Always wanted a propane grill

A friend of mine gave me his Coleman propane grill.  After years of using my Weber kettle bbq grill, I longed for a propane grill.  The reason I wanted one was to use it for canning during the summer.  I'd much rather do that kind of cooking outside and this bbq does have a burner attachment.  I could use the house's large propane tank or even the smaller propane tanks for the trailer to fuel the bbq.   I would still have briquettes for the dutch oven to use in the fire pit in the back yard.   My Weber grill went to oldest daughter's house as a gift to son-in-law.

 

When I got the grill my friend warned me that it cooks differently than briquettes.  When you cook with charcoal the bbq cools down as it cooks so you have to make sure you get it hot enough to start.  With the propane grill it heats up because the heat builds so you need to make sure you watch it carefully and turn down the flame.

 

Son-in-law and son did the cooking yesterday.  Mostly son-in-law because he was a cook at Denny's when he was younger.  Son just gave a lot of advice.  Normally when son gives advice we tend to ignore it because our sense is better than his.  Not this time, although his reasoning was wrong, the advice should have been taken.  We had chicken, tri-tip, and hot dogs for dinner.  The chicken went on first, then the hot dogs (the kids wanted snacks) and then the tri-tip.  The chicken turned out great.  It was taken off the grill before it was done cooking and put on a baking sheet into the oven on a low temp to keep it warm until the tri-tip was done. 

 

This grill isn't big.  It had 10 leg/thigh combos on it and couldn't hold any more.  When the tri-tip was put on son made a comment about lowering the flame on the grill so it doesn't overheat.  Son-in-law remarked that the grill doesn't hold in the heat if you turn it too low so he left the flames roaring.

 

A few minutes later they called me out of the garden.  I could see flames shooting up a couple of feet.  How about if you all move the thing away from the house???  They did that and also took the meat off the grill.  Son-in-law sent oldest daughter into the house to get salt to pour over the flames.  Son wanted to spray my fire extinguisher.  Grandson wanted to know if he should just get the hose.  I just stood there amused and watched them handle this mini disaster. 

 

Salt was put on it and it cut the flames in half.  They wanted more salt.  I looked at the grill and said no don't waste the salt, just leave it as it's too late.  The grill plate on the bbq melted.  I knew it would.  You see, I did the same thing right after I got the grill.  I melted the right grill plate a bit, now both the left and right were totally destroyed.  It was a hot fire!  Son still wanted to use the fire extinguisher.  No, don't waste it - it costs over $50 to get it recharged.  Had to explain to the eight year old once again why you can't put water on a grease fire.  I think we will do a backyard demonstration to make my point with him.  Yesterday just wasn't the time because there were too many other little ones running around.

 

 There is a flaw in the design of this grill.  I would never actually have purchased one of these.  After reading through internet reviews I know that it has caught fire quite often. Most complain that the plastic parts melt...stupid to put plastic parts on a bbq anyway.  The problem is that the grease catching part of the grill is just below the burner.  Now imagine cooking 10 pieces of chicken, skin on.  Have a pan of hot melted grease and hold a match 1/2 inch from the grease.  I wonder if it will catch fire?    Since I want it for canning it will still work just fine - just no more cooking meat on it because I'm not buying replacement grills. 

 

 I still want a "real" propane bbq since I like the convenience of using propane.  I have about 100 pounds of charcoal stored in trash cans. I've also used wood cuttings in the bbq in addition to charcoal.  I think I will go back to my charcoal grill.  Son-in-law...can I have my bbq back?  Yeah right.  I need to go out and get another Weber.

Memorial Day

Today is the day America remembers those military members who fought for our freedom but lost their lives in the process.  My great grandparents came to America bringing my grandparents along as young children around the turn of the 1900s.  None of my grandparents were in the service.  My parents were young children during WWII.  My father joined the military after a couple years of college right after the Korean conflict.  One of my siblings retired from the Navy and another is still in the service.  Two of my children and one of my son-in-laws were also in the military.  Fortunately for us, they served their country and came home to tell us about their experiences. 

For many American families this is not the case.  Their loved ones did not return safely.  It is to those families that we salute their lost loved ones.  We do not take our freedom for granted and are grateful for their service. 

Today we celebrated in a typical American fashion.  We flew the flag.  We said some prayers for the soldiers.  We played badminton.  We had a bbq.  We ate and ate and ate.  Granddaughter wanted to know why we were having a party when we are remembering something sad.  I told her that the military folks who lost their lives fighting for freedom for us and others around the world would be happy to know that we appreciated their sacrifice.  They would want us to show that we are living good lives because of them.  God bless America and all those who have fought for our freedom. We salute you.

