Survival Food

Raised Bed Garden Hoops

March 29, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

Last year I raided a dumpster when I saw a bunch of stiff waterline thrown into it. I used them to create hoops in my raised beds to help extend the season by covering them with plastic last year. I didn’t scavenge enough to complete the project, so I purchased some 1 inch PVC to complete the project.

I drilled through them and used cable ties to connect them.

These work like mini-greenhouses when plastic is put over them in spring and fall. In the summer, a light fiberglass screen can be used to shade the plants and keep off bugs. I also use bird netting over them to protect the strawberry beds.

In the long beds I often use a piece of cattle or hog panel in the middle to provide climbing area for peas and other plants that can go up. Those long ones aren’t nearly as sturdy as the hoops in the 4 x 4 beds!

Note: I used vinyl deck planking for my raised beds. I put screws in every foot and left the heads up so that I could tie string off them to create a square foot grid pattern for planting.

How To Deal With Snails and Slugs in The Garden (Hint: Beer)

March 29, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

Friends, I have some simple gardening news to share.

I have never found a more effective way to get rid of snails and slugs than beer traps! I have never found a natural solution that’s more effective. And (here’s good news!) the cheapest beer works just fine!

I’m sure this will work, no matter what you are trying to grow: flowers, veggies, whatever.

I set traps last evening; I use the plastic tubs from my favorite greek yogurt, and bury them almost level with the garden’s earth; I do like to mound it just a bit around the edges, being careful not to get a lot of garden soil in the container – mounding makes it easy for the snails/slugs to slither over the edges of the container. Otherwise, they may be too sharp and may discourage “crawling in”. I like the beer about 7/8 full in the container.

Well, this morning, I checked my beer traps, and they were FULL of snails and slugs! Snails and slugs love the yeast smell, and will crawl right in and drown themselves! All of the critters in my traps this morning explain why my green bean babies aren’t making it, and why the bras are full of holes, in spite of the insecticidal soap, or natural dust. While I usually change the beer in the traps every other day, looks like I’ll be changing them daily for a while.

I actually used beer that has been sitting around since last year, but it worked perfectly well to trap the snails and slugs! So, even if it’s “old”, don’t throw that beer out; it’s still useful for snail/slug traps.

If you haven’t tried beer traps for slugs and snails, they simply work! Just want to share that with you.

17 Vegetables You Can Regrow From Scraps

March 26, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

With as much as people talk about gardening, it can seem overwhelming at times. Sometimes though, it’s just a matter of not throwing away your old food scraps.

Here are 17 vegetables to regrow from scraps:

17 Vegetables to Regrow From Scraps

1. Potatoes

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to grow potatoes indoors, it’s pretty easy. Cut chunks of potatoes out that have one or two eyes and leave to dry for 1-3 days then plant in rich soil about 4 inches deep with 4 inches above to keep covering it as it grows. You can transplant into the garden when weather permits.

2. Ginger

Be sure it has some nubs on it. Press into the soil similar to planting an iris. Keep moist but not damp. When you need it in the kitchen again, just cut off a chunk leaving nubs to regrow. Pretty much all there is to growing ginger from scraps.

3. Garlic

How do you grow garlic from scraps? Simple. Take leftover cloves and press root side down into the soil and keep moist. I personally haven’t done this and the instructions vary from letting the top sprout and grow to nipping off the top so that all the energy goes into the root to regrow the bulb.

4. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are awesome to grow from scraps. They are vines are often grown as an ornamental in northern climates, but will also produce new sweet potatoes. Cut the potato end so that you have eyes. Stick toothpicks in and start it in glass of water. When roots develop and eyes are leafing out, plant in rich soil and keep watered.

Regrowing Celery & Small Onions — Celery & Small Onions

5. Onions

Ever buy a bag of onions and have small ones in it? Well, if you want to regrow onions, just stick in soil and keep moist and they will grow larger. When you cut off the root ends of onions, just press into the soil leaving the cut end up and uncovered and keep moist as they too will regrow.

6. Lemongrass

Growing lemongrass indoors is a cinch. Put in a glass of water and watch it grow! You can repot into moist soil. Harvest as needed.

7. Pineapples

When you’re all done with the pineapple, here’s how to plant a pineapple top: Cut off the top leaving no fruit on the plant. Look for the roundish root buds. Cut leaves to within an inch of the top. Stick in a pot with rich soil and lots of moisture. Once the roots begin to develop and the top begins to grow reduce watering to once a week – this may take 2-3 months. Harvest a fresh pineapple in 2-3 years – yes, YEARS. Because of the time requirement needed to grow pineapple, it’s probably a good idea to slot them into your garden layout someplace on the periphery, or elsewhere out of the way.

Regrowing vegetables from their scraps — I’m playing with the core of the iceberg lettuce, so we’ll see what happens – it has sprouted.

8. Mushrooms

Mushrooms are tricky. Cut the stem off and place it in pot of compost rich, moist soil. They tend to like warm filtered light during the day and cool nights and you will know in just a few days if it takes and will regrow a new head or rots in the pot. Just set it on the floor at night in a cool room. And boom, that’s how to regrow mushrooms!

9. Carrots

This one comes with a slight caveat…. there’s not really a great way to grow carrots from carrot tops. Yes you can regrow them, but the root will never truly grow back. Great for greenery or if you have rabbits or chickens.

10. Leeks

11. Spring Onions

12. Scallions

13. Fennel

14. Romaine lettuce

15. Celery

16. Bok Choy

17. Cabbage

For the green group: Press root ends into moist soil and let them grow.

