Pioneer Woman

That addition to your garden sounds fantastic, Mother! Kudos to your grandson!

It's been so hot and humid here. The squash plants have been getting diseased and not producing any squash, but there are some flowers now that the weather has moderated recently, and I see some baby squashes. The cherry tomatoes have done wonderfully and still are. As have the zinnias. The peppers died. I put a few sprouted supermarket potatoes in the ground behind the house [added some unused potting soil and some fertilizer]. All but one died, but that one still gives me hope. I've been hilling up around it. Supposed to be cooler all this week with highs in the 80s and lows around 70, which is phenomenal for this time of year!

Just in case... If you need ideas for gardening in a wheelchair, there are lots of videos on Youtube if you put in "gardening for disabled persons."

That's fantastic, Mother! Looks really beautiful.

I've gotten probably close to a hundred cherry tomatoes off my plants so far. The early ones were super delicious, but we got a heavy rain right as a lot of them were ripening, and some of them actually got filled with water. Haven't seen tomatoes do exactly that before. Next time, I'll pick them before it rains, or even during the rain, if they're almost ripe. I still got about 60 good ones after the rain. My two pepper plants haven't done well at all. Very puny. I've only gotten a couple of peppers. The squash plants have gotten huge and I've harvested half-a-dozen nice scallop and Desi squashes.

Thank you, all, for the info! I appreciate it.

Thanks for all this info, Dogmom4. Do you know of a cheaper place to order worms from? The places I've seen seem awfully expensive to me.

Probably would have been more tender if they were cooked longer, but they weren't super tough, by any means. I enjoyed them the way they were.

Just wanted to report that I tried eating summer squash leaves and they were great. I cut some young leaves off the plants, rinsed them, sliced them, and cooked them in a little butter in a skillet for just a few minutes, stirring often, and then added a little soy sauce. They weren't bitter at all. They were a little chewy and slightly tough, but not bad at all, and they were also slightly crunchy. I thought they were quite pleasant. I will definitely keep eating them.

Here are a few more, Mother: https://www.mrssurvival.com/topic/36712-hidden-garden/#comment-312239 https://www.mrssurvival.com/topic/44609-comparing-gardening-methods-for-when-tshtf/#comment-370365 https://www.mrssurvival.com/topic/36227-feral-food/#comment-309431 https://www.mrssurvival.com/topic/47660-guerilla-gardening/#comment-398253 https://www.mrssurvival.com/search/?&q="stealth garden"&search_and_or=or

What great gardens you all have! Mother, that salad looks gorgeous!

All of this information is very helpful. For myself, earlier this year, I started recording the price of everything I buy, so I can compare something if I don't remember. It's definitely a shocker going to the grocery store, and has been for awhile. I always look at the price per ounce of the different products, and I am astounded at how many are in the $.40 per ounce price range, or more. My expectation used to be that most foods were in the $.10 per ounce price range, or even less. There are still some foods that I can get for that, but not many other than canned and frozen veggies, beans, some soups, pasta, rice, etc. I may be dreaming and giving them too much credit, but I've gotten the feeling lately that Walmart is trying to hold the line on the cost of a basic list of simple foods [mostly all Great Value brand], so that people can buy enough food to live, while, at the same time, raising the price of their processed foods [which is the vast majority of what they sell] into the stratosphere. I've narrowed my purchases down to just a few different items and quit getting any splurge-y items. That includes not buying any processed foods. My strategy now is to buy mostly one-ingredient fresh and frozen foods, like carrots and apples and chicken drumsticks and colby cheese and frozen broccoli and brown rice, for example. And to look at the price per ounce, and if it is holding the line, to buy more of that item. I am only buying nutritious foods, because I can't afford anything else, financially and health-wise. And whatever foods I do buy, I am careful not to waste any of them.

Mother, thank you so much for all that excellent info. I'm copying the directions to grow pea shoots and tendrils, so I can remember what to do. I did read where you said you haven't eaten squash leaves. In one side of my brain and out the other. SusanAnn, I love zinnias because they need basically no care, are beautiful, and re-seed themselves. That's my definition of a good plant. I looked online and saw "Zinnias can withstand moderately dry soil conditions but do better with supplemental watering. In general, zinnias typically need 1 inch of water once every five to seven days." And "Zinnias are able to adapt to most soil conditions, but the ideal soil will be rich in organic matter and well-draining. Soil pH should ideally be between 5.5 and 7.5. If soil is amended with compost (humus), the flowers will grow more quickly." Here's a website on growing them in England: https://www.theenglishgarden.co.uk/plants/a-guide-to-zinnias-from-tom-brown-head-gardener-of-parham-house-garden/ It looks like you are growing a great garden. Congratulations on your blueberry plant! I had no idea there is a dry area in England. It sounds a bit challenging but I would imagine you don't have a lot of problems with diseases?

