quick note...

The radio show is on THURSDAY night at 8 p.m. eastern time on shtfradio.com Kathy Harrison from The Just In Case Book blog will be on with me talking about permaculture.

Permaculture, edible landscaping and other new fangled garden stuff...

This week, I am priviledged to have a friend and garden expert, Kathy Harrison, come on my radio show to talk about Permaculture as a gardening method. Thursday@ 8p.m. eastern time on shtfradio.com While talking with Kathy, we got to discussing all the new fads in gardening and whether it was good or bad (or indifferent). So many folks find ONE method and become disciples of it, trying nothing else. I understand that sometimes we just plain click with something, but we shouldn't close of our minds to trying other methods. I have been guilty of this, sort of in reverse. I tend to NOT try something if it has become a fad or buzz word. (I never let my kids buy something to wear just because it was the "in" thing either. lol) I have to back myself up from this closed minded stance and find a way to try a new technique more often. Permaculture is one of those techniques. I tend to see the hardest parts of something and rebel. This is not the way to go about things! (obviously! lol) I can incorporate parts of permaculture in my garden style and parts of square foot gardening and parts of edible landscaping, without dealing with the details of the method that drive me nuts! For example, I absolutely hate the grid on top of square foot gardens and the fact that you are supposed to make a specific recipe of soil blend for them. I can still take the method and use it in my raised beds without a grid. I can still make my soil better by adding some of the ingredients. With permaculture, I can still plant more perennials and underplant other things beneath them. I can still plant things that aren't edible in my edible landscape that will attract benificial insects and deter the bad insects. I love gardening and letting go of hard and fast rules of any one method will make it more enjoyable for me while increasing my garden yield. So, what kind of garden "type" am I? I like the principles of edible landscaping and an intensive raised bed garden method. But I also try to grow something or do something each year that is outside of my comfort zone. This year, I plan to try more permaculture ideas. Join us on Thursday for more on this discussion!

Tired and gloomy this week...

Sorry I haven't posted as much as I'd like. I got this little virus, then a little sinus thing and I'm just tired! I also don't have a ton of stuff to talk about since this isn't a really busy time of the year. I've been doing a lot of reorganizing and cleaning of my pantry area. Every time I do this, I end up with more room, so it's a good thing. I always check for pests and insects and make sure all my jars are sealed properly. This week I found a jar of apple butter with the seal popped...it's going to go to the compost. I hate seeing loss, but it happens. I've also taken an inventory and decided I need another 25 cases of canning jars, especially considering I am going to be making more and more juices. Canning jars are expensive, so I am waiting for a sale or trying to bargain one of my local hardware stores into giving me a bulk discount...at least, it doesn't hurt to ask. Last year, K Mart had a 50% off sale and I got a lot, but I got distracted by all the other canning stuff and diverted from going after just the jars. I also have decided I need another pressure canner since we are canning more and more of our own meats. It's gloomy outside and more of a thinking and planning time inside. Join me tonight on my radio show; Food & Home with HP on shtfradio.com @ 8 eastern. We will be talking about cookware, have a home made mayo recipe and talk a bit about ompanion planting. Hope to see you there!