More garden work

With all the landscaping changes this year it seems like the yard work is never done.  Actually, it's not even set up all the way so I have no  business complaining yet.  I have a deadline now for getting everything done because my brother is getting married in North Carolina in August.  This means that we are going to be away from home and away from the garden for a week or two during a hot and dry month.  I've been using the excuse that I can water every day once the weather gets hot but not anymore.  I set up the drip irrigation system today - it's almost complete. 

The front garden bed with the grapes and strawberries is now on drip.  I planted more asparagus in the front along the fence and punched more holes in that drip hose too.  I'm going to be an asparagus planting fool by the time it's over.  It's so easy to grow, it just needs a little water and once it's established I won't have to water it if when I want the season to end.  It will just leaf out and look fernlike.  The raised beds in the garden are half way planted.  The old drip hoses that I had used for the past couple years in the garden have all been taken apart, cut to size for each bed, and will get hooked up tomorrow...or next weekend.  There's no rush yet since it's still not warming up around here.  At the end of May we should be averaging high 80s.  Instead we are in the 60s.  But somehow my tomato plants have tomatoes on them. 

I trimmed the flowering mulberries so you can walk underneath them without hitting your head.  All those trimmings went to the sheep who happily munched on the leaves rather than foraging the dried oats and other grasses  in their pasture.  The two mulberries are about 25-30 feet across so there are lots of leaves for the sheep. 

Now that we are going to North Carolina, a place I've never been, I need to figure out if we are driving or flying.  Flying will be fine but I need to find out if my weapon can be concealed there.  I've thought about getting a Utah permit because you don't need to be a resident of Utah and it's reciprocity in an awful lot of states.  I need to study the maps and figure out how we'll get back across country if What If happens while we are away. Lots of preparing for something like this, especially since I'll have the grandkids with me.  It would be much easier to plan if it was just me. 

Peanuts

Have you ever grown peanuts?  I did several years ago and decided it’s time to do it again.  Peanuts are fairly easy to grow. They take the same type of soil as growing potatoes.  They require a fairly long growing season - 120 to 150 days depending on the variety.  If you live in an area with a shorter growing season you can start them indoors about a month before the last frost. 

You don’t need to buy special seed.  Just go to the grocery store and buy raw peanuts.  If you buy seed from a nursery you will know exactly which variety you are buying but if you are just starting out growing peanuts then just buy the raw peanuts.  Peanuts grow best in loose, sandy, well drained soil but don’t let them get waterlogged or they will die. 

Plant peanuts after the last frost.  Soil temperature should be about 60°-65°F.  The best way to plant peanuts is to raise the row a little, planting the peanuts about 1 1/2 inches deep and about 3-6 inches apart. Germination will usually happen within 7-10 days, but a cool snap can delay it for longer.  You can leave the peanut in the shell but they will germinate faster if you shell the peanut (but leave the skin on, if possible, and don’t split the nut).

Peanuts need to be watered so the plants don’t get stressed but again, don’t waterlog them.  The blooms are bright yellow and will appear about 4-6 weeks after germination. Once a bloom has been pollinated, it sends down a shoot (called a peg) towards the ground, which eventually grows into the ground and forms the peanut pod. This is why the soil has to be a loose soil. 

Peanut plants grow in a fairly low spreading bush. Unlike potatoes, when the pods form they will be all around the bush and not growing from a central root stock.  In the fall the leaves of the peanut plant will turn yellow and dry up.  Dig them up then.  If you get a frost dig the plants up immediately.  If the soil is sandy enough you can dig the plants up by hand.  Otherwise you can use the same tool that you would use for digging potatoes. 

If the weather is dry out, after you dig up the plants shake off the loose soil then leave the plants upside down in the row – just like you leave onions out for a little to dry out the outer skin.  You should leave them out for about a week if it’s not going to rain or if you don’t have a critter problem (squirrels and rabbits will eat them if you don’t watch out).  If you are getting moisture or you have critters, then bring them in and spread them out to dry.  It will take a couple of weeks to dry if you aren’t doing it outside.  Don’t take the pods off the plants until after they have dried.  You can wash the pods in a sink full of water if you need to clean the soil off. 

