Shes a major green thumb and I still gotta get her in this group. But she’s crushing egg shells to make it in a powder, for calcium in her soil. She wants to know if anyone does this or knows more details. She said “hey take a picture of this and share it in your smart Gardner friends community” so I think I’m in the right place lmao. 🤣

Do you grow sunchokes? Pros and Cons?

I am planning a Family Resilience series. The goal will be to create a calm place where families learn what resilience means, allowing them to build more into their lives, step by step. Many of our community members already carry resilience in their life. As we share our wins and misses in the journey, those coming behind us will benefit. This series will meet members where they are. It will bring practical education with real examples, so our Inner Circle stays solid. Inner Circle means assuring the non-negotiables: food, water, shelter, first aid, and planning ahead for the unexpected. With spring nearing, we will start a 16-week gardening module. Posts will live in a category named Spring Oasis Build, so we can follow, comment, learn together, and share wisdom with the next generation. Our example build will use a hoop house in Zone 7b for a near year-round growing scenario. Our community spans Zones 3 to 10 across several countries so calendar dates will shift by zone. We will use shared anchors to stay aligned; last and first frost date, average nighttime lows, and soil temperatures at 2 in (5 cm) and 4 in (10 cm) depth. As well, each household will have different time availability, budget, and space. We will do what we can and allow nature to multiply our effort. Project Description: We will focus on one 12 ft by 22 ft planting bed, divided into four rows, each 3 ft by 22 ft. After a narrow herb border plus access paths, planted area will be about 225 sq ft. Our soil texture will vary as well. Our test bed is second year clay base with a couple inches of one year old organic matter on top. Each playing along can set their own area although for comparison, it would be nice to designate an approximate 200 sq ft space. Through community decision, we will only use heirloom seeds. Goal: We will grow $1,000 in grocery replacement value through succession planting. We will keep the same bed in production by rotating crops through the seasons. We will track growing conditions and harvest totals plus estimated grocery value as we go.

Thank you

This is our founding community. Our community includes first season gardeners, longtime growers, food forest builders, raised bed builders, herb growers, homesteaders, and preparedness planners. Our shared engagement brings small lessons we can use right away. Those lessons stack over time to build ready, resilient families. Our community has a CALM rhythm: C: We look for Clarity A: We take Action on what we observe L: We nurture Living Systems, walking alongside nature M: We Monitor outcomes and adjust accordingly We keep one simple focus, take one small step, review weekly, adjust gently, and keep moving steady forward.