OT Might be problems with our food chain this summer or fall, so thinking about planting garden

[SlyPokerDog]

Seeing a few stories during the last couple of days that because of the virus farmers aren't finding the labor they need to plant crops. That includes both the illegals who come here to work on our farms and the ones who apply for visas to work the farms.

This also appears to be a growing problem in many of the other countries we import fruit and vegetables from.

We might have food shortages.

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to grow some food just in case.

Not much of a gardener. I think I planted pumpkins once as a kid.

A couple of questions. Thinking about knocking together some raised garden beds. I know the ones for potatoes should be a couple of feet tall but what about corn? Is a 2 foot tall garden bed deep enough or should I go 3 feet?

Can I mix different things together in the same garden bed or each type vegetable have their own?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

@crandc

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

https://1stphorm.com/products/opti-greens-50

 

[SlyPokerDog]

https://1stphorm.com/products/opti-greens-50

Do I have to find seeds for those or just plant the individual tablets?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Do I have to find seeds for those or just plant the individual tablets?

ITS A POWDER. SNIFF IT TO GET THE MOST EFFECTIVE USE OUT OF IT

 

[CupWizier]

Seeing a few stories during the last couple of days that because of the virus farmers aren't finding the labor they need to plant crops. That includes both the illegals who come here to work on our farms and the ones who apply for visas to work the farms.

This also appears to be a growing problem in many of the other countries we import fruit and vegetables from.

We might have food shortages.

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to grow some food just in case.

Not much of a gardener. I think I planted pumpkins once as a kid.

A couple of questions. Thinking about knocking together some raised garden beds. I know the ones for potatoes should be a couple of feet tall but what about corn? Is a 2 foot tall garden bed deep enough or should I go 3 feet?

Can I mix different things together in the same garden bed or each type vegetable have their own?

Great idea. I assume it will be a community garden for all us Taborites. Let me know when the tomatos and corn come in.

 

[oldfisherman]

Seeing a few stories during the last couple of days that because of the virus farmers aren't finding the labor they need to plant crops. That includes both the illegals who come here to work on our farms and the ones who apply for visas to work the farms.

This also appears to be a growing problem in many of the other countries we import fruit and vegetables from.

We might have food shortages.

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to grow some food just in case.

Not much of a gardener. I think I planted pumpkins once as a kid.

A couple of questions. Thinking about knocking together some raised garden beds. I know the ones for potatoes should be a couple of feet tall but what about corn? Is a 2 foot tall garden bed deep enough or should I go 3 feet?

Can I mix different things together in the same garden bed or each type vegetable have their own?

Just my opinion, but 2' should be plenty. We only go 12" on our raised beds. But.....

Corn takes up a lot of space for the amount you harvest. Your going to need a huge raised bed for corn. We don't plant corn.

Potatoes can be grown in a 5 gallon bucket.

Onions are easy to grow, and provide a lot of harvest in a small space.

There are a ton of good gardening youtube videos. Even videos on mixing crops in the same raised bed.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Just my opinion, but 2' should be plenty. We only go 12" on our raised beds. But.....

Corn takes up a lot of space for the amount you harvest. Your going to need a huge raised bed for corn. We don't plant corn.

Potatoes can be grown in a 5 gallon bucket.

Onions are easy to grow, and provide a lot of harvest in a small space.

There are a ton of good gardening youtube videos. Even videos on mixing crops in the same raised bed.

Thanks!

I love fresh corn on the cob. Maybe I'll just plant a few in case corn gets diverted to livestock.

 

[RR7]

Corn is planted all over the midwest, and doesn't rely on by hand harvesting. I don't think you'll see an issue with getting corn. I'd probably try to focus on things that might not be available.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Corn is planted all over the midwest, and doesn't rely on by hand harvesting. I don't think you'll see an issue with getting corn. I'd probably try to focus on things that might not be available.

Good point.

 

[oldfisherman]

The reason we garden is, home grown tastes muuuuccchhh better than store bought. Store veggys/fruit are grown to be shipped, and often harvested before ripening.

