Hi from Memphis, Tennessee

[greatexpectations]

Hi everyone,
The site and forum are full of great information--great job y'all.

I have been interested in organic gardening, cycling, reducing my consumption, and finding creative uses for trash for a long time. However, about a year ago I read an article in Harpers, The Oil We Eat, that convinced me that I need to radically strive for a low energy lifestyle. In the States, every calorie of food that we eat is backed by at least one calorie of oil. Because energy has been cheap, the logical answer to every problem is to use more energy. Cheap oil and farm subsidies have encouraged the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and tractors--all oil and natural gas based. Energy isn't going to be cheap for much longer, so now is the time to acquire the skills and resources for a low energy future--the best time to buy an umbrella is when it isn't raining.

Anyhow, I am glad to be a part of a space where people are concerned about such things.

Ben

[ina]

Hi Ben, and welcome to the forum!

Memphis, Tennessee, always sounds a bit unreal to me... As if it only exists in films and literature! Glad to have you on here as proof that "ordinary" people live there, too!

What are the growing conditions where you live? Do you have a garden, or do you do window sill gardening?

[Shirley]

Hi Ben

Welcome!!!

Are you Elvis in disguise?? LOL


Looks to be a very interesting article... I've bookmarked it so that I can read it properly later.

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Ben and welcome to the site. It's great to hear from people from other continents and good that there are so many of us around the globe who care about our planet!

[Ermintrude]

Hi Ben

Welcome to the forum - I imagine you can grow all sorts of exotic crops down in Memphis!

[Ermintrude]

Hi Ben

Welcome to the forum - I imagine you can grow all sorts of exotic crops down in Memphis!

[hedgewitch]

Hi Ben and welcome to the ishers

[glenniedragon]

Welcome to the site Ben! There are certainly some challenges ahead for all of us- here in the UK we are paying £1 ($1.89) per litre of diesel at the moment, and that's not going to get any cheaper.

On that down note
Kind thougths
Deb

[greatexpectations]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am not quite Elvis in disguise--I have lived here most of my life and only recently toured Graceland when a friend visited from the Netherlands. The best explanation of Graceland that I have ever heard was "He had all of that money and fame, and he built THIS?" Yes, folks, it is that tacky.

I bought a house a bit over a year ago and started doing some small scale gardening last summer. Our soil is mostly clay, so I have built two small raised beds, one surrounded by cinderblocks, the other by scrap wood. I also have several containers where I grow herbs. I have also claimed a part of the front flower garden for vegetables and plan to put in two more raised beds in front of the house over the summer. My garden expands as I have the time, money, and compost to put into it.

The climate here is hot and humid in the summer and cool to cold in the winter. It is usually very hot (at least 95F) and humid (80%) from the end of May until early October, making the summer ideal for tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, and okra. In the dead of summer, things get difficult as there is little rain and hoards of hungry bugs. Once things started to cool off last fall, I planted shallots, turnip greens, mustard greens, and spinach. They did very well, even with several weeks of nightly hard freezes. Though growth slows to a crawl in the winter, there are no bugs to eat your plants! Has anyone else had success with winter gardening?

[Wombat]

G'DAy Ben and welcome to the site.

Our climate sounds similar to yours, although I wold suspect we get milder winters - only one or two degrees of frost. We grow brassicas and snow peas as well as a few other bits & pieces around here in winter.

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

Hello Ben and welcome to the site.

One of the old boys on my allotment suggests watering plants with freezing cold water when there has been a frost. Have to do it at first light though. Not tried it myself as there has not been a frost (fingers crossed) since he told me that.