Homesteading: Time to get those plants in the ground!

Whether you are planting seeds or seedlings, the temperature is climbing and it's time to get your vegetables into the ground. If you haven't yet tilled up a garden it is by no means too late. Just make sure that you amend your dirt properly with plenty of compost. Let's move on to the planting. Depending on the type of vegetable you are planting you may need to buy plants instead of seeds. Tomatoes planted from seed right now will usually not reach full maturity and produce tomatoes within the season. Most home centers and nurseries will sell well established tomato plants for a few dollars. If you are planting cucumber, and it is your first time planting cucumber, then only plant one or two vines - trust me, otherwise your garden will be overtaken by cucumber vines and choke out everything else. Make sure to look at how the sun travels across the sky and place your tallest things in the "back", allowing the shorter things to sit "up front" and get their sunlight throughout the day (instead of behind the taller plants which will shade them).

Do NOT over fertilize a plant - most common fertilizers are intended to promote leaf growth, and if used could cause a plant to under-produce or not produce at all. Each species of vegetable wants a different specific fertilizer, but overall a general-purpose vegetable plant fertilizer works well for all types. Follow the package instructions as best as you can. This is one of those instances where "If a little a good, a lot is great" is NOT true. Start reading about compost for next year, and learn about turning your trash into free plant food that blows the bagged stuff out of the water. You can also grow your own works for fishing, or allow your chickens access to add their own little "boost" of fertilizer. Homesteading works best when you combine many practices and allow their synergy to work it's magic. After WW2, American troops returning home used their GI bills to buy houses and start families. On their small plots of land, often right in the front yard, they would grow a "Victory Garden" that allowed them to offset their food budget. What was once common practice is now looked on by some as odd. I actually met a women who told me we don't need farmers to grow vegetables, they can buy it in bags at Wal-Mart. As we get more and more disconnected from our food we run the risk of forgetting how to feed ourselves for almost free. Our ancestors did not go to the store and buy their food, they hunted and farmed it. So get out there and get your hands dirty, plant some vegetables, and in a few months time you'll reap the benefits. If you liked this article then check out The Blog! where I make near-daily posts about homesteading, hobbies of mine, making money online / from home, passive income streams, and much more.