Your allotment

Growing Veggies in a small plot in your yard or patio is a great idea for saving a bit of money. There are people who love it, and people who hate it. Me? I love choosing what I plant and watching it grow. There is nothing better though than going out to your yard and picking tonights pasta sauce or salad. A garden is not only a symbol of frugality, but a symbol of luxury. It also offers the ultimate in security.

During my "fast food days", I realized at one time, peppers were banned at taco bell, and tomatoes became nonexistant at Burger King, Subway, etc. due to food shortages. I LOVE fresh tomatoes, even the grocery store ones. With the worst flooding in years along the Mississippi and the droughts throughout Texas and the surrounding states, I expect our food prices to skyrocket. Many basic staples have nearly doubled in just the last 12 months.

APARTMENT LIVING
Currently, we are in an apartment with only a small 3rd floor balcony. I am only being "allowed" a small shelving unit for my garden. At this point, we have a beautiful view of the water- and if we hit a money problem, we have fish abound right in our own backyard. This provides us with some security we need. Know if you ever get desperate, where some temporary food sources are.

My love for gardening and realizing the need for a secure future has made me exert much of the little space I have to only 2 plants for our immediate needs: tomatoes and peppers. This is partially because our porch is screened, so I get no help from the good insects, and need to pollinate my tomatoes and peppers by hand.

The remainder of our garden is completely dedicated to starting fruit trees from seed. Right now, I have 1 baby mango, a few lemon, a few lime, and a few papaya growing on our porch, all in 1 gallon bags. I grew all of them from $4 worth of fruit I got from the store. I also have 3 avocado seeds in 1, however, I have not had much luck with these guys. If one actually sprouts, I will move it. For newbies, many of these will not grow to be just like their parent plants in flavor, size or shape, and could be terrible. But then again, they could also be superior. I, personally, would rather take 33c and buy a lime and grow the 4-6 seeds in it for a few extra years (especially since I can not plant them outside anyway!) and take my chances that 1 of the 5 will produce an equal or superior lime. I now save the seeds from all the fruits I can.

If you have a brown thumb, but want to try this, go buy a papaya. They have hundreds of seeds, so hundreds of chances to screw up. I planted 3, and 2 have grown with little sun or assistance from me other than a daily watering. They are not a tree, by the way, so do your research on how to grow them. They are actually an herb, much like a banana.

Since I had so much luck with the lemons, limes, papayas, and the mango, I am going to try to get my hands on apple, orange, and peach seeds. I am also going to order a few more seeds from the SEEDMAN.


There is another plant that through years of research seems to be a "must have" no matter where you are. It is nicknamed the "survival tree" because it is extremely useful and is supposedly very easy to care for.

PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF LAND

You guys are the lucky ones. If you have many acres of land, that is you! Although we aren't focusing on people with tons of acreage, but there may be some great ideas to help you make more of your land.

THE "LUCKY ONES"

These are the people with anywhere from 1/4 of an acre to 2 acres. The reason I consider you "lucky" is that these are the people who can grow some of their own food and maybe even a bit of a profit (enough to cover a lot of expenses, including the rest of their food), and never leaving home.

I am hoping to use these "babies" I have planted on our balcony to get a great head start on being one of the "lucky ones" in about a year and a half. I hope to have a great source of EVERYTHING, and KNOW HOW TO USE IT, within the next 10 years.