this is an industry alert but it affects us all. http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/11_Cosmic/110209.Sysco.Mexico.Freeze.pdf
sooo... this isn't going to retroactively affect my thousands of cans of canned goods?... ... ... ... ok, good. :lolsmash:
BOHICA Get your seeds and compost ready. I have a twin house with a small yard. We are up sizing as much as we can. We might put some containers on the roof this year. Maybe something light weight like potatoes in a straw filled plastic drum.
my new neighbor just gave me 60 or so straw bales he had left over from planting the grass seed last year, because he didn't have any idea what to do with them... I'm thinking of using them as a windbreak for my early veggies and as potato planters... I wonder how many potatoes I can grow in that many?
One industry group is downplaying the damage. Low Temperatures In Mexico Cause Some Crop Damage - PerishableNews LOW TEMPERATURES IN MEXICO CAUSE SOME CROP DAMAGE • Those low temperatures caused some damage to plants, foliage, fruit and bloom and it will take days before the extent of the damage can be measurable and reasonably evaluated. Normally, early assessments do not represent the true impact to the crop. • The effects of the low temperatures will manifest differently than winter weather events the industry has experienced in the recent past from Eastern growing regions; mostly because Mexico varieties of winter crops are significantly different. Most varieties grown in Mexico are bred to produce more uniform and smaller amounts of fruit every week for a period of 4 to 6 months rather than larger and concentrated sets of fruit. • The effects of the low temperatures will manifest differently than winter weather events the industry has experienced in the recent past from Eastern growing regions; mostly because Mexico varieties of winter crops are significantly different. Most varieties grown in Mexico are bred to produce more uniform and smaller amounts of fruit every week for a period of 4 to 6 months rather than larger and concentrated sets of fruit. • In Mexico the fruit is harvested at a higher level of ripeness, is immediately packed and ready for retail and foodservice distribution. • There were no heavy harvests for storage made ahead of the low temperatures. • Growers suspended harvesting today to allow the damaged fruit to manifest its defects so it can be eliminated at the packing houses. This selection process will ensure continued high levels of quality from Mexico, which will impact the yields and available volumes in the upcoming weeks. Whistling past the graveyard perhaps?:gaah::dunno::surrender:
put them in a big rectangle with an open middle and then find some old sliding glass doors and make a cold frame. or even some clear plastic. Get an early start on plants, like lettuce, spinach, radishes and cole crops. and then when you harvest them you can use the rotting straw as deep mulch for your tomatoes and peppers.. Look up and read about Ruth Stout method of deep mulch gardening. or even lasagna gardening...
Just don't forget to remove that glass or plastic roof if you get an occasional hot day. Your tender young plants will burn up. Now how do I know that? :gaah:
maybe it'll encourge more Americans to get off their a$$es and grow food, we always fed the world with out Mexico.
BOHICA -- so true. Get your seeds and compost ready, but also prep up for frost protection. Row covers are a start, 'water walls' work (I use them every year for tomatoes), cold frames, etc. I suspect it will be a cool spring.
Just another justification to raise prices, jeeze lets retrospect, disastrous citrus and strawberry freezes, monumental tomato crop failures, devastating flooding of wheat crops, cyclonic flooding of rice crops, severe drought in Russia, on and on and on, where does the panic mongering stop. Every year something has to be blamed for the inflation of food, doesn't it.
This assumes the Sheeple understand the cause/effect relationship, or even give a rat's patootie, about why the cost of their pre-cut, pre-washed, USDA super dooper veggies skyrocketed. The blame game will go round and round and folks will still keep opening their wallets instead of thier eyes. Sad.
Look in your area for dumpsters in front of houses and see if they're having their windows replaced... or contact local window installation places and see if they'll give you the old windows for free. Most just haul them away and then toss them. I saved all of our windows when we recently had ours replaced and will be making cold frames so I can get at least a month or two jump on the plantings this year. Using some scrap wood left over from work and my only investment is my time.
I started to collect seeds. Just yesterday I got 500 green pepper seeds for free. I have a "lasagna" or layered compost spread outside. It's been composting for a year now and is about 20ft by 20ft. I have a half acre to garden on thankfully.
