While a agree with that because you haven't had a tomato until you pick one you have grown, you are nuts to think that even 50 tomato plants will save you.
Also are you growing heirlooms or hybrids?
Growing Your Own Food
- Thread starter All Seeing Eye
- Start date
While a agree with that because you haven't had a tomato until you pick one you have grown, you are nuts to think that even 50 tomato plants will save you.
Also are you growing heirlooms or hybrids?
Bigdaddy, it's the responsibility of every citizen to be prepared for a zombie takeover. I Am Legend is going to get great gardening experience, and probably end up going hydroponic at some point, at least as an experiment. After the zombie takeover is when he will begin planting significant acreage. Planting before then is rather pointless because the crops will be eaten by the first hordes of refugees, right before they are in turn eaten by the zombies.
Some people, of course, always survive the onslaught and rebuild civilization, and since we don't know exactly who those people will be, every person needs to know how to grow crops to feed themselves.
I also suggest that I Am Legend try growing some upside-down tomato plants. I haven't done it yet, but it looks like great fun.
upsidedowntomatoplant.com
Some people, of course, always survive the onslaught and rebuild civilization, and since we don't know exactly who those people will be, every person needs to know how to grow crops to feed themselves.
I also suggest that I Am Legend try growing some upside-down tomato plants. I haven't done it yet, but it looks like great fun.
upsidedowntomatoplant.com
All Seeing Eye
Admiral
Listen, in the event of a major food shortage even the odd Tomato or Cucumber every other day will ensure you survive longer than those people without any. Even surviving by just one extra day might allow you to make it through the bad times and make it through the shortage to a time when the shortage is over with.
You should not scoff at the idea growing some food could possibly one day be the deciding factor of whether you live or die.
I'm really not understanding your hostility towards my wanting to grow food. Again, every little helps.
Would you rather be the guy with nothing to eat for an entire day or the guy who picked a fresh tomato from a tomato plant and had a tomato to eat that day?
Fifty tomato plants is a lot of tomatoes!
Even heirlooms can produce 12 pounds per plant, with high-yield hybrids approaching 40 pounds per plant. So that's 600 to 2,000 pounds of tomatoes.
My dad made that mistake once, and turned his giant tomato harvest into ketchup using a recipe from The Joy of Cooking. He ate ketchup on everything, at every meal, for a year, and never planted a tomato again.
I grow 32 tomatoes a year, it's enough for about 6ish people and I can about 24 jars and my grandma did 15ish last year.
Also growing cucumbers sucks, they always die from bugs or fungus. My dad called it and rosemary the black thumbs of gardening.
Plus where do you live? Things grow and produce food maybe 3 months before dieing, but if it's the end of the world, you need several years of crops and seeds and you haven't planned for that. Need raddishs, spinach and such. Plus once again are the tomatoes heirlooms? If not you only have one year of crop.
Also growing cucumbers sucks, they always die from bugs or fungus. My dad called it and rosemary the black thumbs of gardening.
Plus where do you live? Things grow and produce food maybe 3 months before dieing, but if it's the end of the world, you need several years of crops and seeds and you haven't planned for that. Need raddishs, spinach and such. Plus once again are the tomatoes heirlooms? If not you only have one year of crop.
My cucumbers have been fine this year except for growing in rather odd shapes.
You must not get the asshole beetle. There is this beetle around here and it eats your plants and then shits in the soil so next year the plant won't grow that well either.
Not true - you can sometimes get hybrids to regrow by fermenting the seeds. I do that to my Campari Tomatoes.
Directions: http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Horseshoe/1109/
(NOTE: the sites says it won't work with hybrids but I have done fine using it on several varieties)
aphids
You'll have them all over your seedlings. They love the indoors. Unless you have an airlock and forensic outfits for entering and leaving your house, you'll get aphids.
When I was much younger, my father bought land "out in the sticks" and had dreams of living off the land (and the grid)..it didn't pan out..we had a garden of roughly 1 acre in size..but it couldn't grow enough to feed a family of 6, and the costs of preparing the land, keeping pests (both insects and wild animals) out and inevitable losses made sure that it only supplemented our diet.. at a huge cost in time and energy...I'm not even going to include the costs of the animals we raised for food either..
He actually spent more living off the land than buying food...
The skills I learned during that time were useful..but hardly enough to keep me and mine alive during famine...
A small garden is only to enhance a meal..not live off of except for a day or two..
Much better to be armed to the teeth, to be able to take what you want..after civilization collapses!!
He actually spent more living off the land than buying food...
The skills I learned during that time were useful..but hardly enough to keep me and mine alive during famine...
A small garden is only to enhance a meal..not live off of except for a day or two..
Much better to be armed to the teeth, to be able to take what you want..after civilization collapses!!
I'd recommend against it. I've had several coworkers try this, and it is quite intensive in terms of watering and nutrients needed. Also, they told me that when the plants become mature they just peter out and don't produce as much as normal plants.
Oh, why insert reality into this discussion? The OP wouldn't be interested.
My uncle is a keen gardener. He wins 1st prize every year with his vegetables. He's completely self sufficient with his garden and his hunting (yes he lives in England). He fills his freezers full of the veg he grows, and the birds and rodents he catches, and that lasts him easily through the winter.
One thing you can add to your list is runner beans. They're easy, and they grow quick. Medium size pots (the deeper the better). One bean per pot. Each will grow a runner about 6 feet tall. Each plant will produce enough beans for maybe ten good servings.
Fifty tomato plants is a lot of tomatoes!
I agree. I had four plants a couple of years ago. I had no idea beforehand how much fruit they produced. I ended up with more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.
Also, consider an apple tree. They don't deliver straight away, but in five years they will be well grown, and will give you a tonne of apples. Easily more than you can use in a year. I have an apple tree, and I end up giving most of the crop away. Just think of all the apple pies you can bake.
... by fattening themselves up for being eaten by growing enough food to stay plump until they get round to you.
Fifty tomato plants is a lot of tomatoes!
I agree. I had four plants a couple of years ago. I had no idea beforehand how much fruit they produced. I ended up with more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.
Canning... people should jar/can more.
As long as we're on the topic of growing plants to fight zombies, I should mention that I just one the Golden Sunflower trophy in Plants vs. Zombies, which is a really fun game and the hottest selling game for the iPhone, though I play it on the PC.
I love the song that comes with it.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N1_0SUGlDQ[/yt]
I love the song that comes with it.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N1_0SUGlDQ[/yt]
