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Rising Food Costs - Gardening

I'm sick of Brrrrr COLD!!! Just venting!

This is the 2nd hard freeze since I put my garden in; frazzeled and hurried I cover in P.M. and uncover in the A.M. so far so good! Only lost my okra plants so far & 1 tomato plant.

But tonigh I am wondering if I may not wind up with frozen spinach. And thank God for mulch, it saved me last time. I use it to cover at night as well as a flannel sheet from the house. I believe the mulch (lawn mower clippings) works best..FYI.
 
Spinach is pretty hardy once it's established, Cathy. I suspect it will weather the frost OK.

As to the others, well, you kind of pushed the season with those tender plants. But, fortunately, there's plenty of time to replant if you should lose them.
 
Well we lucked out & lost nothing! I noticed this am that my turnip seed have sprouted! Everytime something sprouts I still get excited as a kid! You're right about me pushing it by planting a little early. I had always liked to plant on Good Friday down in lower Alabama area where I lived for 18 yrs. never really considered the fact I am a good deal further north here and should've adjusted accordingly (plus Easter fell early this yr.)... so far though I have been most fortunate! And then this past Sat. we fenced in our chicken coup. Well then it goes and turns colder than normal. I will be relieved when it just stays mild spring temperatures!
 
Hi Jafo!

Guess what I had Sunday night? OK give up????


A fresh spinach salad from my GARDEN!!! I even had 4 sugar snap peas to cut up and put into it, and it was delicious and so satisfying! Yeah the spinach looked like it needed thinning so, I took the snips and gave it a trimming out and had enough for a bowl of salad...for me! I offered to share but no one accepted so I ate the whole thing! I am really enjoying this garden, and the challenges to grow the best crop I can.

I wish I had a picture to show you, it looks so funny. One part is an area rug with holes for the squash plants, they came up good, the next area is an old maroon shower curtian with rows running thru it. Then this flowered wall paper with rows plantd between it and the last area is a astro-turf type carpet with holes with veggies planted in them. The entire garden looks neat and clean and no weeds and only veggie plants poking through here and there! No hoe-ing and plenty of clean area to kneel down and do whatever I want.

Cheers, Cathy
 
Lucky you!

Me and the boys just finished getting the compost into the garden and also some manure yesterday. Have to till it in there hopefully by Monday and then I plan on getting some corn in the ground and begin incorporating the rest of the garden.

I am one of those who enjoys weeding so I don't cover it with much. I have gotten pretty good with the garden hoe over the years and can just pop weeds out whenever they come up.
 
Come on a my house, Jafo, and you can have all the fun you want chopping weeds. :p
 
We live in an apartment but my father in law raises a garden every year for all of us. Which also comes in handy because I have a 13 pound pet angora rabbit with a big appetite.
We put out lots of herbs and veggies. I plan to can some things from the garden this year for the first time. Just today I got the water bath canner I ordered in the mail. I got the Ball Complete Book Of Home Preserving a few weeks ago and there are several things in there I would like to try.
We get hammered when we put gas in our cars and then again when we shop for food. I cannot get over how much stuff has went up and will continue to go up.
 
I had a neat new idea to fight frost

Last night they called for frost, and my garden is now up pretty well and my plants are too big to cover with blankets, or mulch. So I chose to cover all the plants up with brown paper bags (they slipped right over the plants) and also used news paper folded into little tents for the smaller plants---worked great! A little soggy this morn. when I went out to remove then, but all the plants fared beautifully!!! So I just thought I would share!

If you have any friends who work at the grocery store maybe they could toss in a few extra paper bags on your next visit, just in case!

CCCathy
 
Jafo I could just picture myself running out there erecting a tent every evening then running out in the A.M. to take it down before the sun comes up! Folks would think I was training for the military or something!

My fiance' had some funny words for the scene he saw this morning! Hey I don't care it's my precious plants and time, and sweat, and I won't stand for any old frost to ruin all that in a matter of a few hours! Maybe I am in a type of war zone-fighting frost:eek:
 
I dodged that bullet too, Jglass. But friends in Lexington report having had a heavy frost.

Hopefully this is winter's last hurrah. But don't get cocky. The average last frost in central KY is May 10, a few days later where you are.
 
Keep those brown bags handy!!! I really mean it they work, even when folks are picking fun at ya'---My fiances' exact words were "What a monstrocity!" when he first saw my garden this morn! And here I was proud as a peacock that I had beat mother nature! HOO-RAH!
 
KYHeirloomer said:
I dodged that bullet too, Jglass. But friends in Lexington report having had a heavy frost.

Hopefully this is winter's last hurrah. But don't get cocky. The average last frost in central KY is May 10, a few days later where you are.
Click to expand...

Father in law has tons of apple trees covered in buds.
A frost would be very bad right now.
I have my fingers crossed we get lucky.
 
Had to bring in the flowers last night, we had a pretty heavy frost. Sheesh, it was so hot last week it really felt like summer (in the 80's). Ahh well, no biggy, I put them back out today.

Want to get some seeds planted in the garden this weekend, and if the frost kills them, oh well, they are just seeds, can get more. :)
 
Good Luck Jafo

:)i Am Happy To Hear You Are Finally Able To Plant. Hope The Frosts Are Done For The Year, Unfortunately May Can Bring Some Surprise Cold Snaps, But My Thoughts Are With Ya' All Up Yonder In The North. My Sis Lives In Vermont And She Keeps Me Posted On Her Weather Ho-hums. ;)
Cccathy
 
I finally got everything planted and watered down yesterday. Funny thing is, it looks like we are buying a house 3 hours away, so the garden may end up basically being given away. :(

I am still going about it as if we never get the house, because I would rather have a new house and no garden, than no new house and no garden.
 
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