Example,
Once you eat a home grown vine ripe tomato, it's hard to swallow store bought.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

The reason we garden is, home grown tastes muuuuccchhh better than store bought. Store veggys are grown to be shipped, and often harvested before ripening.

Example,
Once you eat a home grown vine ripe tomato, it's hard to swallow store bought.

And store bought tomatoes don't have the same splatter effect when you throw them at people.

 

[yankeesince59]

Good point.

Sly, like someone else pointed out, unless you have enough land I wouldn't mess with corn...you'll get a lot better yield per square yard with other veggies.

https://www.gardenersmag.com/high-yield-vegetables-to-grow-in-small-space-gardens/


And I'm sure there are others.

 

[H.C.]

Seeing a few stories during the last couple of days that because of the virus farmers aren't finding the labor they need to plant crops. That includes both the illegals who come here to work on our farms and the ones who apply for visas to work the farms.

This also appears to be a growing problem in many of the other countries we import fruit and vegetables from.

We might have food shortages.

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to grow some food just in case.

Not much of a gardener. I think I planted pumpkins once as a kid.

A couple of questions. Thinking about knocking together some raised garden beds. I know the ones for potatoes should be a couple of feet tall but what about corn? Is a 2 foot tall garden bed deep enough or should I go 3 feet?

Can I mix different things together in the same garden bed or each type vegetable have their own?

I plant my potatoes not grown at the big farm in old tractor tires.
As long as there is no metal showing on the tire it's 100% safe. People will debate that with you but I just don't have the patience.
You can also plant potatoes in pots. They're easy to grow and as long as you add water + remember to keep topping them with soil. You should find them easy.
Personally though I've found potatoes grown in pots/raised beds to grow smaller than potatoes grown in the ground.

Green beans are also easy to grow.
However I advise against bush beans. My experience with bush beans is animals eat them before you even start to see them being grown.
Cucumbers are super easy as well. The whole Cucumber family is... Just be aware their leaves can block sunlight if not spaced far enough apart.
Broccoli can be easy pending you have enough direct sun.
Green onions can be grown in mason jars on a window sill.

If you want to plant corn, get a half barrel or something similar size and plant based off instructions on label. Do not plant in your garden bed with everything else. As they'll block sunlight.
You can mix things together in the same bed. But do know certain things thrive better together than with others.
My Strawberries are put in pallets that I hang on the side of my shop. They do far better in groups, than by themselves.

There are other vegetables that grow very well for inexperienced gardeners. Let me know if you'd like their names.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I plant my potatoes not grown at the big farm in old tractor tires.
As long as there is no metal showing on the tire it's 100% safe. People will debate that with you but I just don't have the patience.
You can also plant potatoes in pots. They're easy to grow and as long as you add water + remember to keep topping them with soil. You should find them easy.
Personally though I've found potatoes grown in pots/raised beds to grow smaller than potatoes grown in the ground.

Green beans are also easy to grow.
However I advise against bush beans. My experience with bush beans is animals eat them before you even start to see them being grown.
Cucumbers are super easy as well. The whole Cucumber family is... Just be aware their leaves can block sunlight if not spaced far enough apart.
Broccoli can be easy pending you have enough direct sun.
Green onions can be grown in mason jars on a window sill.

If you want to plant corn, get a half barrel or something similar size and plant based off instructions on label. Do not plant in your garden bed with everything else. As they'll block sunlight.
You can mix things together in the same bed. But do know certain things thrive better together than with others.
My Strawberries are put in pallets that I hang on the side of my shop. They do far better in groups, than by themselves.

There are other vegetables that grow very well for inexperienced gardeners. Let me know if you'd like their names.

Thanks! That's a lot of great information.

 

[crandc]

Corn takes a lot of space for very little food so unless you have a big garden not your best bet. There is a book Carrots Love Tomatoes you can order, some vegetables grow well together while others need to be separate. Easy crops include lettuce, kale, carrots, radishes, green beans, chard. You can start most of those now.

Squash, summer and winter, is very productive. I don't plant zucchini because people will beg you to take it off their hands.

Potatoes are easy to grow.