For the blue group: There are several ways to do these. Cut and set them in a cup of water on a windowsill and watch them grow, harvesting as needed. Or start them in water and when roots appear transplant to moist soil. Or press into moist soil, keep the soil moist and watch them grow (this is my personal favorite, as I forget about things). Spritz with water weekly.

Ok so pineapple isn’t really a vegetable, but you get the point. It’s so easy to grow these, that throwing them away should be a sin! Remember, with anything started in water you must replenish water as needed and change on a weekly basis.

Here is a fun little video to get you thinking:

DIY Elderberry Syrup [Recipe]

March 25, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

You Will Need:

½ cup elderberries, dried
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1 TBSP freshly grated ginger
2 cups clean water
1 cup RAW, unfiltered honey

Directions:

Put all in a saucepan EXCEPT honey.
Bring to a boil, then turn it down to simmer.
Simmer, covered, until liquid reduces by one-half (about 20-30 minutes).
Strain liquid into a glass bowl.
Squish all the good juice out of berries through sieve/strainer.
Gently whisk in your honey.

You can make this with fresh or frozen berries, but use a full cup of berries, rather than the half cup dried. Store in a closed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. This only keeps for a couple of weeks, so make a small batch at a time from your stored ingredients.

Elderberries have been a folk remedy for centuries in North America, Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, hence the medicinal benefits of elderberries are being investigated and rediscovered. Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect a cell.

Used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, improve vision, boost the immune system, improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsilitis. Elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1995.

People with the flu who took elderberry juice reported less severe symptoms and felt better much faster than those who did not.

Elderberries contain organic pigments, tannin, amino acids, carotenoids, flavonoids, sugar, rutin, viburnic acid, vitamin A and B and a large amount of vitamin C. They are also mildly laxative, a diuretic, and diaphoretic. Flavonoids, including quercetin, are believed to account for the therapeutic actions of the elderberry flowers and berries.

Top 5 Vegetables to Plant this Spring

March 25, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

Here are the Top 5 Vegetables to Plant this Spring.

1. Lettuce

I love Black Seeded Simpson. Years ago I figured lettuce would be hard to grow but have since found it is very easy. Lettuce will grow in a large garden, a raised bed, or even a flower pot.

2. Cucumber

These things crawl all over the place but produce pounds and pounds of tasty treats. Boston Pickling and National Pickling are my favorites.

3. Zucchini

I have found zucchini to be one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Over the past 9 years no matter how the rest of my garden is doing – I have plenty of zukes!

4. Summer Squash (crookneck)

Another plentiful vegetable – Summer Squash can produce pounds and pounds of nutritious sustenance. The more you pick – the more you get.

5. Okra

I planted my first crop of these last year literally had okra TREE’s providing so much okra we were begging people to take ’em. Pick when small and the plants will continue to produce and produce.

p.s. I live in the Southeast – Zone 7b.

How To Get Free Mulch for Back To Eden Gardening

March 25, 2024 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

If you have seen the “Back to Eden” video, you might be rethinking the way in which you garden. I know it opened my eyes to the value of wood chips and mulch, especially wood chips.

For those of us who garden, you know one of our biggest problems are weeds and grass strangling the life blood out of our gardens, and the energy out of us as we try to keep them under control. Oh, I know some may be saying, “Just go get some Roundup and that will solve the weed and grass problem.”

And you would be right. However, the problems it solves are more than offset by the problems it creates. But, that’s an article for another time.

After watching the “Back to Eden” video, I was convinced that this was the answer to our weed problem for our new enclosed, raised bed garden (future article forth-coming). However, finding the solution created an even bigger problem. Where to obtain large quantities of wood chips, without breaking the bank?

After several months of looking, I finally found the answer! It was here all the time.

We live in a rural portion of the Mid-South, and our county is served by a local Electrical Co-Op. One of their big problems is maintaining their power line right of ways. They have two crews that cut, trim, and chip trees and limbs all year. Recently I was driving home and observed one of the crews in action. I was so fascinated by what I saw. I pulled over to the side of the road and watched for a while. When they took a break, I walked over and started asking questions about their operation.

Their odd looking piece of equipment is called a Sky Trim, which has a large skill saw type blade on the end of the long poll, and will reach 75 ft. vertically, and rotate 33 degrees to either side. I saw it in action, and believe me, it can do some trimming.

As we continued our conversation, I asked them, “What do you do with all those wood chips?”

The foreman told me “We’re always looking for places to dump them. On a good day we may fill as many as 5-10 truck loads.” The light bulb came on.

I asked what did they charge for the chips, and the answer was, “Nothing, nada, free! Just show us where you want them, and if we can get our equipment where you want them dumped, we will deliver them to you for free.” He said they would even drive 3-5 mile sometimes looking for places to dump the chips.

Wow! I had been looking and looking, and the answer was there all the time.

We have since made friends with the crews, and now have wood chips delivered almost to our door steps. They have brought numerous loads to me and to my brother-in law as well. They told us when things dried up a little they would bring us all the chips we wanted. We have a 3 acre orchard already picked out.

These crews really work hard and the work is dangerous. After storms they really earn their money. They told me so many people are impatient and just plain rude; all they want is their power back on, the first thing they ask is, what took you so long? Those people didn’t realize that the crew may have been working all night, in the wind and rain, and sometimes ice and snow.

The point I am laboring with is this: Show these guys a little respect and kindness, and they will bend over backwards to help you whenever they can.

The crew you see are cutting a few extra trees near the power line that we wanted cut down.

If you don’t live in a rural area, get to know the tree trimming services in your area, they may be willing to give you the same deal. You never know, till you ask!