Question about farming to protect mother earth and the people eating them please help..

Just a year ago I moved from baltimore to maryland eastern shore. I have been a city boy my whole life. Last spring I started a garden mostly pre grown plants from a small farm store out here. I bout some small green houses to start plants from seeds. I need seeds to store for bad times. I also need seeds to plant this year. I use no chemicals but miracle grow. Is that safe for envornment? thats my first question. My second question is where can I get good non mutated seeds Or what brand are good. I want to make sure the earth and the people eating them are safe. btw I love canning and storing the food. such a money saver and nothing is better then fresh fruit and vegetables. Im sorry if in wrong spot I didnt know where to put this article but I want to protect mother earth to. I do use compost to put good soil back in the earth. Thank yoy for your help fellow ats people. Or bots lol

reply to post by bmorebirdflu


well among many of my talents,i grow as well!
look for heirloom seeds,they are tried and tru! try to rotate your crops so your soil doesn't get depleted of minerals.
( look up the indian story of the three sisters) compost is always the best food! i use the leaves out of my evestough !!! works great! miricle grow is ok,but can overfeed if your not carefull. make sure your soil is good,check the ph value. get a rain barrel for watering,plants don't like flouride!!!
chose practical plants to grow,not too fancy eh!
ammend the soil with blood & bone meal.good for the plants&keeps the rodents away.egg shells and human hair are good for this too,plus the plants like.
after harvest,try to keep as many seeds as you can,dry them,then freeze them,they will last for years!
start your plants indoors 2 months before you intend to start your garden,the yeild will be a lot bigger.
i can go on forever,so if ya got specific questions feel free to ask.
good luck and happy gardening!

reply to post by bmorebirdflu


I get my seeds from

rareseeds.com...

They are the best as far as i am concerned. Tons of varieties to try.

They have a great blog and forum as well

rareseeds.com...

idigmygarden.com...

as far as miracle grow goes... here is a good forum post about it. Personally I used it my first year but have since gone to composting which works just as well better in my opinion as it is free and just as effective.

Synthetics feed the plants and the soil starves which leads to an increased dependence upon fertilizer and results in soil that is more or less biologically dead.

forums2.gardenweb.com...

Another good idea to give your plants the nutrients they need and greater disease and pest protection is companion planting.

www.ghorganics.com...

Good luck with your garden this year. It is so enjoyable eating food you grow yourself. After 20+ years of hating vegetables and refusing to eat them I started growing my own a few years ago and now love them. Fresh out of the garden taste great and is more nutritional. I seriously can't eat any veggies from the supermarket, they just taste bad to me.

Here is a good link for deciding what to grow. Tons of nutrition information as well as information on specific health benefits.

whfoods.org...


I use to live in Cecil County, MD around the Chesapeake City area. Lovely place with a nice growing season. I moved to DE now though... so much cheaper, no sales tax, low property tax... even the gas is cheaper.

Greetings fellow garden enthusiast!

I recommend that you look into soil to start your plants off. Seems really simple but it's got to be the most vital thing for a plant. I recommend you buy litmus paper to check the pH of the soil regularly to make sure it stays in a "safe range" (6.4-7.4) as neutral as possible. Look into mixing the soil with vermiculite and/or perlite from your local shop for extra nutrition. Mix a few broken eggshells in the soil for some carbon and an extra lift.

Also, if you're working with limited space, I recommend you look into vertical growing tech. If you go out and buy wood, you can build a vertical growing tree as high as you want that would increase growing potential and yield a ton. The growing tech I use uses planks placed symmetrically stacked on each cross section on a metal rod with spacers in between to adjust for height. You can stack as many as you want!

Another important aspect is grow light. If you don't have access to sunlight, look into investing in LED bulbs. They can be pricey, around $30, but they will make up for themselves in no-time. Not only do they emit a wider visible light spectrum than fluorescent lights, they are much more cost effective only using a few watts and a hell of a lot less dangerous to a power bill. The wider spectrum will increase yield, growth rate and everything for positive so make sure you check into lighting as much as you can.

