Living off of your garden

[digitS']

Oh my.....wow. Thanks for the info, haha. EXCEPT. I don't eat meat And yay potatoes! I love them

Well Great, Gardeniasandhens!

I hope you will forgive me for rounding so casually. I tend to eat too much at this time of year, you understand.

You were here on TEG when I was talking about soybeans edamame (click) and tofu (click), weren't you? Maybe soybeans would be good choices for your garden.

Steve

Edited to add: and here is a 4-page pdf from Montana Cooperative Extension. It may help you to get some idea of garden "yield." You may have to print the pages so you don't have to get a crick in your neck trying to read the tables, however.

 

[GreeneGarden]

See the GardenForNutrition.org web site

 

[wsmoak]

I used to love my greens then I grew collards greens. I am so tired of them the just keep growing and growing. When are they gonna die and give me a break.

I grabbed some collard seedlings last fall after nearly everything else was finished, just to have some green in the garden. I harvested individual leaves and made a large crock pot full with the ham hock and everything. DH ate some and the rest ended up in the compost bin.

It's been down to 16 degrees, it has snowed on them once and ice pelleted all over them another time, and they are still alive! I have a feeling when it warms up they are going to start again and I'll have an early spring crop.

What else can you do with them? I guess they're good for you but they don't really taste good... maybe it's genetic, I'm not from the South.

--
Wendy

 

[lesa]

First of all, do you have chickens? They would enjoy them! I think all greens are enhanced by balsamic vinegar... the combination takes away the bitterness.

 

[digitS']

. . . collards . . . What else can you do with them? I guess they're good for you but they don't really taste good... maybe it's genetic, I'm not from the South.

--
Wendy

I kinda like collards, Wendy . . . maybe it helps that the farther back that I look for my family, I find them in what is now thought of as the "border states" - even the Cherokee, somewhat. I was wondering what some of them were doing at the south end of the Chisholm Trail in Texas but then found out they were from Kentucky, missed the trail rides by a few years, and probably took the train when they left town .

Now these were on the American side. Then there are the Canadians . . . who hugged the border from one side of the continent to the other . And all these folks stayed on the frontier heading west . I used to take regular runs over the Coast Range from where I grew up in southern Oregon. Snuck into Humboldt County California for a few years with a view of the Pacific. Even considered life at sea but, I'm not a very good swimmer. Like seaweed soup, tho' !

1st crop listed under "self sufficiency crops" on that site GreeneGarden suggested: collards. They don't grow well here - too cold. Gotta go with kale . . . from the home of the Border Collie.

Steve