Next is roasting them!  Place the peanuts on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Stir once or twice while they are baking.  It’s better to under cook them because you can always put them back into the oven.  Over cook them and you will have wasted wonderful food.  When you take the peanuts out of the oven don’t eat them yet.  Let them cool down a bit or they will still be soft.  They will continue to cook for a few more minutes.  Then eat and enjoy. 

Don’t forget to save raw peanuts for next year!  Keep them in their pods to protect them. 

Don't be afraid of your food storage...just Dutch it!

This is the name of a new cookbook that I bought this week at Winco.  It's a cute little cookbook (www.justdutchit.com) that goes over the basics of how to buy a dutch oven, how to cook in it using charcoal for your heat source, and how to make some tasty foods using your stored foods. 

It's kind of funny that yesterday I decided to put up a picture rather than just have one of those blank silhouettes when you follow someone or in the spot on the website where it talks a little about me.  I took a picture of some of my food storage...you didn't really think I was going to put a picture of me did you?  I got one comment stating that I needed to include freeze-dried and other long term foods.  (I know the person put a plug in for their local ShelfReliance, which is fine with me.)  I do have lots of staples in my long term storage.  I haven't bought a lot of freeze-dried foods, more just plain foods that are dried or whole grain.  The main reason is money.  If I had lots and lots of money I'd buy cans and cans of freeze-dried strawberries!  Perhaps when I update my photo I'll show a picture of all my buckets of food rather than the ready to eat cans of food.

Back to the book.  It does have a list of basic food items that are needed to make the "good" recipes.  You see, each recipe has good, better, best, with suggestions for how to make it with your stored foods, and how to upgrade it to make it better, and then upgrade it again to make it best.  Each recipe also has a little note which may give additional suggestions or a background of how they got the recipe. 

Here's an example, although I'm not going to give amounts or directions, just ingredients.  In a SHTF scenario I may run out of oil but the rest of the ingredients I will have in my supplies for years.
Potato Corn Chowder - Good Ingredients:
dried or freeze dried corn or 1 can
dried potato slices
water
dried onion
garlic powder
salt
pepper
powdered milk
oil
whole wheat flour
Better Ingredients: substitute a can of evaporated milk for powdered, use white flour instead of whole wheat
Best Ingredients: use butter instead of oil

The recipe explains how to cook it in a dutch oven with charcoal.  You could also make these recipes on the stove top or in the oven depending on what your power supply is. 

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

As I was driving into town, going past fields that had just been mowed, the saying crossed my mind, make hay while the sun shines.  The first time I heard that saying, or rather the first time I read that saying was from my Little House on the Prairie books.  While I understood that it meant you had to make your hay  on its schedule, sun shining and dry out, rather than yours, if you choose not to then you and your animals may not make it through the winter. 

I couldn't get the thought out of my mind, enough so that here I am writing about this very subject.  I do have pasture but we don't mow it.  I rotate the animals so the grasses  grow tall, and if I'm lucky and things work out right, I don't have to buy any hay to get us through the winter.  If things don't work out right then I do have to buy a dozen bales or so.  Making hay can also take on the meaning of preparing for whatever may come, not just literally but figuratively.  Isn't that what we do by stocking up and planning for some large or small disaster that may not ever take place?  Perhaps you are only preparing enough so that if you get sick and can't shop you'll still be able to feed the family that week.  I don't know what making hay means to you.

Back to making hay literally...what about the animals?  Do we have too many?  Right now we have about 25 chickens (down from the almost 40- the count is 13 dead chicks from the dog attack but the rest are going to be fine).  How many is too many?  How many is too little?  Let's see...100 calories per egg, 18 eggs a day, 1800 calories available for my family. (ok the cholesterol will kill us)  What if I couldn't buy any more food for them?  Could they dig up enough bugs on our five acres?  What's the right population of free ranging chickens on a piece of property my size?  Right now the chickens are in a large coop.  Every time we pull weeds or I mow the lawn, aka weed patch, all the cuttings go to the chickens.  I know this cuts down on the amount of food that I have to buy.  What if I pulled fresh weeds for them every day?  Would that be nutritious enough for them so I wouldn't have to buy feed and they'd still lay eggs? 

What about our sheep?  My pasture isn't irrigated.  How many sheep would I need to support three people, or ten?  Right now we have 12 sheep.  I know that's too many to support on my property for the entire year without supplementing their food.  I do expect to sell some of the sheep.  We started off this year with two rams and five ewes.  Each ewe had a single birth.  We had three male and two female lambs.  The three males are all going to be eaten.  We can sell the two new females.  How many is the right amount to sustain us?  I don't really know.