These topics I mentioned have been the most influential to my own experience. As the poster above mentioned, look into a good heirloom seed. Heirloom seeds are seeds passed down for generation, generally bred to keep the qualities and traits of the original as much as possible - meaning as far from GMO as you can get. I wish you the best of luck with your experience! Growing is a very rewarding experience, you get to make life, make friends, and give thanks to the earth all in one cycle! And it lasts as long as you want it too.

Before you get ready to harvest, make sure to flush the plants with a few cycles of nothing but good water to get the chemical taste out! You'll thank me in the end for mentioning this

I live up north so the chill keeps me from growing year-round outside. It's a shame that authorities find indoor growing suspicious, its been one of the most efficient choices I've ever made, for my heath and my wallet!

reply to post by bmorebirdflu


Good questions. I have noticed that the Hybrid seeds just dont seem to produce good food, you dont want those anyway,there is no seed harvest quality, as everybody knows. Get Burpee Organic seeds.If you are buying a started plant and it doesnt say it isn't hybrid, it prolly is, think about it.

I like to use these soil additives Agricultural Gypsum. Use it sparingly as it keeps the soil broke up. Mature steer manure. work it into the soil a few weeks before planting. Its not recommended to use the same sulfate of ammonia products over and over on veggies. But others have.You will not make any mistakes that someone else hasn't already made.There is some comfort in those words!!! You can Youtube surf about anything.

learn how to spot pests. Since you wont want to be one of guys keeping the Ortho people in hooker boots figure out what a tomato grubs look like. Oh yeah, All the prestarted veggies have pests. Hahahaha!!! have fun, eat well

Hello fellow Marylander. I am also on the Eastern shore and am a gardener. For those of you not in Maryland, Eastern shore means "Over the Bridge".
I have a compost bin and my soil is getting better and better every year. Each year I till the garden then add more composte. When I plant, I add fish emulsion. It is a very smelly liquid but my plants seem to love it. If you are anywhere near Easton, there is a nursury called "Ed Collins Nursery". It is right outside Easton in Preston. Best prices around and the quality of their products are outstanding.
Happy Gardening to you.

wow thanks for all the info and replys. to be honest. this wasn't my favorite site. now it is. I asked a good question on another site and all i get is arguing and alot of bs. thanks guys. planting my first garden last year felt so good. I did a good job to. just went and did what it said on the pack of seeds. since then i learned so much. Its something that makes me feel good when im out in my garden working but also taste great. I have eaten unhealthy my whole life now Im in major pain every day. I cant work, all because in my opionion because of meds as a kid and eating to much junk. now Im eating better for me and my kids. I want to do it right, no point in eating health food i grow if the seeds are mutated and not right for me or the earth. I also just found out thanks to the post to move the plants around. so I will rotate them this year. What about bags of soil. should I do my own compost or add bag soil or both. thanks so much for the replys. It means the world to me because I want to take care of the world to. I use no chemicals but I go back and forth with wanting to use mircale grow. Is that ok or not. Thanks fellow ats people. keep the info coming thanks.

Originally posted by bmorebirdflu
Just a year ago I moved from baltimore to maryland eastern shore. I have been a city boy my whole life.

Don't really have any good gardening advice - Just wanted to give a shout out to fellow Baltimoron...

Married a girl from the Shore, and we've toyed with the idea of moving down there. How do you like the country life? Was the transition a rough one? Is the move something you'd recommend?

ok update on last post. I wont use miricale grow. I do bigger better compost. I didnt know to use meat though. So any more compost iteams. I got my seeds from states in DE. or it might have been sothern states or just states not sure. I got some indoor green houses to start seeds early. actually gonna start real soon. last year i used a mix between seeds and plants already but they were expensive and dont know how they grew the plants. also I can tell the soil here is great and I dont wanna mess it up. last year was my first real garden. once when I was a kid me and my mom grew corn zucinni and tomatos. my garden last year the plants grew as tall as me and produced food until november. the garden made it threw the huricane we had too. So long story short I wont use miracle grow. I will use better compost. start seend 2 months early indoors. rotate where I put the plants. they have plenty of sunlight with out having to remove trees. I have a decient size back yard. however I do live in a little town. not like some of eastern shore that is wide spread farm land... also I will collect rain water or filter water if enough rain water was not collected. well thanks again means the world to me you all are helping this city boy turn country. If you live in city areas thats all you know. gotta go out to the country to respect it. but also people in the country need to respect it. Im worried that people dont ut nutrints back in soil and the chemicals go right into the grown where alot of people have well water. I have water from the town. Thats another question. should I change to well water or keep with the floride water the town gives me. I boil then I filter all water before i drink it lol.

