I'd like to try container gardening this but I'm new and have questions, I plan to start the seeds indoors and then transplant. Some seeds, in some areas will grow better plants if started indoors, others will do best being planted outside when the weather is good. I'm assuming I'll need a location that gets atleast 6 hrs of full sun per day for growing? Almost all fruiting and veggie producing plants do best with full sun, so yes. 6 hours of direct sun or more for best results. Many can do acceptably with less, but best results are with 6 or more hours of full sun. Also a few more questions.. Any suggestions on types of containers? Not really. I, personally, would not use a container with less than 6" of depth to it for fruits and veggies. I also would not use a small container (less than 12" rim diameter) because a plant grown for produce will produce less if the medium it is growing in is ever allowed to go completely dry. The larger the container, the less frequent the watering interval and the larger margin of safety. If you will be using automated irrigation such as drip irrigation on a timer then container size is not as important, but if you will be hand watering then it is important the container is large enough and the growing mix water retentive enough to hold ample moisture in between your watering. Where to buy seeds for planting spinach, tomato, squash, strawberries and green beans Many, many great sources. Your local big box store will have many varieties for less cost than mail order seed houses. Trouble is they don't necessarily have them when you need them and they don't often have 50 varieties of tomato the way a seed catalog will. Seed catalogs I like include Johnnys, Burpee, Pinetree, Stokes, and Territorial. These are all large seed houses, there are many, many more smaller operations I also like. How do I know when to start the seeds indoors and then when to transplant? This is difficult without local knowledge. I suggest you google on your state name followed by 'extension service' and see what turns up. Every state has an extension service that will offer tips for home gardening in one's area. You may wish to begin your exploration here.

Before planting it'd be a good idea to run a water line with at least one hose bib to the area so that you're not having to drag hoses all over the place. Then you might use either soaker hoses or a drip irrigation system for watering once you put plants in the ground. With an acre there's lots of things you could plant. One of the first that come to mind is corn. And maybe melons and potatoes. A nice patch of pineapple plants. A few fruit trees. The list is endless! Tom MacCubbin has written some good reference books named "The Edible Landscape" and "Florida Home Grown 2: The Edible Landscape" which could help you to decide what to plant.

So the costs for you would be your time, your equipment depreciation, your water, and the power/energy expended by the stove, correct? Will they supply the canning salt, lemon juice or citric acid, and the sugar needed? If not add those costs in too. If so then the total cost depends on how you value your time. Is this something you would be doing anyway just for your own family? If so then the costs would be 1/2 your above total. Bottom line is the $ value of the food you will end up with equal to all the extra time you'd put in? Don't forget you have to peel all the tomatoes, snap and trim all the beans, shuck all the corn, etc. Personally I would probably do it simply because 1) I'm retired and have the time and no other demands on my time right now, and 2) I'm already actively canning and working in more of the same things is no real problem. But they can't set a deadline on me and they can't request special recipes just canned plain produce. JMO Dave

If it has frost in the bags, then there are several issues. 1. A self-frosting freezer is much harder on food storage and the life of whatever you freeze is shorter. 2. The packaging isn't sufficiently airtight. As far as the food is concerned, it's totally up to you whether it's salvageable or not. In most cases when it's severely frosted and/or freezer-burned it's lost nutrition, texture and taste. But sometimes foods can be used or "disguised" if you want to give it a try. For example, blueberries in smoothies, winter squash in breads or soups, zucchini and cabbage in soups. There are no food safety issues so you get to assess the palatibility. Carol