ursulas_alcove (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ursulas_alcove) wrote2025-04-13 07:16 pm
ursulas_alcove) wrote2025-04-13 07:16 pm
Entry tags:
Armageddon?
I just got back from the hardware store. There is almost no soil available. I had to ask them to find me Perlite. It was the second time I have looked for it over a 2 week time span. They had it but it wasn't out. Score me! They had a ton of mulch in many colors but it wasn't what I needed. The perlite lets me get started on the giant potato pots. Unfortunately, they were out of raised bed soil which I also need. Next time. . .
The weather will be warm (70s) but turning cold on Wednesday, back down to freezing at night. Storms move in tomorrow. I have a lot to get done. I lugged the bags of soil that I already had to near the beds they need to go in. Wet soil is really heavy.
My favorite podcast covered what it might mean to plant like your life depends on it. The MI Gardener vlogged a video on recession proofing your garden this year. What to plant and why. Optimizing each square foot per amount of food you can produce. Containers, succession planting, vertical gardening, etc. all to help maximize yield. Planting things on time is critical. So apparently people are really scared. The reason they discussed this was because of the trends on social media. It's the number one concern.
I felt competent that I already had almost all of MI Gardeners recommendations. I am not as dumb as I look. If you want to view it, here's a link:
https://youtu.be/WoPm5R0OaKg?si=e7JeUzF9RyYCj_KV
I am just not planting things I am allergic to, like garlic and peppers. A lot of people are worried with farmers losing big time, no workers, big bills, no government payments: there is too much to unpack here. Tariffs hit them really hard. If China won't buy Washington State apples, if there are no immigrants to pick food, if the government bailed on reimbursing them for contracts already in progress, if school lunch subsidies are canceled, diminished SNAP payments, ; you get the idea. It seems to be a scheme to buy their farmland on the cheap. Many billionaires are scarfing up land.
Yes, I do believe more people than ever will be growing some of their own food.
Meanwhile, work continues on the pile of woodchips. The mandala garden is lined with chips. Two more beds were weeded. Some of Katarina's irises came up after last year's horrible drought. A hollyhock made it too. The amount of purple dead nettle is astonishing. I am weeding with a knife. The invasive buttercup is the worst to remove.
Things coming up this next week, besides taxes:
1. weed the rest of the area around the dead maple, including a Siberian Elm removal.
2. plant the excess strawberries.
3. prepare a bed for the tomatoes/celery and chard.
Yes, that means removing more buttercups, quack grass and nettles.
4. Put wood chips on the backyard garden paths.
5. dig big holes and plant the cherry trees.
That's just for starters. I have 10 pots of potatoes to plant yet. Some might require more trips to a store for soil. I need to layout the new raspberry patch. I need to get vinegar on the tree stumps to stop new growth. I need to work on trellises. Everything, everywhere, all at once.
The weather will be warm (70s) but turning cold on Wednesday, back down to freezing at night. Storms move in tomorrow. I have a lot to get done. I lugged the bags of soil that I already had to near the beds they need to go in. Wet soil is really heavy.
My favorite podcast covered what it might mean to plant like your life depends on it. The MI Gardener vlogged a video on recession proofing your garden this year. What to plant and why. Optimizing each square foot per amount of food you can produce. Containers, succession planting, vertical gardening, etc. all to help maximize yield. Planting things on time is critical. So apparently people are really scared. The reason they discussed this was because of the trends on social media. It's the number one concern.
I felt competent that I already had almost all of MI Gardeners recommendations. I am not as dumb as I look. If you want to view it, here's a link:
https://youtu.be/WoPm5R0OaKg?si=e7JeUzF9RyYCj_KV
I am just not planting things I am allergic to, like garlic and peppers. A lot of people are worried with farmers losing big time, no workers, big bills, no government payments: there is too much to unpack here. Tariffs hit them really hard. If China won't buy Washington State apples, if there are no immigrants to pick food, if the government bailed on reimbursing them for contracts already in progress, if school lunch subsidies are canceled, diminished SNAP payments, ; you get the idea. It seems to be a scheme to buy their farmland on the cheap. Many billionaires are scarfing up land.
Yes, I do believe more people than ever will be growing some of their own food.
Meanwhile, work continues on the pile of woodchips. The mandala garden is lined with chips. Two more beds were weeded. Some of Katarina's irises came up after last year's horrible drought. A hollyhock made it too. The amount of purple dead nettle is astonishing. I am weeding with a knife. The invasive buttercup is the worst to remove.
Things coming up this next week, besides taxes:
1. weed the rest of the area around the dead maple, including a Siberian Elm removal.
2. plant the excess strawberries.
3. prepare a bed for the tomatoes/celery and chard.
Yes, that means removing more buttercups, quack grass and nettles.
4. Put wood chips on the backyard garden paths.
5. dig big holes and plant the cherry trees.
That's just for starters. I have 10 pots of potatoes to plant yet. Some might require more trips to a store for soil. I need to layout the new raspberry patch. I need to get vinegar on the tree stumps to stop new growth. I need to work on trellises. Everything, everywhere, all at once.