 

[yankeesince59]

If you want to plant corn, get a half barrel or something similar size and plant based off instructions on label. Do not plant in your garden bed with everything else. As they'll block sunlight.
You can mix things together in the same bed. But do know certain things thrive better together than with others.
.

I will add to that...I plant pole beans between the stalks of corn...no need for a "pole" for the bean vines to climb on.

 

[H.C.]

Oh Tomato family is also quite easy to grow.
Can be placed in the ground, or in pots.
For cherry tomatos I place them in hanging baskets just outside of my front door.
For roman tomatos I've placed them in buckets, the ground, tires, raised beds, pots. The best production I got out of them was when I placed them in tires.

Now this is all home gardening, not farm land gardening.

Just know that if you place things in tires they will require more supervision. Especially if you don't bury said tire.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Corn takes a lot of space for very little food so unless you have a big garden not your best bet. There is a book Carrots Love Tomatoes you can order, some vegetables grow well together while others need to be separate. Easy crops include lettuce, kale, carrots, radishes, green beans, chard. You can start most of those now.

Squash, summer and winter, is very productive. I don't plant zucchini because people will beg you to take it off their hands.

Potatoes are easy to grow.

Thanks!

So corn is out.

 

[yankeesince59]

Great thing about taters is that once they start bearing fruit you don't have to dig them all at once...simply stick your hand in the dirt, feel around, and pull out what you need, and leave the rest for later. Plastic 5 gallon buckets with holes for drainage work well.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Do you all grow different varieties of potatoes?

 

[H.C.]

Do you all grow different varieties of potatoes?

I just grow basic baking potatos that I get from Kramers in McMinnville.

 

[barfo]

Do you all grow different varieties of potatoes?

This is a good documentary on how to grow potatoes.

barfo

 

[riverman]

Beans, Squash and Potatoes are probably the best storing and producing foods you can plant ..parfticularly butternut squash...zucchini gives a lot of food....I recommend finding a local organic farmer and getting fresh produce delivered once a week for a monthly fee...we also keep 3 laying hens and get eggs all year round ...now we're getting 3 a day...winter sometimes we get 1 a day. Swiss chard and parlsey and chives will provide greens all year round as will Kale...for people who don't like Kale...you're eating it when it's too old and bitter....young and tender..Tuscan kale is really delicious. I have a quarter acre garden, berries, and dozens of fruit trees as well as chickens...we'll be fine...I recommend buying large sacks of rice before that gets scarce though. Then you just need a fishing license, pole and some power bait...I should say I grow more broccoli than any other vegetable but we blanch it and freeze it for winter...broccoli will give you a ton of food if you harvest it in stages and don't take a large head all at once

 

[yankeesince59]

Do you all grow different varieties of potatoes?

I've tried several varieties over the year and of course it matters what kind of soil you have but down here, the red skinned taters work best for me and though I pull quite a few when they are small for stews/soup and such, if you leave some in the ground to grow larger, mine will get a little bigger than a baseball, which makes 'em good for baking or french fries, or whatever.

I grew some monster okra plants last year...2 or 3 got nearly 8 feet tall and the bottom of the stalk was as big around as my wrist...no shit...got a picture of it somewhere.

 

[Hobbesarable]

Seeing a few stories during the last couple of days that because of the virus farmers aren't finding the labor they need to plant crops. That includes both the illegals who come here to work on our farms and the ones who apply for visas to work the farms.

This also appears to be a growing problem in many of the other countries we import fruit and vegetables from.

We might have food shortages.

I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to grow some food just in case.

Not much of a gardener. I think I planted pumpkins once as a kid.

A couple of questions. Thinking about knocking together some raised garden beds. I know the ones for potatoes should be a couple of feet tall but what about corn? Is a 2 foot tall garden bed deep enough or should I go 3 feet?

Can I mix different things together in the same garden bed or each type vegetable have their own?

You should also look into aeroponic garden towers.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

You should also look into aeroponic garden towers.

You mean like Jack and the Beanstalk?

 

[Hobbesarable]

You mean like Jack and the Beanstalk?

You can potentially reap more yield with aeroponic vertical gardens.

 

[riverman]

 

[CupWizier]

Does anyone know how to grow pizza and burritos?

Asking for a friend.