We have a goat but he's at our bug-out property.  He doesn't count for anything because he's a pygmy.  I wouldn't mind getting a couple of goats to be able to provide us with milk.  If that was the case then we'd have to get rid of most of the sheep since the property can really only hold about 7 or 8 animals without supplementing.

I've had a steer before, when the kids were young.  One steer would last for two years because we aren't the types who need a huge chunk of meat on our plates each night.  When we had the steer we had to supplement a lot because our five acres could support the steer and nothing else.  At that time we also had other animals.

We do have two huge flowering mulberry trees.  In other times and other places, these trees were specifically grown to be used as animal food. In my area, once the tree is established it doesn't need any water at all throughout the year, even with our 10-12 inches of rain, because the roots can tap into the groundwater.  A flowering mulberry tree grows like crazy each year and produces thousands of leaves.  You can cut the tree way back (topping the tree which doesn't work for most trees but mulberry thrives on it).  You can cut branches to feed the animals and then in the fall the leaf drop will last throughout the winter as feed if you store it in a dry place.  We also have three fruiting mulberries which are still young trees.  Once they grow larger they too will be able to be used for animal feed.  With those trees we could raise our animal total higher...possibly keeping a dozen animals year round without having to supplement their feed with purchased hay. 

I'm asking more questions of myself than I'm answering today.  A grandson is coming over today.  He got suspended from school for two days (He punched a kid who has been harassing him for quite a while.  The school never did anything until he retaliated.  Then the administrator said either they both get suspended or neither so his mother chose both).   Glad he stuck up for himself since the school didn't, but he's got some yard work to do.  Better make hay while the sun shines.

More dead critters

The boy yip-yip was at it again today.  Although Army daughter and son-in-law were told to keep their dogs penned up because they killed the baby ducks, they only kept them penned for a couple of days.  The boy dog dug under and instead of fixing the fence they reasoned that their dogs are really good dogs so it couldn't have been their dogs that killed the ducks.  The second nest of ducks are also dead but there were no witnesses so they didn't believe it once again.

Today there was a witness.  Granddaughter, as part of her homeschooling curriculum, has agricultural engineering (aka garden chores).  She went out to work in the garden and came back into the house in tears and holding the dog.  He just killed 10 chickens, maybe more.  She said she saw him in the chicken coop and thought he was playing with the chickens (she's little and didn't know that dogs don't "play" with chickens) until she saw some dead ones.  Granddaughter is heartbroken.  Army daughter said that she can't believe her dog would do that...Witnesses this time, He did it! 

If it was my dog it would have been shot.  It's not my dog.  It's in the cat-carrier at the moment.  I told her if it's not caged it had better be on a leash with one of them on the other end.  They need to figure out what they are going to do with their dog.  She left and went to the gym...

What if IT is today?  Sort of feels like it today... Perhaps I shouldn't listen to the news to know what's going on in the city, county, state, country, or world.  If it is then they will need to move out.  Priorities are a little screwed up when the gym is more important than taking care of your responsibilities...

Half Dollars

I've been reading on other survival sites about how you can go to the bank and pick up some rolls of coins and there are often coins of value in the rolls.  We all know that 1964 and before are 90% silver coins, but from 65-70 the coins were 40% silver.  From what I've been reading you could still find those coins - and they are worth about $5 each.  I thought I'd give it a try.  I went to the bank last week and asked for some half dollars.  They didn't have any.  Can I order some?  The banker went to ask.  She came back.  Yes you can but only if you order a thousand dollars worth.  I thought about it for about a second.  Sure order me one thousand dollars worth of half dollars.  I figured that I did have the money in savings so if I wanted to pull it all out to take my chance on finding some coins, I certainly wouldn't be losing a bunch of interest for the few days I'd be going through the coins.  She asked me what I wanted the coins for.  I wasn't going to tell the truth as that would flag me as some crazy person.  I told her that I was teaching a class and we needed the coins as part of the lesson.

A few days later I went back to the bank to pick up my order.  It didn't cost me anything, although some people have said that there's a charge to order coins.  I got two boxes of $500 each box.  The coins were all wrapped in $10 wraps of 20 coins each.  I've gone through $250 so far in a spare 30 minutes.  I found zero coins between the years 65-70.  Nothing.  Only $750 to go. 

