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I too grow multiplying onions and enjoy the tops almost as much the white part. We have used pvc to hoop several of our raised beds so they can be covered for warmth and protection. We have a very small yard but anything we grow is something we don’t have to buy.  We keep our two year old grandson everyday so we garden on the weekends. Thanks so very much for your encouragement 

Excellent use of your land! I’d rather have food than a long green lawn! We have been eating from our pantry for months and when I inventoried this week I realized I won’t need green beans or tomatoes this year. So I am going to try limas and green peas (yet again) so I can make homemade soup. We love it and often add our own meat to it. I planted short day onions this past week even though it seemed early. In two weeks I’ll plant our potatoes, turnips, collards, cabbage, and carrots. Stay safe with these storms coming through!! 

I wonder, does your local library have a “seed library” like ours does? Every season the librarians put out an entire catalog of seed packets for anyone to take home and plant. The only rule is that after you’ve harvested what you grow, you let a few plants go to seed and return the seeds to the library for next year. The library also provides growing instructions for each plant. Our library has some really interesting native plants that I would not have known could be eaten! 

We can only plant short day onions here and when I looked up multiplier onions it said they weren’t recommended for our area. I grew sweet onions from seed but a vole or mouse ate the plants. I am slowly enlarging my raised bed area. Not too big, I can’t do that anymore , but enough to help the food bill. 

I am steadily getting rid of my final debt. Of course a few large things will have to be replaced at some point; my flooring is damaged in numerous places and some appliances are going to give out before long. I hope to do all that in cash when the time comes. 

I am living carefully but not fearfully. I know things can get hard in the future but I hold on to the faith that will help me face it. My grandmothers were born in 1893 and 1896. My husband’s grandmother was born in the 1870’s and rode in a covered wagon to Florida because they could no longer make it in North Carolina after the war. The things they went through!  They sent sons to wars, weathered the flu epidemic in 1918, lived without electricity and running water, and saw bank failures and the Depression. But they made it. If we are resourceful, we can too.  Thanks for encouraging us!

Another wonderful read! I am getting my garden ready. I pulled some regular plants out of the yard this year that just weren't performing well over the years so now I have some extra space. I also have an indoor aerogarden I was given for a gift. I use it for lettuce and catnip. Our weather and altitude makes gardening interesting at times but I shall push on. I thought to myself, I wonder how the latest couple generations will handle future hard times, as we all know they will never end.  The amount of conveniences they were born into and those that developed into normal, and without many people left that lived with way less conveniences (like running water!) to tell the tales and give advice, makes me wonder how they will cope. I work remotely for a company that ships daily use products to the home and the amount of people yelling that they placed an order one night and have full expectations it should be there by next day is staggering! These  are NOT all young people. I think they have forgotten how it used to take time but have now grown accustomed to getting what they want when they demand it. We live in a "microwave is taking too long" society and I fear it will get worse. Thank you for making sure the skills and ways of life necessary to get through the tougher times are still being put out there for advice and learning. I will continue to learn and practice them, and feel much more in touch with my home because of it. 

First glad you are well and didn’t suffer any damage from the storm. 
I’ve not had to grow onions for the past 5 years because the farmer who leased the farm land around us grew them and we had all we wanted. We recently moved so I will be planting some reds and some white storage varieties.  With the move, I didn’t have much time to research.  
Thursday and Friday are supposed to be good days to plant root crops so guess where I’ll be 

I realize everything that is plugged in uses electricity. A fan uses much less electricity than A/C. An electric blanket uses much less electricity than the central heat. I view these devices as saving money. I can set the A/C at a higher temp w/ the fan blowing on me. We can turn down the heat to a low setting in the winter with an electric blanket for warmth. We are moving to a newly built house that has a tankless water heater, water saving toilets, and a new A/C, heating system. It is also 1/2 the size of our current house. I am eager to see what utility savings will be had. The homeowner's insurance is also less expensive. I didn't realize that new homes have a cheaper rate. There is a less likely chance that there will be a claim as everything is new. The new place was paid w/ cash. I do not like to be in debt to anyone. There is great security in having a roof over your head & owning it outright.

There is a wonderful series that you can watch on YouTube, The Wartime Kitchen and Garden. It is about how people in Britain grew and cooked food at home during World War II.  

You have so much food growing! I am busy watering things before the freeze tonight. My pear tree was just starting to open its blossoms, so I hope some make it through the cold. The artichoke I planted last year made it through the winter. We will cover that back over along with the little fig tree. When it gets cold this afternoon, I'll take out my mending to do while listening to old radio shows. 

We have asparagus, sorrel, herbs, berries of all kinds, rhubarb, peaches, plums, and grapes. Those are our perennial things along with the pears, figs, and artichoke. We're trying some perennial bunching onions this year. We've got the seedlings in the ground, and they'll get covered this afternoon too since they're very tiny. 

