GROK and GROKETTES...the Primal Lifestyle

Are any of you going to do any gardening this summer? If so, is this your first time, or are you an experienced gardener? How big is your plot, and what are you planting? Do you have any tips for pest control, fertilization, and increasiong yield while staying true to the Primal lifestyle? If so, please share. Organic gardening is a great way to supplement your food supply.

I am a definite first-timer! But really looking forward to the process. I will be planting a very little of a LOT of items to see how they do. (have a 12 x 8' section).

any tips or suggestions... always appreciated!

much love

Paula, that is awesome....I am putting my tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets this year, so then I can move them, mow, and set them back...and there will be no weeds around them...yay. I will have one that is right here by the house that is the upside down planter tomato. We are putting in cucmbers, green beans, some corn, peppers, squash, and onions. All the things we need for homemade salsa, veggies, and salads! YUMMY. Let me know how it goes!

My biggest tips are

1)leave enough room between the plants for easy weeding and picking

2)the best fertilizer for tomatoes is one cup of epsom salt sprinkled on the dirt around the plant, once a month. The rain or watering will wash it in, and you will have the biggest, sweetest tomatoes on your block! Too bad you won't be able to eat many of them at a time!

I have added 2-5 ounces of tomato to my diet about 4 times a week now, and I love it. Can't wait for the fresh ones to come in though! MMMMM

I have 2 planters of tomatos on my back porch. Since we live in a rural area - we have to be extra vigilant on keeping the critters away. So far this is my 3rd year trying to grow tomatos. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Good luck with your tomatoes....I have found that the best thing to fertilize them with is Epsom Salts, 1 cup, once a month around the drip line of each plant, then water thoroughly. Biggest and sweetest tomatoes you will ever eat.

I just posted a comment in the "Paleo websites" forum about the movie FRESH; http://www.freshthemovie.com/watch-fresh/more-trailers/
This is very inspiring to watch for any gardeners!

I definitely plan to support the local farmer's market this summer - I don't have room or time to grow everything.

Are you saying a whole cup of Epsom salt for EACH tomato plant? That sounds like a lot!

Best investment I ever made was to buy a roll of 2' tall rabbit fence and 3' tall metal fence posts. I bought fence with tiny 1/2" squares - chicken wire is too big. Now that I am eating Primal I want to buy more fence and make a larger area!

I got a load of bark from a county tree trimmer that was trimming in my area. It is un-treated so some people might worry about termites - I did not. (You could spray the wood with termite killer - but that defeats the organic idea.) I put down 3 or 4 layers of newspaper and then put maybe 4" to 6" of bark on top of that and it really cuts down on the weeds. You can create a new garden bed this way too! In the FALL - Put the newspaper and mulch on the grass (maybe twice as thick) and by spring the grass underneath will be dead and it is ready for planting. The wood breaks down into soil and helps enrich the soil.

If you can find a source for Mushroom Compost; buy as much as you can afford - mix it with your soil and you will get the biggest crops ever!

Your local County extension office should have free literature for gardening. I attended a Master Gardener class several years back and it was wonderful! You can download many of their articles online;
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/mg/resources.html
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/hort.htm
http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/menu.htm

I do worm composting as my outdoor compost freezes up in the winter. Took a couple of large plastic containers, drilled a bunch of holes in them and put down a bed of shredded damp newspaper. Got some red wriggler worms and started feeding them my vegetable trimmings. I do this in the garage, that is heated, because if you aren't careful and the compost gets to wet it will stink. About twice a year I seperate out the worm castings, polite name for worm poop, and use that on my indoor and outdoor garden. If you have access to manure and live in a climate where it doesn't freeze you could do this outdoors and produce a large amount of it. Worm castings are suppose to be one of the best natural fertilizers there is.

I wish I could garden. Unfortunately, I live on a diesel bus route and I'm pretty sure there are decades of heavy metals in my soil.

I have lots of gardening experience from decades gone by though (having been a "back to the land hippy". When I lived in Florida I had at least an acre under cultivation. And I have done vermiculture and had a life time subscription to the Mother Earth News (which I assume my first husband is still getting LOL).

Rowanfair, you could always try container gardening.

I've thought about it MrsTofu, but there is still diesel grime landing on the leaves. And my very urban yard just isn't really set up for it with good light and such.

Oh well, it was a thought. Sorry it wasn't really helpful.