As I sat on my bed unwrapping the coins I felt like I was playing the lottery.  I don't gamble (ok I've bought about $10 worth of lottery tickets in my life) but that's what the feeling was like.  With every group of 20 coins, as I unwrapped them, my heart was racing a bit...maybe this roll would be the roll?   No, so it's a good thing I wasn't throwing any money away on this little gambling adventure.  As long as I put ALL the coins back into the bank and don't spend them then I don't see a problem taking the money out of the bank.  If I spent a coin here or there then I'd have to stop immediately. 

One of the other credit unions I go to has a coin counter.  I'm going to ask them if I could purchase a bag of coins from that counter rather than the way I did it at this other branch with ordering the wrapped coins from whatever central bank they get their money from.  The coin counter separates the coins so perhaps I won't have to buy so many coins.  I may have a better chance getting some from 65-70.  Or if I'm really lucky 64 or earlier.

Gardening fools, water and salt

Today we spent almost ten hours working in the garden.  We are only spending that much time because we are converting it from long rows to raised beds.  I pulled weeds between the garden beds.  Then I put down the weed blocker that I was able to get and put a wood chip mixture on top.  Using the wheelbarrow was too difficult for the grandkids so they carried buckets.  I spent much of my time either shoveling wood chips into their buckets or taking the landscape rake and spreading it all out.  The kids made over 100 trips back and forth between the pile and the walkways.  They did an amazing job. 

We got more of the garden planted.  We put in a full bed of okra.  These kids love okra.  Their favorite way is fried but they'll eat it breaded and baked too. 

Oldest grandson came over, riding his bike 10 miles to get here, to finish up the front grape/strawberry bed.  He too did an amazing job.  At dinner tonight we had a discussion that everyone has to help if they want to eat from the garden.  There's no standing at the cherry tree stuffing your face full of cherries if you don't put in your fair share of work. 

When we work outside I put an igloo water cooler out near us.  We have three 5 gallon coolers and two 2 gallon ones.  Today we used the 5 gallon cooler.  This morning I filled it with water and the ice that was in the freezer.  It stayed cold all day and we went through about four of the five gallons.  People often forget to drink until they feel dehydrated.  By that time you are not going to be able to easily recover and you will work slower and you won't be thinking as clearly.  On the other hand, don't overdo the drinking of liquids.  We are so often told that if our urine is anything other than a light straw color we are dehydrated.  People can go to the hydrating extreme and make them selves really sick by getting too hydrated.  I've seen people have explosive diahriaha because they down a gallon of liquid at a time.  Your body can't handle that.  When we are working and sweating, it's not uncommon to drink a quart or so each hour.

The two little ones went straight to bed after dinner.  I'm sure they'll sleep hard tonight.  While oldest grandson was drilling the holes to put the rebar into the landscape timbers he had the radio on.  I'm not sure what he was listening to because it was a loud obnoxious song or two then a few minutes of news reporting.  One of the news reports caught my ear.

The newscaster was talking about the latest trend to store food.  He said that not only are there companies who make long term foods available for storage but also companies who make containers and shelves to store this food in.  He said that there's one lady who devotes half her laundry room to stored food.  He then explained that people who store food are just preparing for some major disaster like a flood or an earthquake, but that more should store food as a way to beat inflation.

The story went on to say that Americans spend an average of 20% of their income on food.  When food prices go up, as they have recently, and gas too, that it's more difficult to budget for the food.  If you buy extra when it's cheap and stock up then it's a hedge against inflation. 

Of course we all know that but it was an interesting way to put it out to the general public.  Store food instead of saving your money in the bank because you'll get a better rate of return on it. 

I wonder how many people that aren't the survivalist or prepper mindset will be swayed by these types of news stories, of by the CDC making light of preparing by announcing that you should prepare of the zombie apocalypse, or even an earthquake or tornado. 

We made some raisin bread this morning.  As I was putting the ingredients together (flour, water, yeast, salt, cinnamon sugar, raisins, melted butter) I just about finished up my box of salt.  It's a three pound box of kosher salt.  I looked on the side of the box and it said it had 1100 servings of 1 teaspoon.  I use a teaspoon of salt in my bread to add a little flavor.  One three pound box that costs about two dollars will last for about three years of making bread every day.  That should be something that's easy enough to do.  Actually we have about 25 pounds of salt (pourable) plus several blocks of salt that I purchased at the feed store.  Some of the salt is still in the boxes that it came in.  Some has been repackaged into plastic jars.  I have pasta containers and I pour salt into those containers.  It mixes with the pasta and keeps the bugs out.  I shake off the salt prior to cooking the pasta but it's not a big deal if there's a little salt on the pasta.  Most people throw a little salt into the cooking water anyway.  That salt is reusable, either with more pasta or pouring it into the salt shaker.

