Aphids In The Garden

Signs Of Aphid Infestation - Image: M Burgess

Yesterday I noticed the curling leaves on my newly set garden. 

I turned the leaf over and sure enough we have aphids. 

Aphids are tiny yellow and green creatures that remind me of fleas, mites, or lice. They are creepy and can devastate anything they land on. By eventually draining your plants of nutrients, these little sap suckers need to be removed as soon as possible. They are more common on roses but they do find vegetable plants a good environment for their colonies.

Remove them as soon as you see them by spraying the leaves with soapy water. I wash the leaves off gently removing the egg sacks, larvae, and the adults. Finding them early will help prevent them from getting too well established.

You may spray tobacco juice on them, too, if you want to remain organic. There are pesticides out there that can treat your garden pests but you have to be very careful with it. I personally don't like adding poisons to the healthy foods I grow. That's the whole point of having a garden is it not?

Live Ladybugs - Amazon

One of the best remedies for treating these smaller pests are live ladybugs. they can be ordered online or through your local nursery. They consume these dreaded creatures and will reproduce their young in your garden if the conditions are right.

What else can you use to ORGANICALLY treat garden pests? 

I am just learning this side of gardening. I am working my way to being as organic as possible. Thanks for your help! =)

Preparedness And Preserves - Canning Foods

Gathering is a small part of your emergency preparedness and survival planning. 

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Learning how to preserve and process your own foods be it out of your garden or the market are also important strategies to your family's survival plan. 

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The more you learn about being self-sufficient the better. Canning is a great way to get that accomplished. Not only are you producing your own food stock, you have the ability to control the ingredients. A simple exercise in jam making can be the doorway to foods that are a bit more complex to preserve. 

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Pressure Canners

Recently I purchased a pressure canner / cooker and will eventually put it to use in preparing my own vegetables, fruits, meats, and sauces. There are tons of foods you can store by having this very handy piece of equipment. It can be a lifesaver if you invest in the time and effort put into making your own preserved foods. 

Your foods are healthier because the contents of the foods can be controlled by you. I am planning on putting up stews and chili and preserving things like grapefruit in jars. With the pressure canner the higher acid foods are stabilized and sealed.

Making Strawberry Jam

This past week I took the time out to put up some strawberry jam. I used the canner for my water bath. This is a simple process but it does take up a little bit of time. Jam is probably the easiest way to get started with the canning process. And it is a very tasty lesson! When you are fully educated on making jam you will be able to understand how to move onto more complex food items like pickles.

The simple strawberry jam recipe is 1 package of pectin, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 5 Quarts of mashed berries, and 7 cups of sugar. Oh, don't forget a pat of butter! The pectin will have a guide in it that will help you along in the processing. To preserve it you will need a dozen jars and a very large kettle for a water bath so that when you pack the jam into the sterilized jars you can submerge them in water and simmer them in the boiling liquid for 10 minutes. This process eliminates bacteria growth and seals the jars. Jam has a shelf life of about a year. See the steps I took in this article: Making Delicious Strawberry Jam 

This video is from my jam project -- It is under 14 minutes and will show you the steps you need to take to preserve your own strawberry jam!

Strawberry Jammin'!

(bear with me it is my first food video!)

My favorite canning project is jam but I am looking forward to trying out my new equipment on other foods like bottle pears in syrup! 

What foods do you like to preserve?

Weekend Coming Up Replant Your Garden!

The Fun Survival Stuff Is Here! 

Gardening March 2013 - Lemons & Raspberries

Before The New Planting -
Container Garden  - March 20 2013
Image: M Burgess

I said when I started this blog that there is fun stuff to do when you are doing survival planning and one of those activities is gardening. 

My prepper planning includes two resident rodents, Guinea Pigs so I insist on having access to fresh home grown vegetables for them and for me. I live in Las Vegas so the gardening can get a little tricky here, but it is simple to set up.

How I Do Container Gardening In Las Vegas

I have a small porch but still manage to keep some lovely growing things in pots there. With the weekend coming up it is a great time to put in or replant a garden if you have not already done so.

In our fair city the weather for Las Vegas is finally beautiful and just right for gardening projects. Summer knocks most plants for a loop with the heat but it is early enough to get some plants going and set before the heat comes down.

I was driving home today intent on doing something entirely different when I just had to drop by the plant place! Well, I did need some new green peppers! I love having things in the garden that I and my Guinea Pigs can eat! Nothing beats a fresh tomato or anything home grown!

My container garden barely survived below freezing temperatures. I was really surprised several of the plants lived through this cold snap.  A strawberry, a rosemary plant, 2 lavender plants, and a few onions made it through. My two year old lemon tree is still hanging in there. I wish like heck I had more room and more time. I would be found for sure in a section of my garden somewhere up to planting and tending some tasty goodies!

Lemon Tree Blossoms - March 20 2013
Image: M Burgess

Lemon Tree In A Pot?


My lemon tree is in full bud and bloom and if the wind doesn't knock all the buds off of it again I should have a nice crop of lemons. These flowers are very fragrant and they are fun for the bees and butterflies to visit. There visits mean the flowers are pollenated and will bear fruit. In fact their are tiny lemons on it as we speak.. er rather read.

The pollen count is high right now. On St. Patrick's Day in Las Vegas we generally get the first dusting of flower pollen everywhere so my allergies are kicking up at this time as well. Funny how all that yellow green dust comes in to welcome the Irish holiday!

 Ah, it's ok. The sneezing means I don't have to bundle up anymore. Spring is definitely here!

New Plants For Veggie Garden 2013
Image: M Burgess

A New Addition To The Garden

I added a new plant to test out this year. I have wanted to see if anything besides strawberries could be grown in a small scale garden so I purchased a raspberry plant. If it does well I am sure to have blossoms with in a couple of weeks.


I also bought these sets of starter plants:

Armenian Cucumbers- Banana Peppers - Green Peppers - Yellow Crook Neck Squash - Tomato - Raspberry - Sweet Pod Peas - And a marigold plant.


    I just have to have a little color!

Marigolds
Image: M Burgess

Tried And True Vegetable Plants For Container Gardening

These plants are already tried and true container garden items for my experience as a small area gardener. I have successfully grown all of these over the past few years and I like the way they look when the plant fills out, the fruits and veggies they produce, and the general comfort they give me.

Potting Soil & Spade
Image: M Burgess

New To Container Gardening?
After you have set in your plants there is very little effort you need to take care of them. Watering when needed and tending to their pruning and picking is about all you need to do to keep up with them. The fertilizer will come out next week. It's a bit of a shock to them to be transplanted so I want to let them settle before I give em a boost of nutrients. Try to fertilize LIGHTLY every 6 weeks or so. Heavy fertilizer will burn them so go easy on it.

If you are replanting in containers you do need to add fresh soil every year and update the soil as it is drained out the bottom of the containers. I removed most of the leftover soil from the last season and replaced it for the new plantings and for the existing survivors.

Raspberry In A Pot
Image: M Burgess

Preparedness Garden For The Family
All of the foods in this garden are part of my family diet plan and survival preparedness efforts. My family at this time include me and 2 guinea pigs. If the we ever have to rely on a garden for food substances I want to make sure this garden is in full growth mode as my piggies are used to having fresh foods. You really can't store foods for pets like these. You have to grow them!

More about gardening and guinea pigs are in this article:
My Guinea Pigs Favorite Foods
You will see some images from my garden last year and photos of my ill fated Sweet Red Pepper plants....

I will update you with new pictures soon and I hope when you drop in you could share what you do for your garden and ...

Hey, do you know what I should expect from that new raspberry plant?