Well almost! There is a bit of snow on the ground and more due tonight~
It is the time to start the garden! Hopefully last fall you mulched your garden with leaves! (whoops, missed that memo!) By now they have broken down nicely with the rain and snow and will be ready to till in.
As well it is not too early to begin many seedlings in the house. We started kale weeks ago and 40 plants are in a cold frame in the garden area. That isn't impressive considering that some organic farmers around here grow kale all year long! Maybe next year....They just have to be protected from strong wind and temps below 15. Those grow tunnels are all that is needed. No heat required.
A couple of things to keep in mind, no brainers that slip our minds; when it comes to growing your own food.
First of all, clean, healthy soil is imperative. If a nutrient is not in your soil it will not be in your food. If a mineral is not in your soil it will not be in your final product. Now I hate to be dependent on 'the system' to fertilize , meaning buy it at a store, but if you have animals and compost you will have most of what your soil needs. It takes a bit of work and a bit of testing is desirable to reach the perfect ph range in your soil. However you decide to do it, it must be in the dirt to be in the food.
There is the flip side of that also. If it is in your soil it will be in your food....poison, pesticide, insecticide... Did you know that 7 dust is illegal in some countries? Highly toxic. If you put toxins in your soil, they will be in your foods. There are natural remedies for this in abundance if you're trying to control pests/weeds. The easy cheap and fast way it is not...but poisons will come back to bite you in the long run and it isn't worth it.
Now seeds. Please tell me you know about gmo's? If you know my blog you would have to know about the dangers of these so Ill go no further. Heirloom and organic seeds are the only ways to go. You can go to the extent of creating good soil and using natural non toxic remedies for what ails your garden, but if you've produced a gmo fruit/vegetable, you have defeated you're own purpose.
Keep in mind that Monsanto is nothing more than a chemical company pushing their wares. Its all about profit. GMOs have already proven to not produce higher yields among other issues.
So its not too early to begin your garden! Keep it clean and healthy and may you feed your family well this year from your bounty!
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The weather has broken enough here that we were able to get the garden plot tilled and some rabbit manure worked in. Next week we're hoping to add some mushroom soil and get the raised beds built.
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