Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Grow Your Own Food

One sensible response to the plummeting economy is to grow some of your own food. Vegetables, fruits, and herbs taste better when fresh; you can choose varieties suited to your area and taste; and it doesn't have to be either expensive or difficult. Here are some resources. You are welcome to link to this list from other pages or copy it intact.

Grow food in small spaces:
"Container Gardening 101" by Suzette Haden Elgin
Square Foot Gardening homepage
"Intensive Gardening Methods" by Alex X. Niemiera, Extension Horticulturist, Virginia Tech
"Hydroponic Gardening for Beginners" by Greentrees Hydroponics

Make your own soil or improve poor soil:
Kitchen Compost Crocks
"How to Make Compost"
"How to Make a Small Backyard Compost Bucket" by shoopgirl
"Compost Tea Makers"
Vermiculture Supplies
"Composting Your Organic Kitchen Wastes with Worms" by Lori Marsh
5 dollar, 1/2 hour worm composing bin by Marcus

Grow "heirloom" or "antique" varieties:
Heirloom Seeds
Amishland Heirloom Seeds
Victory Heirloom Seeds
Hobby Farms Apples of Antiquity
"Stone Fruit Varieties for Milder Climates" by Andrew Mariani
Heritage Fruit Group (Australia)

Save and exchange seeds:
Seed Savers Exchange
International Seed Saving Institute
"How to Save Seeds for Next Year's Garden" by Edwin Marty
National Garden Association Seed Swap

Divide and exchange roots, canes, and other live plants:
Trade A Plant
Plant Exchange
The Plant Exchange (UK)
Plant Swap Forums
Plant Swap Party
"How to Organize a Plant Swap" by Sophia S.

Start a fruit/vegetable swap in your neighborhood:
How to start a homegrown fruit and vegetable exchange in your community
Ceres Organic Farm activities
Tags: economics, gardening
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  • 8 comments
talithakalago

talithakalago

April 23 2008, 00:39:06 UTC 13 years ago

Oh who I would kill to be able to actually USE the huge vegtable garden in our back yard...

Oh who I would kill to be able to have pot plants that weren't in cages, three layers of wire thick...

Between the possoms, the kangaroos and the rabbits, the only safe plant on my property is a small house leek growing in a bowl beside my computer.

We even have chickens for the poop and all. Fate is a cruel mistress.
arielstarshadow

arielstarshadow

April 23 2008, 01:02:22 UTC 13 years ago

I wish I could have a vegetable garden - alas, I'm outvoted. Someday, I will again.
natasiakith

natasiakith

April 23 2008, 03:54:33 UTC 13 years ago

What a great list!

Too bad I don't have a yard to plant in, tho..
ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

April 23 2008, 04:09:46 UTC 13 years ago

Gardening without a yard:

American Community Gardening Association
http://www.communitygarden.org/

Care for Your Area Action #9: Share Gardening
http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/en/fe/page.asp?n1=2&n2=21#85

Colchester Garden & Land Share Register
http://www.en-form.supanet.com/gardenshare.htm

Adopt-a-Park
http://sierraclubguidetogardenssc.org/adoptpark.htm

Adopt a Median
http://www.kibi.org/programs/greenspace/adopt_median/index.htm
browngirl

browngirl

April 23 2008, 14:33:21 UTC 13 years ago

*saves links*
ivy_broom

ivy_broom

April 23 2008, 16:15:32 UTC 13 years ago

Great list of resources! Thanks! I've copied and saved them for future use.
yarrowkat

yarrowkat

April 23 2008, 20:17:11 UTC 13 years ago

i was referred here from the link on Lupa's journal. great list--thank you!

Another one you might add to the Native/Heirloom seeds list is Native seeds/SEARCH:

http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/cat.php?catID=1

What they're about: "Today, the Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank houses approximately 2,000 different accessions of traditional crops grown by Apache, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Gila River Pima, Guarijio, Havasupai, Hopi, Maricopa, Mayo, Mojave, Mountain Pima, Navajo, Paiute, Puebloan, Tarahumara, Tohono O'odham and Yaqui farmers. Over one-half of the collections are comprised of the three sisters -- corn, bean, and squash.

An additional 48 species of crops and wild crop relatives wait in frozen storage, including amaranth, tepary bean, chile, cotton, devil's claw, gourds, melon, sunflowers, tobacco, teosinte, watermelon and wild beans."

They have an online store where you can buy seeds from these heirloom & native varieties.
ysabetwordsmith

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

April 23 2008, 20:48:14 UTC 13 years ago

This is a wonderful resource. No Cherokee red beans, though? Drat.