Energy Security

It's an interesting day in the news world.  Rarely do I discuss any type of politics because there are people on both sides of the political spectrum that realize the world is not a stable place and we need to prepare for whatever comes...most of the politics or whatever is going on in the world is not something that is under our direct control. 

 

First the president wants Israel to commit suicide by going back to their 1967 border.  Does the president remember how come Israel's border expanded?  Of course not, he was 6 years old, and I guess he didn't learn it in church or in his history books.  During the war when Syria attacked Israel, Israel captured the Golan Heights.  Right after the war Israel offered to give the land back to Syria if Syria promised peace.  Syria did not agree because they don't acknowledge Israel's right to exist.  Now it's 44 years later.  Syria still doesn't want Israel to exist so I'm not quite sure why Israel should be pushed into something like this.

 

The other bit of news, and one that affects us directly, is that of new information regarding energy security.  It seems that Bin Laden's plans included blowing up tanker ships and disrupting the world's oil supplies.  The plans also discussed pipelines and such.  There weren't any dates gleaned from this information which is why it's just a warning and not pushed to a higher threat level.  I do know that energy security is a huge topic, and one that one of my brothers is heavily involved in. 

 

While a good deal of our oil does not come from the middle east, energy security is an issue everywhere.  What if today was the day that the gas stations stopped pumping gas?  Even if it was only for a week?  Would you be able to get to work?  Would you have a job to go to?  If you lost a week's pay, or your job, would you be able to survive?  Would you get kicked out of your house or apartment because of a lack of gasoline?  What about supplies getting to the stores?  You do have a year or two supply of everything that you may possibly need, right? 

 

Then again, you may not need it.  Several people I know are quite uneasy about tomorrow since Harold Camping's Christian group is calling for the end of the world to start tomorrow and be completed in October.  This is the same man who said the world was going to end seven years ago.  When it didn't it was just because he made a mathematical error.  I'm sure if there is any earthquake (never mind that there are earthquakes every single day http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ ) it will be attributed to Camping's prediction. 

 

Today we got most of the peppers planted and the tomatoes too.  The ground has been so wet that we decided to wait to plant most everything.  They were all in nice sized pots so it didn't hurt to keep them in the pots until now.  Granddaughter got the gardening bug and has decided that she is planting carrots, parsnips, turnips, and beets in her bed.  She also has another bed for flowers.    She captured some grasshoppers and fed them to the chickens.  I think it's going to be a really bad grasshopper season.  We have the ducks roaming the garden, and we may let some of the chickens do the same. 

 

I saw Granddaughter's teacher on Wednesday and I reported that she is working really hard on her math now that she is home schooled.  The teacher wanted to know if she was working hard happily or if she was being forced.  What? She couldn't believe that the child would do her school work without being forced.  I guess that's the reason I pulled her out of school to teach her at home.  She is happily doing her math and is actually learning something.  How many carrots, parsnips, turnips, and beets can you plant in a 16x4 foot bed?  Lots of practical math.  Lots of multiplication and fractions.  Lots of fun.

Half price deals

Throughout the country there are companies who are promoting half price deals to try to get you to try out smaller companies.  I check out these lists quite often but have rarely purchased anything.  Often the deals are $10 for a $20 coupon at some restaurant or other.  I don't go out to eat just to go out to eat so even at half price I wouldn't purchase them.  A month ago or so there was a deal that I missed.  I'm really glad that it ran again.  The company is G.I. Jim's Surplus and Supply in a little town called Tollhouse.  I get up there a couple times a year so I bought three coupons.   The link is http://valleydailydeals.com/deal/02rm042p .  This deal is good for another 3 days only and the coupons are good for a year.  Anything I can do to get stuff that I may use at a good price I will do.  On something like this I don't worry about whether someone is going to be tracking what I'm doing.  They have a lot of camping supplies there so it's not just a store for survivalists.   

Always have a backup plan

No matter what you do or where you are you always need a back up plan or two or three.  Today was a good example of if it could go wrong it did.  It was also a great day because everything worked out perfectly fine, I completed my project, and I got home earlier than if everything went as planned.

