Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by jansman »

I would like to use nematodes, but they are just too expensive! It makes the whole business of food growing uneconomical ( for me anyway).Everything I grow,we eat,and I always garden as though we really WILL need it,if that makes sense.When the family was young,and money was very,very tight,the garden and allotment saved us serious money.Many gardeners ( and I am not having a go at anyone) feel that they have to be ' organic'.Nothing wrong with that,and I use many organic methods myself.However,I have no problem with artificial granular fertiliser and slug pellets.I don't beat myself up over it.

I probably make a quarter ton of compost a year.I don't import manure,too much work.The rabbits and fowls supply that anyway.The fertiliser helps when I run out of compost.I only use a small amount of slug pellets when plants are small and vulnerable.Both those items store easily in watertight containers,and will be invaluable if SHTF.Right now they are cheap too.If it really was a 'grow food or starve' situation,then that fertiliser and those slug pellets would be like gold.If slugs attack those vital spuds and beans and there are no purchased nematodes or beer traps ( and the latter is a questionably effective method) then you will be in trouble.

OTOH,I don't buy tomato fertiliser. I use Comfrey liquid.I have never bought canes,I cut Hazel from the Common,and when they are past use they go in the wood stove.I save pretty much all the seed I grow too.I make my own seed and potting compost,John Innes style.

I adore gardening,but it has to be cost effective, as I like results.To borrow a mantra from NASA,"Failure is not an option" :lol:
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/ga ... -home.html


Or brew your own nematodes for free ;)
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by jansman »

Well,you live and you learn! Thanks for that Yorkshire Andy.I have bookmarked that and I will trial it on a test area in the garden.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

jansman wrote:Well,you live and you learn! Thanks for that Yorkshire Andy.I have bookmarked that and I will trial it on a test area in the garden.

It's on my to test list this spring ;)
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
User avatar
lsnduck
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2018 8:29 am

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by lsnduck »

jansman wrote:I would like to use nematodes, but they are just too expensive! It makes the whole business of food growing uneconomical ( for me anyway).Everything I grow,we eat,and I always garden as though we really WILL need it,if that makes sense.When the family was young,and money was very,very tight,the garden and allotment saved us serious money.
Aye, they are pricey critters and I absolutely get where you are coming from. The cost isn't a driver for me though; in fact a couple of years ago I did a bit of basic cost analysis on what we were growing, and only the beans were coming out as cheaper than buying from the supermarket (that was without nematodes). The tomatoes would have been, but my wife insists buying plants from a local co-op type supplier rather than growing from seed. If you added even a nominal time cost to the calculation then it skyrockets.
jansman wrote:Many gardeners ( and I am not having a go at anyone) feel that they have to be ' organic'.Nothing wrong with that,and I use many organic methods myself.However,I have no problem with artificial granular fertiliser and slug pellets.I don't beat myself up over it.
Nor me, glyphosate them up to the eyeballs (joking, but I take a balanced view of it).
jansman wrote:I probably make a quarter ton of compost a year.I don't import manure,too much work.The rabbits and fowls supply that anyway.
Sadly we only have space for a small heap. On the plus side I have a friend with horses, and a car with a very large boot. I can do a full season's manure fetching in a single trip just for the cost of the fuel and some carrots for the nags.
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Growing food. I know NOTHING but want to.

Post by jansman »

If you have access to horse muck,that's brilliant.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.