We grow a regular onion called Candy that we love. I couldn't find seed for it so we bought plants, but I finally found some seed. That will save us a lot of money. They don't store long, so we dehydrate some of them after we harvest them to make them last longer. We grow potato onions to use as green onions all spring. We lost half of them last winter but when I replanted them this spring, I realized I hadn't covered them with enough hay mulch. I'll put on more this winter. 

I have a lot of anxiety about the future mainly because of aging. I seem to have more fears about health care than anything. Doctors are so hard to get an appointment with, and then it can be weeks before you can see them. That is a long time to wait if you have an medical problem come up. Maybe it is just in my area (Atlanta, GA). Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?
Thank you

Linda T.

Long wait times to see a Dr is now common in New Zealand. Also very hard to attract Drs to rural areas. A suggestion is to contact your Drs surgery and ask them to call you if they have a cancellation so you can get an earlier appointment.

Planting up seeds for the Winter garden here. Don't plant onions until Sept 1st.. Spanish yellow do good here and red onions. Have grown different onions in different locations we've lived as found some do better than others due to area .. not necessarily climatic changes. Have struggled for first time ever to get radishes to grow here!! Have tried about 6 different types. Will perservere.

Made red peach jam yesterday. Used the same recipe I use for plum jam and added 2 Tb lemon juice. Set well. Delicious. Recently made a strawberry and rhubarb jam. Own recipe I experimented with. Also delicious.

Linda T -- Two things I can suggest are to call your insurance carrier and see if they'll cover Urgent Care visits. That way you can be seen for things that need immediate attention at an Urgent Care facility. Atlanta has lots of those. The other is to see if your doctor does scheduling online. If your doctor isn't available right away, you can see if another practitioner can see you sooner and schedule with them. 

This is what I was thinking, if it works for insurance; in the past several years, I noticed if I've experienced an illness, something outside of a regularly scheduled appointment, I'm instructed to toddle myself to the ER or urgent care anyway so I just do that now. And I've found an efficient, thorough urgent care that provides consistent good care! I'm in NE GA and there are urgent cares closer to me than one I prefer but when you've got a good thing going ????--Sheila 

p.s. good luck finding a solution that works!

Linda T, 

I am a nurse who works with patients to coordinate their care. Another option to try to get appointments sooner vs waiting weeks or months to get in is ask to speak with the nurse instead of just the scheduler, usually you can get an appointment sooner that way. And be persistent. It is unfortunate it has become so difficult to manage healthcare now. Also, if your insurance has case managers, utilize them.

For all of the gardeners, what do you recommend for a beginner gardener to grow in 5 gallon pots? We have moved to a new home and there is already an established garden area with raised 5 gallon pots set up. I’m looking forward to experimenting! 

Another encouraging post, thank you. These posts help me think about my home in a different light that I find so helpful

The new fence and the Food Forest are beautiful, Grandma Donna! You can see the care and skill that have gone into making everything.

I admire all the effort you and Charles put in; it can't be easy.

I think the work of creating frames and covers is worthwhile; anything that can protect your crops from extreme temperatures, hail etc is a good investment.

We have just come through summer.

It gets too hot some days for flowers and veggies, and they need the protection of removable shading.

Our perennials are rhubarb, asparagus and globe artichokes. Parsley and garlic seem to sow themselves readily too!

Thank you as always for the encouragement and inspiration.

Thank you for all the suggestions for managing my health care issues. I will be checking into these. I do so appreciate your comments

Bethany,

We have raised many tomatoes in five gallon buckets.  We also raised chives, radishes, carrots, cabbages (one per bucket), leafy greens like lettuce and spinach, herbs (herbs like mint and sage need their own bucket, or they will crowd out everything else), sweet and hot peppers (not together, or even close, as the sweets can become hot from cross pollination), even single squash and cucumber plants.  Tomatoes typically have deep roots, but my husband always got tomatoes off of his vines grown in buckets.  You can grow lots in buckets!  Make sure you have good dirt and drainage.  There is a lot of information on container gardening out there - good luck!

Grandma Donna Wrote, Thank you everyone for helping Linda T, I agree with the urgent care, this is what I do now because it is so difficult to get an appointment.  I had an incident where I cut my finger and part of my nail and nail bed was sliced off. I tried to get appt with my regular doctor and could not get an appt.  I went to walk in clinic that was also urgent care. The nurse pulled back my temporary bandage in the hallway and said I would need to go to ER because this was a nail bed injury.  ER sent me back to see my doctor in three days, they could not see me for two weeks.  I did my own care. 

We need to have medical supplies at home to be able to help ourselves when we cannot get medical care.  We should have it anyway.

The question about what can you grow in five gallon pots.  We have a friend that lived in an apartment with a small patio.  He grew many vegetables in five gallon pots, Tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, squash, peppers just to name a few.  You can plant in smaller containers than five gallon as well.  Grow what you like to eat.  

