Monday, July 27, 2009

Following a long tradition...

on my blog of having people leave great comments, as well as just plain old linking to other people's blogs when they post wonderful preparedness information, I present the following:

A huge thank you to Stephanie in AR, from over at Sooner or Later, for leaving this link from Down to Earth about making oil lamps in a comment on my last post. That looks like something I could do, and will probably try it soon. An oil lamp has been on my list of "things to have for emergency preparation" for a while now, and if I can do it like this, it will be crossed off a lot sooner. If you are interested in making your own oil lamp, you should check that link out....

Well, things are growing in the garden---the corn, as my husband says, looks "anemic" in terms of height, and in comparison to some corn fields we saw over the weekend, but hopefully we'll get something more out of the crop this year. The potatoes look like they are doing alright, but having no comparison because it is our first time growing them, we will just have to see. The beans look like they are doing well, and the pumpkins, a family favorite, appear to be on track. Time to think about late season planting, if memory serves--and to actually plant whatever we decide on very, very, soon....

Hope everyone is having a great summer--and that if you have a garden, that it's growing well!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marie, Thanks for the links to other sites.

Since we are technically in a drought here my corn is growing odd. I don't know how to explain that other than some 6 foot stalks and some 3 foot. Getting tassles and now ears.

Keep an eye on your potatoes for japaneese beetles. You cannot miss them if they show up. They will strip your plants of folliage in a matter of days and hence no actual potatoes will grow after that. We use soapy water spray to keep them off once they show up. It is a constant battle for a while. Of course chickens will have a feast if you can get them to the plants..

We don't use any insectisides at all so as to stay Organic..

Now having said we are in a drought it rained 1/2 an inch Today....LOL


Carl

Anonymous said...

I'm checking out that link on Down to Earth you posted. We discussed emergency lighting on our blog last week (http://bit.ly/13gGxp) and how the lighting in our environment will have a drastic effect on how we feel and could lead to depression if one doesn't have adequate light. It's important to try out the lights you do purchase at home and to not be afraid to return them if they don't give off enough light.

Marie said...

Carl--Thanks for the tip on the beetles. If they show up (haven't seen anything eating them yet, so we've been fortunate) it's good to know we can use soapy water, because we don't want to use insecticides. Our corn is growing pretty uniformly (all short) but also pretty sparse.
Sorry to hear about the drought, but glad you just got some rain. What might have happened if you had commented and washed your car? :) Thanks very much for your comment!

Anonymous said...

Marie, I have built a rain water catchment system, which is in different places, One on the garage and one on the house. I am learning alot. But You would have good laugh watching me in a rain storm going from system to system in my red rain jacket, Checking to be sure all the barrels fill... My wife finds the whole thing hillarious.

Carl

Marie said...

Carl--Hey, I would probably just be impressed that you have a rain catchment system, no matter how amusing it was... Wish we would have put one in place before we had so much rain (an unusually high amount) this spring. Since it is basically desert climate around here, water catchment wouldn't be that reliable, but in an emergency situation, every little bit would help!

Marie said...

Preparedness Pro--Appears that our comments crossed while I was replying to another comment--your tuna fish can lighting idea is brilliant. Also found your post on sanitation especially informative--hope people check out your entire blog. We need to take that challenge with using emergency lighting--we have a few alternatives in that area, but using them as they would be used without regular lighting would help us know where we are lacking. Thanks for your comment!