Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dave's Garden

While I am pretty sure that there won't a Holodomor here in the US, I am pretty sure there will be a spike in food prices later this year. So having a garden would be a good idea and not just for this year either.

Producing food in your own garden is a major skill to have. But there are a huge number of factors to worry about. What plants grow best in your area, sunny or shady, wet or dry beds and so on.

Dave's Garden does a lot of that work for you. Their PlantFiles will help you find what plants are best for your city. Here's an example for Idaho Falls. Generally, we have been using the Western Gardening book which is a great resource, but you still have to do all the cross referencing for your area. You have to figure out what zone your city is in and then you have to cross reference that to all the plants you think want to plant this year. This is a huge timesaver.

They even have a tool to help you find out how long your growing season is and when the frost dates are for your area.

Right now we don't have a garden since we are in an apartment though we are growing some herbs to make the foods we do have taste better.

I noticed that we could even create certain micro-climates within our garden just by putting large flat rocks near plants. The rocks would absorb heat during the day and so keep the plants warm overnight.

You probably won't have to grow all your own food, but picking and eating your own foods sure does something good for the body and soul.