Thank you all for your comments. 

Grandma Donna Wrote,  I want to also mention that there are determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, the determinate tomatoes normally ripen at a set time of sorts.  They normally are more controlled verses the indeterminate tomato and that will vine out into a quite large plant and give you tomatoes for a longer period of time. 

We had a very odd garden season here in coastal NSW Australia.  In past years I've been able to grow more cucumbers and lettuce than we could possibly use...this year, my cucumber vines struggled to grow and fruit.  Tomatoes were a non-event as well.  Yet in the same area, my friend had a beautiful yield of both!  I am leaving the remaining cucumber vines as we head into autumn because the bees love the flowers.  I've been saving seeds from basil and perilla, and also from interesting melons I've purchased.  Those will go back into the garden in springtime.  I'm currently researching things I can plant for the autumn months, and hoping for a better summer season next year.  I think we're going to have the same extended summer season as the northern hemisphere had.

Thank you for the information. I will see what happens this year, hopefully it will be a good set up

Shelli B,

Any tips on using perilla in cooking?  I've got a huge patch of it that self-seeds (a little too well) but I can't seem to find a use for it beyond nibbling on a raw leaf from time to time.

This wonderful YouTube channel found me the other day.  It is Vintage Life in the USA.  It is mainly about cheap and healthy recipes that people would have used during the depression and WW2.  There are a lot of hearty meals there; I plan to try a few.  Oh, and there are also some posts about fruits and vegetables that were grown then but that we  don't see anymore.  There were a few I'd never heard of. 

Thank You Grandma Donna for this timely post.

Just had my garden plowed last week. I can no longer do it myself and this helpful guy does a good job, is inexpensive and is willing to help people out in other ways....snow removal, leaf blowing and etc.

I have my seeds, onion bulbs and seed potatoes . I hope to plant some things this next week...depending on the weather. I am excited to get my garden started again. Might not be so excited come "weed season" LOL  Our weather here in Indiana has been all over the place. Lots of high winds, I need to pick up sticks and limbs once again.

I did notice at the farm store a lot of people are buying seeds, and canning jars/lids.  

This year the DD's and I are teaching the grands how to can and water bath process. It will be a family affair. We will can and process and then split the bounty.

JC

I didn't have much luck with my container garden last summer. It was my first try. I'm going to try again this summer. 

In the meantime, I continue to preserve the produce bargains I find at the grocery store. 

I have a roll of garden cover that I bought years ago. I thought I would need it to keep the weeds down in my old veggie garden but I never used it. I wonder if I could use it to sew some of my own grow bags?

I'm thinking the time you've spent prepping your garden would be time someone else would spend watching sports or going out to eat or see a show with money they can't really afford. There is so much one can do at home! And then getting into bed at night you are tired and have a sense of accomplishment!

Grandma Donna wrote,  Thank you for your comments, I have been reading along and enjoying hearing from you.  Hope to have a new post up soon. 

I’m in Indiana also! I mostly do no dig gardening but I am going to till a new area this weekend to help start some new beds. 
I have many seedlings started indoors right now; lettuce, tomato, peppers. I want to direct sow some snap peas first next week.

So thankful for the garden. I have only water bath canned and will probably just stay with that this year again. Anything I can’t water-bath can I try to freeze (like green beans). It’s where I am at right now. 

Grandma Donna wrote,  Anna G, I do both canning and freezing and I do water bath and I am thankful to have a pressure canner.   I do everything the old methods because I am comfortable with it and know that it preserves well. This includes blanching before freezing.   I know there have been a lot of changes in food preservation through the years but the main thing is for those of us that still preserve our food that we talk about it and teach those that do not know how such as what Joyce C is doing.  There are less of us that preserve food and so we need to keep talking about it so this skill does not go away.  Thank you for your comments.

Donna, it is now April 1……are you OK?  For those who don’t know a tornado passed either extremely close by or over Donna yesterday.  Let’s keep her in our prayers in case she is involved in cleanup at her house!

Grandma Donna Wrote..  Susan O, Yes and Yes,  We are okay and the tornado went "right over the top of us" but still up in the air and dropped down behind us:!  It was so scary that the girls (or doggies) ran to the safety closet before I could even get them there.  All I could think of was not our roof again!  Our roof is okay, at least we think so, have not been up there yet.  Debris hit the house and so I knew it was a tornado about the time the tornado sirens went off.  It developed very quickly so there was not time to warn ahead but during.  It hit the school, some businesses and homes around the school and then over to the hospital area hitting the large employee parking area, one of the medical buildings.  I am very thankful that we did not get structural damage.  Thank you for asking. 

Donna,

           I'm so glad to hear that you, Charles, and the girls are o.k. When there is a bad weather forecast I look to see if you are supposed to get hit. I'm glad your place wasn't hit.

Becky Sue