Emergency food supplies

[KD5NRH]

if you can setup the bed system, this will save you a lot of time but you pay cash for every minute you save

Got any large manufacturing facilities nearby?  They generally have to pay to have the scrap pallets and crates hauled off, so if you can find the right person to talk to, they'll be more than happy to load you down with all the wood you can carry.  Take a wrecking bar.  Catch them at the right time, and 1x12s, 2x12s, and other extremely useful sizes can be plentiful.  I've made chicken coops, a square foot garden, and a lot of shop jigs from the scrap bin at our local pump-and-fittings manufacturer, and I've got some 4x4s in the back of the Blazer waiting to be cut down to lathe-workable lengths.

[Tallpine]

That's what we did last summer 

The big cost was for the peat moss and perlite.  We have plenty of manure, and we had a bunch of 1x6 boards from an old corral that I tore down for a neighbor a few years ago.  It worked pretty well except we again had a very short "summer" between frosts.  We need a greenhouse. 

The other problems we have (besides the lack of anything like "soil") is that our well water is not particularly good for plants, and of course the deer ravage anything that isn't well fenced. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i use old sliding glass doors for green houses

[coppertales]

My favorite snack is pretzels which come in a nice plastic jug, about 2 gallon, with a screw top.  I put rice, beans, etc in them with a couple bay leaves to keep out bugs, and seal with that plastic wrap that sticks to the mouth of the jug.  Packed like this will keep for a long time.  Sam's club and Costco have rice and beans in 50 lb sacks which can be stored in smaller handier containers.  Canned goods, we only buy what we like, are rotated through our pantry.  I buy kosher salt and keep it in glass canning jars with a sealed lid.  Go to Leamans non electric catalog.  They have a bunch of stuff that can be used for survival.  Down at my camp, I have been planting fruit trees over the last 6 years.  I have 26 trees in peach, apricot, necterine, pear, apple, plum, and fig. The peach and pear trees are starting to produce.  Once I get moved down there I will have a garden and chickens.  Be inovative....chris3

[Tallpine]

i use old sliding glass doors for green houses

Good idea!  Now all I need is an airgead to replace the sliding glass doors in my house with something more substantial 

[sanglant]

there is a plant about 15 miles from me that buys the small pallets and builds the standard sized ones. so unless you own or maybe work in a plant your not getting any that haven't been stolen from someone. oh and it might pay to soak some in water for a week or so and have it tested. might be some arsenic or formaldehyde. i would hate to be feeding that to someone i cared about

oh and for potatoes you can start them in a tire, and as they grow add a tire and more compost/dirt and some bush blue lake beans are some good eating, and i like the way the plants look. get the purple(ferry morse doesn't have 'em this year ) if you are like me and have trouble seeing beans to pick 'em. these are the best chili onions i have found(can't buy them anymore though[dang bloomin' onion]) and if you have kids, you need to plant some of these

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

So how much food can you realistically grow in pots on your deck or in a small plot garden (say, 15x15 feet)?

[Tallpine]

So how much food can you realistically grow in pots on your deck or in a small plot garden (say, 15x15 feet)?

At least a couple meals worth 

[GigaBuist]

We need a greenhouse.  

I build a small (4'x8') one last spring.  I'll probably do another this year because I thought it worked out so well.

Four 10' long sections of .5" PVC pipe bent into shape and secured in with some U-bolts and clamps to hold it all down.

Edit:  Removed picture because it was too large.

[charby]

So how much food can you realistically grow in pots on your deck or in a small plot garden (say, 15x15 feet)?

A lot

I have a 20'x12' garden and I get several 100lbs of food each year from it.

I grow Tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans, cabbage, onions, radishes, lettuce and kohlrabies. Its all about starting early and rotating in stuff as stuff gets pulled out. I can get two bean crops easily in Iowa. Plant in May and replant in July for a fall harvest.

[KD5NRH]

there is a plant about 15 miles from me that buys the small pallets and builds the standard sized ones. so unless you own or maybe work in a plant your not getting any that haven't been stolen from someone.

At least here, most of the companies don't want to pay to ship an empty odd-size crate or pallet back across the country or around the world.  The standard-size pallet vendor doesn't want anything back unless it's in top condition either, so one split board or pulled-through nail and their rep will toss it in the dumpster.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i get pallets literally by the 100's for free  one of the best places is a wine shop

[Gewehr98]

So how much food can you realistically grow in pots on your deck or in a small plot garden (say, 15x15 feet)?

You'd be surprised.  My back deck offered quite a variety last summer, as an adjunct to what was growing in the back yard.  It was somewhat of an experiment, to see if they would get root-bound in such small confines.  Were I so inclined, I'm sure I could've added many more plants on the available floor space.

As it ended up, I grew approximately 2 dozen different potted vegetable types and herbs, including tomatoes, chives, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, regular and Japanese eggplant, basil, cilantro, and rosemary.

Bernie checking out the pepper plants:



Chives and rosemary:



Japanese eggplant blooming:



Heirloom tomatoes and basil:



Potting mix was a blend of sterilized cow manure, black topsoil, and Miracle Gro potting soil in equal proportions.  After the tomatoes started blossoms, I added two or three Jobe's plant spikes to each pot in order to keep them energized during tomato production.

[Tallpine]

A lot

I have a 20'x12' garden and I get several 100lbs of food each year from it.

I grow Tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans, cabbage, onions, radishes, lettuce and kohlrabies. Its all about starting early and rotating in stuff as stuff gets pulled out. I can get two bean crops easily in Iowa. Plant in May and replant in July for a fall harvest.

In Iowa 

We've had two summers in a row with hardly 10 weeks between frosts.  Never got any beans at all last summer - they were just blooming nice when the frost hit in September.

I get a real kick out of the enviro types who want all the cows to go away and replace them with "vegetables"     The only thing this country out here is good for is rangeland.  (now I sound like GW McLintock  )

[Gewehr98]

Tallpine,

Aren't you supposed to say something along the lines of, "Salad?  That's what food eats!" 

[Desertdog]

With a little work, pallets make pretty good firewood.

[brimic]

With a little work, pallets make pretty good firewood.

Especially since they are mainly made out of hardwood. There's a pallet factory down the street from me where a person can pay $5 and haul as much wood pieces as they can away, I don't have a wood fireplace, but have burned this stuff int he fire pit in the past.

[erictank]

Especially since they are mainly made out of hardwood. There's a pallet factory down the street from me where a person can pay $5 and haul as much wood pieces as they can away, I don't have a wood fireplace, but have burned this stuff int he fire pit in the past.

If you're specifically looking for pallets (either for stacking stuff or to bust up for other purposes), check Craigslist for your area.  When we moved this past summer, I found a warehouse via CL not too far down the road from me - Manassas, it was - which was practically BEGGING me to take more than the half-dozen pallets I needed.  "Tell your friends, if you know anyone who needs some, just come by and pick 'em up, or else I have to haul 'em out to the dump!" 

Never thought of using them for Square Foot gardening - but then, I've never really considered doing SFG itself, either...  Thinking about it some now, though.  The wife and I need to eat better, and we enjoy fresh herbs, spices, and veggies.  Both of us have black thumbs, though - we've each killed Aloe Vera plants given to us by our respective families, and the two of us together neglected an *AIRFERN* to the point of wilting.  It's supposed to be IMPOSSIBLE to kill one of those.   So, I don't know if we'd be up to actual, real GARDENING.