Yesterday afternoon I was told I needed to go to a meeting an hour or so outside of San Diego.  A travel freeze exemption was granted so I could attend this meeting.  It was for a five million dollar project that had hit a snag.  If I couldn't come up with a solution it would turn into a million dollar payoff and the project would be postponed.  I was confident that I could make everyone happy. 

I called the travel agent who booked a flight from Fresno to LA to San Diego.  I was going to rent a car for my time down there.  I had to leave the house around 4 in the morning.  I called San Diego sister and planned on meeting her for a late breakfast before my meeting. 

Grandson wasn't happy that I was leaving until I told him that I'd wake him up and he could get up over an hour earlier than normal.  I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare which was good because the line to get through security was a lot longer than normal.  With about 10 people in front of me they called for a bunch of passengers for my plane, me included.  Not a problem.  I got through security and headed to my gate as they were calling my name again. 

Problem...I went to the wrong gate and by the time I realized it I missed my plane.  I've never missed a plane due to my stupidity!  I called the travel agent at 6 in the morning.  I missed my plane, can you get me on another?  I have to be at my meeting at 1:30.  The travel agent said everything was booked according to her screen.  I asked the person at the counter at the airport.  She could put me on standby.  That won't work.  I have to get there by 1:30.  If I don't get there the project gets postponed and we have to pay a penalty.  It's a million dollar issue. I can drive, it's a seven hour drive and I have 7 1/2 hours, so I hopped into my fully fueled truck and headed down the road.  The truck was full of food, clothing, fuel, and a weapon or two.  I was ready to go.

As I drove out of the airport I called the travel agent.  It was now 6:30 in the morning.  I'm sure they weren't thrilled with me!  Can you get me on a flight from Visalia, Bakersfield, or Burbank since I'm going to pass those airports on the way down?  I got a call back.  Yes Bakersfield will get you to San Diego.  Your car will be available once you get down there.  So I drove to the Bakersfield airport, checked in through security once again and I was on my way.  The travel agent called again to say I couldn't get a flight back today.  How about if I drive the rental car back from San Diego to Bakersfield, pick up my truck in Bakersfield and drive home?  Sure, why not?

I got to San Diego, picked up the car, drove to the meeting, got everyone to agree, drove back to Bakersfield, swapped out the vehicle, then drove home.  I got home over 30 minutes earlier than if I had flown home.

Why am I telling you this?  By not paying attention to a small detail (what gate I was supposed to go to) I had problem after problem after problem that needed to be solved.  Fortunately I had a good travel agent who was able to help me out, although if that didn't work I would have just driven.  I didn't need to worry about the cost so changing plans at the last minute wasn't an issue.  I was instantly able to come up with a back up plan and a back up plan for that back up plan.  My plans, which were so set in stone yesterday afternoon, became very very fluid.

I learned a good lesson that not paying attention to just one small detail can cause a tidal wave of problems. This was only a monetary problem, it wasn't a medical or safety issue.   All turned out just fine. 

More on gardening

Continuing with my topic from yesterday where I gave the number of plants in a 100 foot row and how many plants are suggested to be grown per person, I’m showing the difference in growing in rows compared to intensive gardening in pots or square feet in a garden bed.  Now just because I show how many plants you can put into one square foot doesn’t mean that you can plant a 4x8 planter bed with 32 different square foot items.  While the bottom of the planting may only take up a square foot, the top may spread to two or three feet or more.  On the other hand, if you mix your plants up and plant short plants next to tall plants (plants that need shading next to plants that provide shade) you can come close to planting in extremely tight spacing.

This year, my huge garden is being replaced by 10 garden boxes.  I’m sure that I’ll add more next year, but for now, I’m going to see how much space I can save by not planting in the normal 100’ row with a three foot spacing between rows. 

Vegetable	Spacing in rows in inches	Number per square foot
Asparagus	12	1-2
Beans, snap bush	3-4	6-9
Beans, snap pole	4-6	9-12
Beans, lima bush	3-4	6-9
Beets	2	25
Broccoli	12-24	3
Brussels sprouts	12-24	2
Cabbage	12-24	2
Carrots	2	50
Cantaloupe	12	1
Cauliflower	12-24	2
Celery	6	4-6
Chard, swiss	6	9
Collards and kale	6-12	4-6
Corn, sweet	12	2-4
Cucumbers	12	1-2
Eggplant	12-24	1
Garlic	2-4	36
Lettuce, leaf	2-3	6-9
Mustard	6-12	9
Okra	12-24	1-2
Onions	3-4	16
Parsley	6-8	16
Parsnips	3-4	25
Peas	6-12	25
Peppers	12-24	4
Potatoes	10-15	1
Soybeans	3-4	10-12
Spinach	3-4	4-9
Squash, summer	18-36	1
Squash, winter	24-48	1
Tomatoes	18-36	1
Turnip greens	2-3	20
Turnip roots	2-3	20
Watermelon	36-72	1

How big of a garden do you need?

