Gardening Fun

I have everything just about ready for my garden this year.  The first thing I had to do is get permission from out landlord.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to live my homesteading and self sufficient life when I rent?? Someday...a little plot of land to call my own will be here.  :)

Once we had her permission to put some raised beds in the back yard I got busy.  Well, hubby and the teen boys got busy hehe.  I supervised.  We already had one bed built using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening method.  We made 5 more beds 4ftx4ft for a total of 6 beds and a total of 96 square feet of growing room.  It's not a lot but with this type of gardening you plant much closer than in row gardens.

I don't know if you remember but the one bed we had we planted an experimental winter garden as our area rarely sees more than 1 or 2 frosts a year.  Nothing really made it except the two hybrid tomatoes I planted.  We had a few tomatoes over the winter but nothing to write home about.  Right now though, they both have quite a few fruits growing on them and it's just now April!  Nice to have such an early start and harvest.  

I started most of my seeds in Feb and have them in the greenhouse growing their little hearts out.  I started more than what I would need in case some didn't make, thank goodness I did that because of the 'Greenhouse Fiasco of 2013' in which the wind picked up and blew the greenhouse over and destroyed about 3/4 of my seedlings.  I still have more than I will use but I was going to sell the rest of those buggers.

Anyway, here is my video of my second tour.  I was playing with some editing software and had fun with that but I definitely need more practice.  Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can get updates.  Also, please like us at https://www.facebook.com/ThePreppingPrincess.

Well here goes nothing

Today I decided to start blogging on what will be my personal experience in prepping for whatever the future may throw at me.  I don't think on December 21 of this year the world is going to end, or that zombies will come for me, but I do believe that we live in very uncertain times on a planet that is vastly overcrowded and does not produce enough food to feed everyone on it.  I know I live in a country that has been having some serious economic issues and that my family has felt those issues.  My ultimate goal is to be totally self sufficient and you get to watch me get there from the beginning.

Right now we rent a home in Texas near the gulf.  We just moved here from California because my husband finally found a job so I am a bit late getting a garden together for my canning year .I can't dig up the yard to grow my garden because my landlord says no plus we live in a HOA and they are pretty picky about what we can do.  So as of today I have basil, mint, oregano and an aloe vera plant started in pots in the back yard.  Not much but it's a start.

Part of prepping for me will be to get a decent stockpile of food, water, vitamins and knowledge together so that if anything should happen I can care for my family long enough to see them through it.  As I live in hurricane country going without electricity is a real problem.  With that in mind my first goal is to get 3 days worth of food, water and clothing set aside for every one living in my house (there are 4 of us) and for my 2 dogs.  That's it!  That's my first goal.  I have others of course that include expanding the amount of food, water and other things, growing my own food, finding a piece of property I can begin to set up, etc etc.  So stick with me while I learn and grow.  Teach me if you can and I will hopefully teach you as well.  Here we gooooooo.......