Nature is not for us, but a part of us. They are a part of your worldly family.
Enjoy life's journey; but leave no tracks.

ALso don’t forget to look for my new gardening book which is coming out this spring.

Step1 Select plants that you wish to save early in the season. Look for plants with healthy growth habits, abundant flowers or exceptional flavor.
Step2
Allow some faded flowers to remain on the plant toward the end of the growing season. The end of the bloom cycle is triggered by shorter daylight hours. Seeds will begin to form as flower production comes to an end.
Step3
Harvest seeds when the seed heads are dry to the touch and brown. Gather seed pods by hand or with clippers if stems are tough.
Step4
Allow vegetables to over-ripen on the plant before harvesting the seeds. Vegetable seeds are ready to harvest when the fruit is easy to pull off the plant. Beans should be dry and rattle inside their seed casings. Corn should ripen and dry on the stalk. Tomato seeds can be squeezed out of very ripe fruit and dried on paper towels in the sun.
Step5
After harvesting, place seeds on top of a water heater to dry for up to one week. Allow to dry thoroughly before storing.
Step6
Store seeds in their own protective pods or shake them free and store loose in paper envelopes. Harvested seeds should be kept in paper, never plastic, containers. Plastic may cause delicate seeds to rot.
Step7
Label each seed envelope with the variety and date harvested. Use a waterproof pen to avoid disappointment and confusion later on.
Step8
Place the labeled envelopes inside an air-tight container, such as a mason jar, and store in a cool, dry location until the next planting season. A desiccant made of 1 tablespoon powdered milk wrapped in a paper towel and placed inside the container will help absorb moisture.

Choose some vegetables that are easy to grow, store well and that you like to eat. Some suggestions are varieties of dried bean, green bean, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, and carrots. You could also try your hand at tomatoes, although you will need to learn how to can them. Dried beans are about the easiest to store. In most cases, you can leave them dry right on the plant and then harvest them at the end of the season. Onions are easy too. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and sugar snap peas can be blanched and frozen in freezer bags. Carrots can stay in the ground until early winter. Freezing vegetables is not the ideal way of storing food due to the reliance of a powered (electric or gas) freezer, but it’s an easy way to get started.

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One of the first steps that you can take to become self-sufficient is to start a vegetable garden. In doing so, you will not only practice self-sufficiency, but you will also eat healthier. The key is to start small. Don’t overwhelm yourself by planting a huge garden. There’s a learning curve here, so don’t try to do everything in one year. Take your time with it and get a good understanding of what it takes to grow a vegetable garden.

I would also like to mention, that my gardening book will be published early in the spring of this year.

When it comes to planting potatoes remember this: Every five foot row of planted potatoes yields 10 lbs. – approximately 1 month supply per family of 3.

One acre of land takes one person 3 weeks to turn over.  A horse and plow – one day.  A tractor – 4 hours.  Food For Thought.

Plan for a little herb garden by the kitchen door.  Once you start cooking with fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, you will sure be glad you did.  My wife uses ours all summer long.

Look for more info on beans in my new gardening book which will be coming out this spring.

Green beans & peas are a popular, warm season, home-grow crop.  Growing best in loose deeply dug  soil with plenty of compost, full sunlight, and adequate moisture.  Beans & peas come in many types & varieties. Beans & peas will not produce well in a dry soil. They require constant even moisture especially pole beans during the first 30 days of growth.  If not, the beans will be tough and stringy — if they produce at all. Pole beans produce best when trellised. I prefer using poles cut in our bush out back apposed to wire or fencing. The metal trellis’ gets to hot in the sun, and blister the vines somewhat. Poles allow much easier harvesting as well.  Bush beans & most peas are less labor intensive, but produce  less.  It is back-breaking chore to harvest bush types in my opinion.  Many gardeners like bush beans, but I’m not one of them.  Beans harvested on bush types are almost always muddy hanging so close to the soil. I have found them to be much less productive as well. Their flavor is comparable to their pole cousins.

Drop by your local barber shop and ask them to save you the hair. Place human hair around the border of the garden. Wild animals can’t stand it. The smell of many unseen humans in close proximity will drive them crazy.  Never tried it but sounds good.  I do have a guaranteed remedy, will let you know at a later date. It will be in my new book which is coming out in the spring though.  Talk Soon

This is a good recipe for helping your plants grow acts as a fertilizer and helps in keeping insects away from your plants.  Can’t beat it.  Also look for more information on things in my new gardening book coming out this spring.

Ingredients:

2 plastic buckets
Comfrey leaves
Plate, Brick or other heavy object that fits inside bucket
Flower pot that fits inside bucket

Directions:

1.      Cut holes into the bottom of a plastic bucket.
2.      Fill bucket 3/4 full with Comfrey leaves. Pack down tightly.
3.      Place a plate on top of the leaves and weigh it down with a brick or other heavy object.
4.      Place an upside down flower pot inside another bucket. Set the bucket containing Comfrey leaves on top of the flower pot.
5.      After 3 weeks, there should be a brown liquid in the bottom of the lower bucket. Bottle this liquid, an place the contents of the top bucket in the compost heap.

Use:
To use Comfrey spray, dilute 1 tablespoon with 2 pints of water. Add a teaspoon of dish washing liquid to the contents.

Here is a simple recipe that helps keep insects away from ones vegetables.  No chemicals needed.  Also look for more information on gardening and things in my new book coming out this spring.

Ingredients:

1 un-peeled onion
1 un-peeled head of garlic
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 pints water

Directions:

1     Chop onion and garlic and combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer 20 minutes.
2.    Cool and store in jars in the refrigerator for 6 weeks.
3.    Strain and store in jars.
Use:
To use, dilute 8 tablespoons of concentrate per gallon of water. Add 1 tablespoon of dish washing liquid. Red pepper spray is a good general insect spray and is an effective repellent against insects and animals.