Sandy asks…
will it cost me less to hunt, fish and grow food then to buy it at the supermarket?
I live in Texas and I was considering whether it would be warranted for me to purchase a fishing or hunting permit . I have been hearing about all the growth hormones used in meat and I almost get a heart attack everytime I see the price of organic meat. It usually results in me either not buying meat or buying non organic. I am curious if it would be better for me to fish for my own seafood and when the season is around hunt my own meat. Despite I do not care for red meat. I want to start growing my own vegetables and herbs, I am really looking for new ways to save money. I learned how to make my own soap. I learned how to build generators, solar panels, nuclear reactors, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, Hydrochloric acid,biodiesel fuel, rocket fuel, lye, and computers. If i were to catch a deer it would most likely last me 6 months as I eat like a bird. a rabbit could last me a month
GardenersCardiff answers:
Depends.
Well do the math. Add up all cost you would incur going hunting or fishing. For example I live very close to the ocean in SE Alaska so I fish salt water and bring home hundreds of pounds of sea food each year. When I add up the cost of boat upkeep, gas and all costs Im doing pretty good. But if I lived far from the sea and had to drive hundreds of miles I wouldn’t see that savings. And if I had to travel hundreds of miles for hunting I would have the same problem unless it was worth is such as a moose or elk. You get 40% of a deer’s weight in meat. So if you spend $500 to get 50 lbs of venison that’s $10 a pound. Compare that to 600 lbs of elk or moose meat @ $0.83 a lb for a trip that cost $500. See what I mean? I have gone duck hunting and the two ducks I finally got cost me $80 a lb.
Do the same with gardening.
The wife and I either grow, gather, hunt or fish 90% of our food but we already have all the stuff to do so.
Paul asks…
Growing My Own Vegetables?
How hard is it to grow enough vegetables to support two people?
I would still buy meats/fish from the market.
I want a cheaper and healthier alternative to buying supermarket foods.
I live in West Texas, by the way.
GardenersCardiff answers:
It’s hard if you have a full time job. Harvesting and putting up or preserving what you’ve grown to last through the year tends to be a lot of work over a few weeks.
But start be simply starting, and starting small. It’s always wonderfull to be able to eat fresh out of your own garden, even if it’s not enough to do you for a year. And you have a longer growing season down there than I do, so there are probably more months in the year when you can have something in the ground actually being productive.
My best piece of advice to a new gardener is to start small. If you’re a novice, the worst thing you can do is try to jump in to an enormous garden. You’ll quickly be overwhelmed, and more likely to bag the whole thing. Start by growing 3 things you like to eat. There’s always more to learn, and as you pick up skills, know-how, and confidence and experience, you can start adding more stuff, and handle a larger plot.
Nancy asks…
Growing vegetables in containers?
I live in South Florida. The ground in my backyard is horrible and will be a real hassle to dig up. I was thinking of growing carrots, tomatoes, beans, strawberries and a few more small things. I want to grow them all in containers. Any advice?
GardenersCardiff answers:
I’m a container gardener and have grown all those things in containers.
Things you’ll want to know:
– Strawberries can grow in containers, but they vine and propagate by shoots off the mother plant. That means you’ll need a HUGE container to grow them in (at least 2.5 feet wide), and you still won’t get many berries. If you’re satisfied with a couple small strawberries on your cereal a few times a year, go for it.
– Sand has no nutritional value for plants and potting soil is made for pots. It retains the right amount of water, the good stuff has nutrition, and you drill holes in the pot bottoms, so it drains. (Also, research how to stop your soil from pouring out of the container along with the water.)
– The size of the container dictates the size of the plants only somewhat. You’re not making a carrot that can only grow 5 inches long grow bigger, by sticking it in a deep container. You buy seeds/plants that work for containers. Since your average size container isn’t the best size for standard carrots, don’t grow standard carrots. I go for the ones that don’t get any longer than 5 inches, but you’re perfectly capable of figuring out what works for you. I’ve seen beefsteak tomatoes growing in 12-inch containers. They won’t get “beefsteak” size. Huge? If you want. I’ll include a video of our garden from last week. We got a little carried away on the tomatoes this year. (We let the ones that self-seeded in with our carrots take over that container, and now we have the tomatoes taking over a corner of our yard. Lol) I prefer the 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot. We grow our grape tomatoes and patio tomatoes in them. (Both are supposed to be determinate, but someone forgot to tell them that. Lol) The big tomatoes I do grow in a huge container, but that’s because a good Cherokee Purple tomato is worth the extra space and effort. We grew two in one container, so the second one (the one that took over our pepper space lol) is an Earl Girl. Both could have grown alone in a 5-gallon bucket. We merely prefer sticking 2-3 tomatoes in a container. Here’s the link to the video to show you our tomatoes, carrots, and strawberries – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8lEoK08NZU&feature=plcp
– Green beans. Like all produce you want to grow, you should research them before you grow them. Bush beans are better than pole beans in a container. (The container is 1-2 feet above ground and pole beans grow to 8 feet or higher.) They grew in the container that’s the same size as our Cherokee Purple tomato container and we had six plants in it, but they don’t live a full season.
