Remember the “6 p’s”? They apply to almost every facet of life. I say almost because I hadn’t planned on a hydroponic garden this spring. But you should be thinking about getting the garden prepared for fall. Review the crop rotation plan and make adjustments if needed. If a soil test (Wells Brothers does soil testing) is in order, do it now. If you are going to take existing plants into fall now is the time to prune then. There is a horde of information on how to prune veggie plants, but I like this one: Pruning Tomatoes.
According to the Nation Weather Service there were 58 tornadoes in our area this year. Adding an enormous amount of rain with hurricane Bill and you get an action packed spring, weather wise. I hope you and yours survived it all. Most folks have some kind of plan to survive these natural outbursts. If you don’t, consider yourself lucky this year and start planning for the next event. When talking preparedness you need to think about the type of event you are planning for. I look at our weather and plan for two to three days with no city, county or state services. I start with the basics water, food, fire and shelter. Everything else is secondary. My personal level of preparedness is pretty good. Depending on the type of event I have enough supplies for three folks to survive unassisted in the house for seven to ten days. Of course if the house is gone then I have to go caveman and that’s another plan.
When the weather (in this discussion) turns unpleasant you better have a good plan in place. Where to go: storm shelter, a protected area of the house, etc; what to wear: shoes, long pants, etc; what to take: flash light, lighter, reading glasses, cell phone, roll of paper towels, radio, knife or multi-tool, water, food, prescription medications, etc. Forget about the dart board, playing cards, computers, etc. Part of being prepared is everyone in the house has a job and knows what to do if that time comes. Just like fire drills. I will be looking at other scenarios and gear in future newsletters. To read more about emergency preparedness click here.
