GARDENING BASICS

This section will cover some basic tips and tricks.
Also be sure to check out my classes in the Class Schedule 2017 Page
I have created a section called: The Prepper Pantry Garden
I will have separate pages for specific garden things I'm working on this season - 2017.
Click on this Link: The Prepper Pantry Garden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 2016 and for The New Year 2017
First and foremost, I'm a non ground soil gardener. I tried for several years to grow in the wonderfully hard ground soil here in Arizona with little to no success. And spent a lot of money and time with not much return. Then I found there are several other ways to approach this and have pretty good success. VERY REWARDING!

I now grow in containers almost exclusively. I use a combination of hydroponics, with non soil mediums, such as coco coir, perlite and potting soil. Good potting soil is not dirt! I'll explain a little further as to what I mean when I say hydroponics. This is some fun and very easy stuff.

For the most part, you can grow just about any leafy green, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and most vegetables and this includes many herbs, in this "HYDROPONIC" fashion.

Hydroponic, simply means growing in a "water" environment vs using soil. With that said, there are some variations of this you can employ ..that work just as well. I'll cover this a little more in depth as we begin the New Year and cover specific "how to " topics. So my blog will be about taking you along this journey and hopefully you'll find that you have a new found passion for growing your own food again.
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LAST SEASON - 2016
Jan 29th,2016
A complete re-do of the Greenhouse was in order
I harvested my colorful (seedling starts)of Swiss Chard and had a pretty good bounty. It was my first season with Swiss Chard..and as expected, Swiss Chard loves the quazy hydroponic method in a bucket!

Swiss Chard Loves containers, and does extremely well in the perlite/potting soil medium. And, because it's a "cut and come back again crop, I'll be re netting the container and see if I can get another bounty from the bucket.
UPDATE: I was able to get 3 crops from each bucket. About every 5 weeks or so. I cut them at about 7" to 8".

I have not had personal good luck with starting swiss chard from seed, so I have used small seedling/starts. I have found Bonnie plants to work very nicely for me in most instances.

Greenhouses are nice, especially in the cooler winter months. However, it's amazing at how trashed they can get over the summer. My green house is small..only measuring about 7 feet wide by 8 feet deep. However, if you think vertically in your planning, you really can grow a lot of produce in a very small amount of space.