reply to post by Virgil Cain


hey there baltimoron. My wife is from eastern shore Im from baltimore. we moved here for her after living in cockeysville for 5 years. every area has its ups and downs but out here 0 violence. cops got 0 tolerence down here so you gotta learn to drive slower down here but you can live a nice white picket fence life down here. winter time is so slow you might not leave for weeks. life slows down out here alot. get use to that and its better. I dont miss beltway trafic 95 695 70 83 etc.. even on a busy friday here is better then sat rush our there. All i miss is friends and family but after a while the 3hr ride is nothing. My dr's is still in bmore too travel monthly because im sick to see my dr. If you every wanna move out here get in touch with me on here and ill show ya around and my wifeys dad rent propertys. houses are cheap I have 4 bedroom for 600 a month, well I dont pay the rent but thats what he did charge for this house. anyway i sound like a sales man for md eastern shore so let me stop go ravens.
oh yeah one more thing. you can garden, goto beach anytime, schools are great. sports for kids wonderfull. its great down here. after you get use to life slowing down it's great. in the lil town i live in the shut the whole town down when little league baseball starts. whole town shows up parade cook out the play ball. its wonderfull here

If your going to use manure compost to increase its effectiveness, let it sit in the sun for a while even if it is already mature. Too potent of manure will actually kill your crop thats why the product you usually buy off people sits and rotates in the sun for a full year before being sold but putting it in the sun even if it is mature will stimulate it and get it going.

If your serious in finding new ways to eat healthy and have time and money on your hands for a project, I recommend you look into something called 'Aquaponics'. It's essentially a hydroponic system that is fed by and filtered into a fish tank. The bacteria from the plants and soil is sent out to the fish tank where the fish eat it, become monstrous, and the oxidized water filled with high nitrogen fish poo is sent to the plant so it grows in half the time fully self-sustaining. It's really incredible to check out I highly recommend it. Someday I want to build one and have fresh fish as well as veggies and fruit I know isn't tampered with, being that it will be in my own backyard!

reply to post by kingllama


well i wanted to start a pond with tilapia. they reproduce fast and in big numbers. once I do that Ill cycle the rain water in to pond the water garden with that water. thats my plan but the pond is goona be hard to do.
now i got another questions one of the post up top sugested saving my own seeds this year. what do i have to do to the seeds to be able to store and replant the seeds next year or later.

use mason or baby jars to hold seeds in the refrigerator, it will make them last more than a year

reply to post by kingllama


do I have to do anything with the seeds like dry them in air or oven or soak em... or do i just put seeds fresh from fruit into jar. sorry I really just some dumb city boy who know nothing but im trying.

It's all good! They should be fine if you put them in a jar without treating them. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask

There are a lot of natural pesticides you can use to prevent damage. Marigolds planted around a garden area help, tobacco juice sprayed on leaves, DE and on. Also if you are limited in space you can grow vertically using pallets. Use some burlap to make planting pockets in between the slats and fill them with soil. Watch what you plant where. Planting watermelons next to say zuchinnis can make for some interesting results you wouldn't expect. I live surround by land that is farmed and sprayed so am very careful about where I plant my patches. Would never be able to make a certified organic claim just because of his run off, but if I am careful about when I plant and where I know I am as chemical free as I can possible be. Try adding herbs this year if you haven't already. It's nice when making your own pasta sauce, salsa and other goodies to know that your seasonings are from your own plot as well. Good luck, it's a wonderfully rewarding endevor.