Thank you, Mother and Dee! Mother, I appreciate your mentioning that Sweet William and zinnia flowers and squash leaves are edible. I will definitely start eating them. Finding new edible parts of plants is a wonderful way to increase the harvest! I would expect the younger squash leaves are better? Do you eat them raw or cooked? I'm very excited to try those. I do sometimes eat squash flowers, generally just cut up in salads or sauteed with other veggies. Earlier, I saw you mentioned eating pea tendrils, which is not something I have tried, either. I think you said you grow them as microgreens? What is your procedure for that? I'm going to have to look up all the plants I grow to see if other parts of them are edible. Dee, your carrots are beautiful!

OK... photos of my little garden...

Thank you for the warm welcome, everyone!!

I came across this FREE Superfood Garden Summit and thought it might be of interest to someone here. I know absolutely nothing about it so I'm not recommending it, just putting it out there for anyone who wants to check it out: FREE Livestream event airs June 22-25 with garden prize giveaways and LIVE Q&A's https://superfoodgardensummit.com/

I've been enjoying reading about y'all's gardens and seeing the pictures, when available. I've grown bigger gardens in the distant past, but I now live in an older 5th wheel RV in a small RV park, and don't really have space to grow in the ground, but I do have five fairly big planters. I started seeds inside and now have Rosella cherry tomatoes, a couple of kinds of peppers, some volunteer zinnias [from last year's crop], and some Tall Double Sweet Williams. I also have a couple varieties of summer squash that I direct seeded. I set the plants out early, since they didn't really get enough light inside, and then had to cover them on a number of cold nights with blankets [and plastic, when it was going to rain]. But they are all doing well. As the summer goes on with its heat and humidity, I'll be lucky not to have the squash, especially, get diseased, which is another reason I wanted to get a headstart on planting them. Earlier in the year, I harvested kale and mustards, and more recently, lettuce and snap peas before I pulled them to make way for the hot weather plants. Unless it rains, I have to water the plants frequently. Every few weeks, I feed them natural fertilizer and seaweed powder, and recently put some crushed egg shells around them. I also put diatomaceous earth around to try to keep insects off them. I don't, of course, get a lot of produce from such a little garden, but I am very happy whenever I get to eat something I grew myself. And it feels wonderful to have food so fresh. I like tending such a small garden. It's not too much to take care of, and, as the season goes on, I get to feeling like the plants are my pets. I especially felt that way when I was covering them at night... putting my children to bed. I've been growing sprouts in the house a lot lately. I've mostly been growing rye, barley, oats, lentils, and fenugreek seeds. I especially love cooked rye sprouts, because they make a satisfying popping sound when I eat them. And they taste good. Rye, lentils, and a lesser amount of fenugreek make a good combination; they grow extremely quickly [like in a day in my Easy Sprout plastic sprouting containers, which work really well, by the way] and are good harvested very young, in my opinion. I always cook them, but it doesn't take long, like maybe 10 minutes. Maybe I'll manage to get some pictures on here, but don't hold your breath.

Hello! Pioneer Woman here. I've been reading MrsSurvival on and off for 20 years, I think, but haven't posted often. I was influenced by my dad's stories of growing up in the Great Depression in a small house hand-built by his dad from explosives boxes left over from his coal mining job. Their family always had a big garden, a root cellar, and chickens. Another big influence were the Little House books which I read as a teen and then over and over through the years, and, later, read aloud to my children. I also resonated to Thoreau's ideas of living simply. And then there were The Mother Earth News magazines. I got into reading them with the very first issue. I took a lot of those influences to heart, and, as a result, my first husband and our two kids lived in an off-grid 400 square foot partially underground log cabin in the woods of Mississippi for eight years and did homeschooling. That was after we had lived for six months in a small van out west. Later, I lived for a short while in a converted school bus. And, more recently, I lived in a minivan-turned-camper for two years, camping on public lands in the west. MrsSurvival has been a big influence on me as well, and I feel like I know a lot of you very well from reading your posts and, in some cases, the novels or short stories you wrote, so many of which are engrossing and enjoyable. Thank you for still being here and for providing so much helpful information and kind support.

I've been living in my minivan camper for the past two years, when I'm not house-sitting or visiting relatives. I had a dream to do this for over 40 years, so I finally did. I don't have space for much of anything, but since I am a minimalist, it doesn't matter. For my kitchen, I basically have no gadgets. I have a one-burner butane stove, butane bottles, a 2 qt. stainless steel sauce pan with lid, a small ceramic [?] skillet with lid, a wooden spoon, a plastic spatula, 1 large knife, 1 small knife, a potato peeler, a little knife sharpener, a Swing-away can opener, a small thin plastic cutting board, 2 soup spoons, 2 butter knives, 2 forks, 1 melamine plate, a set of 3 [different sizes] melamine bowls, a 1 cup stainless steel measuring cup, a small strainer, a large cup with a lid, 2 plastic food storage containers with lids, 2 pot holders, 2 dish towels, a scrubbie, a plastic spray bottle with a vinegar/water solution for washing dishes, plastic ziplocks, paper towels, and a small bamboo table for my counter. I also have a fairly large 12 volt fridge [that opens from the top] that sips electricity, which I get from the solar panel on top of the car.

So does anyone know what the problem is that she is not on? Is there anything we can do to help? I never post but I am now because I want her back.

I miss you very much, Mother. I used to always appreciate the wisdom, kindness, and knowledge in your posts. I hope you are doing well.