Raised bed soil selection can make all the difference!

I’ve just put together a small 2 x 4 quickie survival bed and now want to get the most out of it that I can. In this bed and for the purposes of survival, it will be quality that counts over quantity. Now while I would never get very far trying to live off such a tiny space, It will still be interesting to track not only the weight of the produce obtained but also to figure out what the caloric contribution will be. In a survival situation, after all, it’s the calories your getting that count the most. Next in line, it’s the overall nutrition. You want to make sure that you’re getting all the essential amino acids you need to survive long term.

 But, before you can even think about what to plant, you’ll want to make sure that the soil you put into that growing space is all that it can be. Three very essential elements must come together for it to work properly. One, the soil must contain a good balance of minerals and organic matter or humus. That is to say, it must be able to supply your veggies with the proper mix of ions (anions and cations) that all plants need in order to be productive. Two, the soil must be porous enough to allow for excellent drainage while still being able to trap water to feed the roots. Three, the total soil mix must be in a certain range of acidity-alkalinity or pH to allow for proper ion exchange to take place. Get all three of this in the correct balance and the microbial population of you soil will increase greatly. This is a good thing as in the final analysis; it is the microbes that feed the soil which feeds your plants. Got that?

So, when your trying to figure out what to place in your raised bed it sometimes pays dividends to use pre-prepared bags of ‘soil’ made by companies like Hyponex that contain the right proportions of these three elements to get your bed off to a proper start. From that point on, all you need to do it to plant some seeds, water and weed and then harvest the bounty. Oh, and also make sure that you add compost (humus) at the end of each harvest to renew the soil. Simple is as simple does.

For this space I used 4 forty pound bags of Earthgro. Two were plain topsoil and two were a peat moss and manure mix. Total cost was about $10. End result; a great soil that feels right, is porous and ready to go!

Next post: plant selection, crop yields, companion planting and other considerations.

Jupiter Bell Peppers: Are they worth the trouble? Can they find a spot in a survalist garden?

Well, at least the little tag picture is encouraging!

While visiting a local grocery store in my town, I purchased one of those little four cell trays of vegetable plant starts that are so prevalent this time of year. The little stick informed me that these were Jupiter peppers. I’d never grown this particular variant before and was curious as to how they would turn out. 

The four little plants looked healthy. Not lanky like some of the other peppers that were offered. After I got home, I browsed the internet to see if there was any information. Surprisingly, there was not all that much. One site informed me that the mature plant was prolific and produced ‘thick walled’ fleshy plants.  Another indicated that they did ‘well’ in Missouri. Hmmm. OK, sounds good to me. I’m a game animal.

I planted two of these in a front small raised bed and two in the backyard in a much larger and more established bed. That front bed was built just a few days ago and I used a soil mix from a company called ‘Earthgro’ which is produced by the Hyponex Corporation. The forty pound bags I used are no doubt on the lower end of the scale of products they offer. (My bags of dirt cost just $2.50 each, but I will say that the feel of the soil was encouraging).  So, two plants in ‘new’ soil versus two plants in aged soil that has seen about seven years of use. This could be interesting!

At some point, most likely around August, I’ll do a post on how well these little guys turned out. Just do a search on this blog, using the word ‘Jupiter’.