– You are free to go with the raised bed idea, if you want. It will cost a small fortune, since you need wood that doesn’t rot. (Soil rots wood, in time. Cedar last longer, but it’s costly.) Then again, if you want to go through that hassle of bringing in all the soil needed to fill it, by that time, just amend the soil you have.
– Most important piece of advice. Always do your own research before starting a garden. After all, you’re getting advice from someone who container gardens in Philly and another answerer gave you…well, I’m not sure what that was, other than maybe advertisement for raised beds. Like was the case with my bush beans – had I just researched ahead of time, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. (I removed a ton of used potting soil and replaced the container it was in, simply because I thought it was diseased. Lol) Don’t expect everything to go perfectly. It won’t. Just keep track of what you learned that worked and didn’t work. Oh, and of course, have fun! 
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Maria asks…
I want to start growing my own vegetables how do I go about this and what are the best veg to start with ?
My 4 year old won’t eat vegetables and both hubby and I love them, so we thought that we would grow our own with the help of ‘junior’. Any ideas folks?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Great idea! Kids love planting anything. Carrots, string beans and radishes are always fun to grow and are very easy. Buy tomato plants and any other vegetables which need a longer growing season. Cherry tomatoes are child-bite sized and they don’t require anything except sun, water and a little fertilizer. Plant a few pumpkin or squash seeds too. Even if your child won’t eat them he’ll have fun setting up a nice fall display. Don’t forget to plant some flowers, especially sunflowers. We still proudly display a picture of our grandson when he was four next to a GIANT sunflower. He’s almost 16 now and everyone loves it.
Get a vegetable gardening book from your library or go online for information. When you know what, WHEN and where you want to plant go to the garden center and get one of these: composted soil, peat moss or composted cow manure. To prepare a bed turn the soil over with a shovel. Add the “rich” soil and work it in well making sure to break up any clumps and removing rocks. Now take a rake and smooth it all over. Gather your seed packets and plants and share an afternoon of work, fun, satisfaction and making memories none of you will ever forget.
Chris asks…
What books do you recommend for beginning gardeners?
I’ve purchased my first house and I need to seed parts of the yard so that some of the grass will grow. Plus I want to grow my own vegetables. What books would be good for this city girl to read?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Stop by your public library and browse their gardening section. That way you can sample various books for free. Later you can buy one or two from a bookstore, once you decide the best one for you.
Probably look at the Ortho, Sunset or Home Depot ones for starting out. When you buy one, you probably want a more comprehensive one than those.
Donald asks…
If I want to start growing my own vegetables and fruits?
I want to grow my own stuff so we don’t waste money going to the grocery store. Where and how should I start?
Thanks.
GardenersCardiff answers:
Your question has various answers. I thought I would instead give you some gardening videos to watch. That will give you an idea of how to plant fruit trees, small fruits such as blueberries, potatoes etc. Good luck.
Http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/04/02/vertical-gardening-video-part-two.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/28/vertical-gardening-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/22/square-foot-gardening.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/07/tomato-planting-video-from-seed-starting-to-outdoor-garden.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/26/planting-potatoes-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/02/growing-blueberries-in-your-own-backyard-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/24/the-garden-girl-shows-us-how-to-plant-cumumbers-in-this-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/01/31/planting-blueberries-in-a-container.aspx
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George asks…
Is it expensive to live in Alaska if you grow your own food?
Is it expensive to own land in Alaska?
GardenersCardiff answers:
You may want to choose a warmer climate zone with a longer growing season. Alaska is an expensive place to live.
Joseph asks…
Is growing and hunting your own food good for the environment?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Ya totally. Your supposedly not being a part of the emission of gas that comes from the trucks that get the food to the store, and your not emitting gas from your own car to go buy the prodicts yourself.
Plus your giving good insects a home and preventing extinction from cretian species…as extreme as it sounds.
So if your doing this, good for you…way to go green! 
have fun with your garden!
Helen asks…
Can they put you in jail for growing your own food?
News | August 15, 2010 | 154 comments Senate Bill S510 Makes it illegal to Grow, Share, Trade or Sell Homegrown Food
source: http://www.firetown.com/blog/2010/08/05/raiding-organic-food-stores-a-sign-of-new-times/
S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.
“If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” ~Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower
11 million Ukraine people staved to death when they removed their food and seeds and farm equipment..most of the seed today will only grow one crop.Monsanto makes it that way.
Raiding organic food stores. A sign of new times?” at: http://www.firetown.com/blog/2010/08/05/raiding-organic-food-stores-a-sign-of-ne…
“Collecting rainwater now illegal in many states as Big Government claims ownership over our water.” at: http://www.theworldsprophecy.com/collecting-rainwater-now-illegal-in-many-states…
“Why do people in America refuse to take active interest in their future?” at http://www.firetown.com/blog/2010/08/03/why-do-people-in-america-refuse-to-take-…
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S 510
GardenersCardiff answers:
If that is true then I will be going to jail. Big brother can’t stop me from growing food in my garden and giving fresh produce to my neighbors.
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