When it comes to fruit trees my motto seems to be that one can never have too many fruit trees.  What fruit we don't eat we can or dry.  If fruit falls to the ground it goes to the chickens.  But what about a garden?  How much is too much?  How many vegetables do you need to plant.  I'm not talking about the variety, planting every vegetable that you can think of is great.  It leads to a good variety.  My question is how large a garden is too large?

 

I guess some of the questions I need to ask are how many is the garden feeding, is it for fresh use only, is it also canned or dried?  Is the garden providing most of your food?  How much space do you have?  How much time do you have? 

 

I've done a lot of research about how much you can grow of each type of vegetable in a 100 foot row.  I know that there are many other methods than growing one plant wide and 100 feet in length, but that is a good way to measure for comparison.  Whether you can plant 100 plants in this row or intensively garden those 100 plants in a 5 foot by 5 foot space isn't where this is going, but how much produce can you get in your 100 foot row? 

Vegetable	Produced in 100'	Fresh-1 person
Asparagus	30 lbs	10-15 plants
Beans, snap bush	120 lbs	15-20 feet
Beans, snap pole	150 lbs	8-10 feet
Beans, lima bush	25 lbs shelled	10-15 feet
Beets	150 lbs	5-10 feet
Broccoli	100 lbs	3-5 plants
Brussels sprouts	75 lbs	2-5 plants
Cabbage	150 lbs	3-4 plants
Carrots	100 lbs	5-10 feet
Cantaloupe	100 fruits	3-5 hills
Cauliflower	100 lbs	3-5 plants
Celery	180 stalks	10 stalks
Chard, swiss	75 lbs	3-5 plants
Collards and kale	100 lbs	5-10 feet
Corn, sweet	10 dozen	10-15 feet
Cucumbers	120 lbs	1-2 hills
Eggplant	100 lbs	2-3 plants
Garlic	40 lbs	1-5 feet
Lettuce, leaf	50 lbs	10 feet
Mustard	100 lbs	5-10 feet
Okra	100 lbs	4-6 feet
Onions	100 lbs	3-5 feet
Parsley	30 lbs	1-3 feet
Parsnips	100 lbs	10 feet
Peas	20 lbs	15-20 feet
Peppers	60 lbs	3-5 plants
Potatoes	100 lbs	50-100 feet
Soybeans	20 lbs	50 feet
Spinach	40-50 lbs	5-10 feet
Squash, summer	150 lbs	2-3 hills
Squash, winter	100 lbs	1-3 hills
Tomatoes	100 lbs	3-5 plants
Turnip greens	50-100 lbs	5-10 feet
Turnip roots	50-100 lbs	5-10 feet
Watermelon	40 fruits	2-4 hills

 

While this table suggests how much is "normal" for one person to eat fresh, it may not at all reflect how much you or your family eats fresh.  It is suggested to at least double the amount per person if you are putting up enough for the year.  I know of many people who plant hundreds of tomatoes.  According to this chart they should be planting 10 plants per person if they are eating fresh and canning some.  That's not nearly enough!  It also depends on how you use the tomatoes.  In our house I dry tomatoes.  I also throw bags of tomatoes into the freezer (if I'm making a vegetable soup I'll just take out a couple of tomatoes and throw them into the soup).  Making salsa uses a lot of tomatoes but you aren't cooking the tomatoes down.  Putting up spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, tomato juice, or catsup uses a lot of tomatoes.  A family of 4 may need between 100-200 plants depending on how often they use tomato products. 

 

Even with it's downfalls, this chart is good for the new gardener.  If you plant too much of any crop then you will be spending lots of time watering and weeding for something that you aren't going to eat.  If you don't plant enough, then you will spend lots of time working and not really reaping the benefits of your labor.  A couple of weeks ago I was at my mom's house.  For dinner we got to eat some of the things from her garden.  We each got 1 1/2 strawberries and 2 pea pods.  They tasted great but it certainly wasn't used as an actual course in the meal.