From Spain to Germany, farmers warn of fresh food shortages
Got a butternut squash in your pantry? Maybe a couple of tomatoes? Cook it up for dinner and save some seeds! Wash off the pulp and dry them out on a paper towel. It&#x27;s not too late to start some seedlings, and it&#x27;s a nice way to pass the time. I&#x27;ve also been experimenting with different dried beans that we stocked up on, and most of them have a pretty high germination rate. Roma beans are super tasty and high in protein, though you need a lot of space to get a good amount of them. Lentils are super easy to sprout too.<p>Another great tip is that once you have a good sized tomato plant, it&#x27;s super super easy to clone it. You just have to take a cutting at a node and let the stem soak in water. Rooting hormone helps speed it up, but it&#x27;s possible to do it without. I&#x27;ve cloned about a dozen plants from a single tomato I accidentally started early. Needless to say I&#x27;m running out of window sills to stick them as it&#x27;s still too cold to transplant them.<p>Frankly I saw this coming in January and started hundreds of seedlings of different tomatoes, hot peppers, squash, pumpkins, cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, and chard to share with my neighbours.<p>I&#x27;m a bit of a gardening nerd and had a big collection of unused seeds from prior seasons, but you&#x27;d be amazed at what you can grow that&#x27;s already in your pantry or fridge. Potatoes are easy to get started but can be a little finicky with soil conditions.<p>I&#x27;m thinking I&#x27;ll have quite a bit of time to spend in the garden in the coming months. Hopefully I can make a small difference in my community.