I am not known for my patience. Moving to Alabama just made me worse. I am anxious to get in that garden! It is a tad early, but I found a way to garden a small area to keep me busy. I can plant spring crops, but they would need to be under a tunnel of some sort, or greenhouse. A quick perusal on Amazon showed grow tunnels costing way more than they should!

Side Note: Did I ever tell y’all about the time back in 1998 when my landlords told me about this amazing investment deal that I should get in on? Well, I didn’t have two cents to invest anyway, but they told me about this online mall venture called Amazon. Computers were still kind of a novelty in the regular world and I thought that an online mall was the stupidest idea I had ever heard. It’ll never work.

• Okay, back to overpriced grow tunnels. I ended up using a clear, plastic storage bin. I sowed my seeds in little rows, watered them in, and covered them with the storage bin. I used a small brick to hold the bin down. We have dipped into the low 20’s at night and yet, the greens are popping up! I planted radishes, arugula, and carrots as an experiment. A clear plastic storage bin makes a great cold frame. Homesteaders have to get creative, especially those that did not invest in Amazon early on.

Early spring is a great time to plant trees and shrubs. Look for them at Walmart. Trees are $25, y’all! And fruit bushes are about $7. You just cannot find a deal like that anywhere else. But you have get them as soon as you see them, because obviously at that price, they don’t stick around long.

Doug and I planted two apple trees. You need to look at the labels and see if you need two varietals to pollinate each other. Golden Delicious and Red Delicious work together. The Santa Rosa plum tree we planted is self pollinating. It would do a bit better with another nearby, but it will produce fruit as a single tree. We planted a blackberry, a raspberry, an elderberry bush, and a rose bush.

My beloved is a man who follows written instructions to the word. He follows recipes and plants trees like the tag says. I am sure he gets tired of me saying, “That’s not how you do it!” The issue is that all soil is different and places are different, and who knows where they get some of these instructions from.

• This is how to do it. Dig a hole a little bit bigger than the plant. Pour in a little water to see how fast it drains. The blackberry bush said to pour in a full gallon of water. In the clay soil at the base of the hole, the water just sat there like a swimming pool with the poor blackberry floating around. I stared at Doug. “That’s what the instructions said to do!” he defended. Just use a little water to see how fast it drains. Water your plant well before planting. If it is bare root, soak it in a bucket of water while you dig the hole. Place a handful of garden soil (a garden soil without fertilizers in it! No Miracle Grow!) into the hole and then the tree/bush/plant. If it is a bush, fill in the hole with garden soil and lightly water. With a tree, fill the hole back in with the soil you took out. The large potted trees that we bought have a bunch of good soil in the pot with them. Water but don’t flood the poor things. Keep an eye on the new plantings and water if soil is dry.

To keep squirrels from digging up small plantings and deer from eating them, use a tomato cage with chicken wire attached to it. To protect trees from deer, place three or four tall stakes around the tree and use fishing line every foot or so around it. The deer cannot see the fishing line and it spooks them if they touch it.

• Third tip is in preparation for summer planting. I have started my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants under an inexpensive grow light in my studio. They are doing great and enjoy being started way before we plant the garden! The other thing I wanted to start early is sweet potatoes. One look at the price tag in the seed catalogues for sweet potatoes made me start my own. You must use organic sweet potatoes so that they weren’t sprayed with something to keep them from sprouting. Put sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with potting soil. Water thoroughly and place on a heating pad near a light window. They will start sprouting. You will plant each sprout come warmer weather.

• And while we are giving out advice, I should add that you do not need to buy seed potatoes and garlic! Goodness me, just go to the grocery store (or your pantry) and get organic potatoes of any variety you wish and when they start sprouting eyes, place them in the back of your fridge until it’s time to plant. Cut them in half or in quarters with an eye on each piece you plant. Garlic is super easy too. Buy organic garlic and plant each individual clove two to three inches apart. It is not too late to plant garlic. If you missed the fall planting, plant them in early April to harvest in September.

There are lots of creative and inexpensive ways to have a happy, thriving homestead. Happy (almost) Spring!