What should we do after fiat currency fails?

[Denny]

keep a 12 gauge handy for rabbits..............

Make a bit of a sport out of it... like a slingshot.

[bubbaearl]

keep a 12 gauge handy for rabbits..............

[Denny]

I've been networking with many North Texas gardeners for some time. Here are some tips I've received. Also, there are great step-by-step raised bed contructions from around the area on youtube.

Planting
*Warm season vegetables, such as tomatoes, squashes and peppers, are best bought from a local nursery (at least until you become more skilled at sowing seeds and creating indoor growing space). These are best planted in late May and early June.
*Other vegetables can also be purchased from the nursery and planted earlier. In the early stages of gardening I recommend this to help with the success of your garden.
*Another time of year for planting is August. This is when your winter vegetables would go in. Unfortunately, nurseries don't seem to carry vegetables at this time of year, so you would have to sow your own in July or purchase plants earlier and plant then.

Weeding
* Weeds rob moisture and nutrients from vegetable plants; therefore you are helping to increase harvests by eliminating competition. Weeds also block sunlight.
* Have a positive attitude toward the task. It provides exercise, helps make compost and produces better veggies.
* Hoe regularly, even when you don't see a lot of weeds. This helps to kill germinating seeds and cultivates the soil.
* Avoid walking on newly cultivated beds. The soil compaction helps weeds to germinate and destroys soil texture. Use boards for walking on if you must go into the beds.
* Make sure you get all the roots of perennial weeds. A tiny root of dandelion or buttercup will quickly re-grow into a full size weed.
* Herbicide you decide… I don't use them!

Mulching
* To help combat weeds, you can mulch between rows. Organic mulches are best. When they breakdown, they benefit the soil. Use straw, grass clippings or pine needles.
* Mulching also helps to conserve moisture and modify soil temperature.
* Black plastic can also be used. It works, but personally I think it's ugly.
* Mulches should be applied when soil is moist.

Watering
* Deep regular watering is best. This allows for better root formation, plant stability and nutrient recovery.
* Hand irrigation is least effective (but is better than nothing).
* Use sprinklers or set up a drip irrigation system.
* Seeds and transplants need to be kept moist. Watering every day may be required. For seeds that are planted deeper, such as beans, drying out is less of a problem.
* Best time to water is early morning.
* Do not wait for plants to show symptoms. Check soil regularly, grab a handful and squeeze it. If particles cling together, it is fine, but if it feels dry and particles separate, it needs watering.
* Lack of moisture shows itself in different ways. Beets stop growing and become fibrous. Radishes grow hollow and stringy. Melons will not set fruit. Corn ears will not fill to the top. Leafy vegetables become bitter. Beans grow distorted. Tomatoes will show physical disorders such as blossom end rot. Squash wilt.

Pests and Diseases
* Try not to get crazy about insects chewing on your plants. If you fret about every little thing, gardening will not be a fun activity. Remember, bugs need to eat too.
* Do not use pesticides poisons are not fun. They often kill beneficial insects along with the unwanted ones.
* Practice companion planting, e.g. onions and garlic around carrots and other root crops.
* Attract beneficial insects by planting flowers around your vegetable plot. Fennel and dill both attract a beneficial wasp that preys on aphids.
* Become observant. Check for aphids and rub them out with your hand or blast them with the hose.
* Look for cabbage butterfly larvae under the leaves and pick them off. A few holes is not a problem, as it usually the outer leaves that are affected.
* Slugs can be trapped with beer or kept away from vulnerable plants with eggshells.

[Denny]

Our garden can more than cover our family of 5 with fruits and veggies. All we have is a 28' x 4 1/2' raised bed in the back yard. It doesn't take much to get it going. We had food from it within weeks of starting it. North Texas has some pretty good climate for gardening. I'll be planting a few fruit tress when I get home later this week.

[aggie97]

Default for the purposes of Isolationism might work, but first we'd have to borrow to rebuild our manufacturing base, and restructure public education to suit it. We've still got an early 20th century style factory school system, which is doing us no favors, and we've dismantled manufacturing in this country wholesale. We'd spend long time not being able to defend ourselves through a lack of materials while we built it up. Recycling would have to be at an insane level (to the point that we start mining old landfills for plastic and metal, not to mention a seizure of old cars that would make cash for clunkers look like a pretty please with sugar on top), and people would have to lower their expectations of quality of life drastically. More likely than that, a large scale default would probably plunge this country into chaos.

Thanks..Isolationism...that's the word that left me last night. Fuck the rest of the world...we have our own problems we can't handle.

[aggie97]

Right after fiat currency fails, you should probly start hoarding food and plant a garden real damn fast. Might want a gun or two, to run off people trying to steal your food. Course I guess if you kill the people, you could eat them. That might help you survive a little.

right after? Don't you mean NOW. You do realize how long it takes to grow carrots, tomatos and the like? Hell, I have a lime tree I've been watching for a year now and it's just NOW starting to grow fruit.

Actually, my fiancee's family in houston has 3 or 4 refrigerators/freezers with food in the and I have always criticized them because the electric bill puts a cramp on their retired income. Lately, I've been wondering if I should buy them a large generator and a 1000 gallons of diesel and incorporate them into my plan B.

[YALE]

How else are you going to earn your stripes?

Promotion sounds like it's for the birds. I'll be operating out of a hotel in San Francisco if y'all need anything.

[Denny]

Are you offering sexual favors for service in Denny's Militia?

How else are you going to earn your stripes?

[YALE]

Hired gun with benefits?

Are you offering sexual favors for service in Denny's Militia?

Right after fiat currency fails, you should probly start hoarding food and plant a garden real damn fast. Might want a gun or two, to run off people trying to steal your food. Course I guess if you kill the people, you could eat them. That might help you survive a little.

You keep pigs to dispose of bodies, dur. Eating humans will give you Kuru which is a form of spongiform encephalitis similar to CWD in sheep and BSE in cattle.

[Pro88LX]

That too, but I also go by productivity. I can get more out of a 15 year old than I can a 3 year old.

Well for a few years anyways until he turns 18 and starts his own post apocalyptic compound.

[Denny]

Plus, he hasn't been around too long, so you're the least attached to him. Makes sense.....

That too, but I also go by productivity. I can get more out of a 15 year old than I can a 3 year old.

[Pro88LX]

I keep my youngest away from any meds and GMO foods, just in case. He's the meaty one of the family.

Plus, he hasn't been around too long, so you're the least attached to him. Makes sense.....

[Denny]

Franks red hot......i put that shit on everything.

I keep my youngest away from any meds and GMO foods, just in case. He's the meaty one of the family.

[Pro88LX]

Actually, I've pretty much thought of every option... EVERY OPTION in this scenario.

I think eating human meat would taste like complete crap. Think of our diets with all the chemicals and preservatives we eat, not to mention all the vaccinations, medicines, vitamins, etc.

The animal's diet plays a role in the taste of the meat.

Franks red hot......i put that shit on everything.

[Denny]

Right after fiat currency fails, you should probly start hoarding food and plant a garden real damn fast. Might want a gun or two, to run off people trying to steal your food. Course I guess if you kill the people, you could eat them. That might help you survive a little.

Actually, I've pretty much thought of every option... EVERY OPTION in this scenario.

I think eating human meat would taste like complete crap. Think of our diets with all the chemicals and preservatives we eat, not to mention all the vaccinations, medicines, vitamins, etc.

The animal's diet plays a role in the taste of the meat.