't big vegetable eaters. I usually froze most of what I grew over canning. I make a medium size bowl of salad and it last me four to five meals, it's cost effective in the summer months to grow your own tomatoes if you use so many that way. Brussels sprouts are another one that is cost effective and I liked growing them because they last long past the growing season, there were many times I could still pick them off the stalk around Thanksgiving. I am not real big on pickles but my grand kids love them so making my own has an appeal that way as they also can be costly to buy....and my grand kids don't like when I am out of something "because it wasn't on sale"....lol.
I can buy sixteen or more cans of tomatoes for what it cost me to can my own,
No kidding, if you got paid minimum wage for every hour you gardened, you'd be able to buy the whole supermarket, but self-sufficiency is more about security and less about "efficiency".
Today I finished putting in the grand kids tomato plants, there are 23 plants, fifteen big boy, five beef stake, three cherry and the rest roma. Yesterday and the day before I planted all their red peppers...I didn't count them but there were a lot, plus I put in brussels sprouts, green peppers, and assorted hot peppers, pickling cucumbers and all I have left is to do garlic and some squash. It's a long story but I should have known that somehow this "family" garden was going to end up being laid at my feet....I am behind on my flower beds, though I did get in sunflowers early, half my wildflower bed today and my front flower bed is planted but something keeps eating them as they come up so I had to use some dust on them today.
Is your garden providing enough food for you to survive?
Do you eat plants from your garden every day?
No I haven't gardened in years. Last year my grandson got some free tomato plants from somewhere and we planted them with a few peppers I bought, some spinach and sweet potatoes. This year it was their idea to start canning as a family project and I thought it had potential to be valuable to them in the future so I went along with it....now I feel like the story of the little red hen who did all the work then everyone wanted a piece of the pie. lol. One thing I learned from this virus pandemic is that while marking all the goods on the front so I could easily see when they expired is that canned tomatoes last a decade so when it's all said and done for I will have to calculate how many years it will be before I see a rate of return considering I usually will buy canned tomatoes when they are on sale for about fifty cents a can. Canning jars aren't cheap. I can buy sixteen or more cans of tomatoes for what it cost me to can my own, usually half pint jars are eight to ten bucks so probably more on the more side when you consider the lids, water, extra ingredients like herbs or if you want to can with some green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.
It's not warm here year round so everyday isn't an option. I eat more fresh foods now that I live alone then when I had my two sons growing up. Back then I did have a garden but they weren't big vegetable eaters. I usually froze most of what I grew over canning. I make a medium size bowl of salad and it last me four to five meals, it's cost effective in the summer months to grow your own tomatoes if you use so many that way. Brussels sprouts are another one that is cost effective and I liked growing them because they last long past the growing season, there were many times I could still pick them off the stalk around Thanksgiving. I am not real big on pickles but my grand kids love them so making my own has an appeal that way as they also can be costly to buy....and my grand kids don't like when I am out of something "because it wasn't on sale"....lol.
No kidding, if you got paid minimum wage for every hour you gardened, you'd be able to buy the whole supermarket, but self-sufficiency is more about security and less about "efficiency".
"Efficiency" is a false god.
Triple redundancy is ideal.
True, maybe in the future more truer than ever.